David Moyes was the youngest manager in the Premier League when he arrived at Everton in March 2002, fresh-faced and red-haired.
Now he stands tall in the same dugout, as he will this weekend against Tottenham live on Sky Sports, as the oldest in the competition.
“Thirty-nine isn't old anymore, and you know something? I don't really feel old in my work right now!' he tells Juliette Ferrington as they sit down to catch up on a hectic return to management life.
“I feel quite young. I hope I'm still bursting with energy! There have been some brilliant managers who have worked for much longer. Sir Alex [Ferguson] was older. I got a message from Sir Alex, which was nice.
“I have also had an incredible number of messages from so many ex-players. From Mikel Arteta to Brian McBride to Nikica Jelavic to Tim Howard, you name it.
“It's been great getting messages from them. The hardest part right now is responding to everyone.”
However, there isn't much time for pleasantries. Moyes has plenty to go on given Everton's precarious position in the table, just one point outside the relegation zone.
Not that Moyes sees himself as a firefighter-manager called upon to douse the flames.
“I never want to be seen as a specialist in avoiding relegation,” he begins. 'Unfortunately I had to do it a few times.
“I was once relegated in football, but I'm coming back to a club with great traditions and a great history. I want to try to bring the club back to where it was.”
Everton would continually punch above their weight in Moyes' first spell as he built a team sprinkled with stardust but built on a solid foundation of putting in the hard yards.
Qualifying for the Champions League in 2005, then one of four European campaigns, changed the mindset towards a club that had fought relegation dogfights under its predecessors.
With the club moving to a state-of-the-art new stadium this summer, the feeling is that those halcyon days may not be so far away from a return.
Moyes continued: “We're all very excited about going to the new stadium, and I think we're all really looking forward to it.
“It was something where, even at that time, we were talking about new locations, where we could build a new stadium. We're now at the point where it's about to happen, but we have to take it into account. I'm sure we coming there as a Premier League club. We are all aware of that.”
Barely a week into his job, you can already detect a hoarseness in Moyes' voice.
Hours of work on the training ground at Finch Farm, between the media efforts and time spent recruiting this month, has made the last ten days a whirlwind for the Scot.
“If you haven't worked for a while, you haven't used your voice! I've been shouting and preparing, so it's taken its toll.
“I think confidence plays a big role in a lot of things. We played with a good element of confidence at times last night. In the magical moments we just didn't take it and there were chances.”
“There wasn't much in the game. But we have to find a way to make that work in our favor. There's enough left in us to make it happen. We really want to give the crowd something to shout about.”
Evertonians are starved in this regard.
Attacking productivity remains an issue and has been so all season. The Toffees have failed to score in nine of their last 11 Premier League games, scoring just five goals, including two own goals from Craig Dawson in the 4-0 win over Wolves at Goodison Park in early December.
In total, Everton have scored fifteen times this season – only Southampton (13) have scored fewer – but Moyes is looking to the future.
During his first spell at the club, he made a name for himself by buying players from the Championship or making bargain purchases that turned them into Premier League stars.
His situation is different right now because he needs to find people who can contribute immediately, although that doesn't mean he won't try to find those diamonds in the rough.
“We are in the transfer window so we are trying to quickly identify things that could be good for Everton,” he said. “It's been a very busy few days.
“I have to say that probably the problems I've seen at Everton over the years, it seems like the air is clearing and we're getting a little bit better.
“Maybe we still have a little bit to go, and it could have a little impact on our transfer window, but obviously we are talking about bringing in two or three new players.
“It has to be right. It has to be right for Everton and that's probably why I've always taken my time, maybe a little longer, to try and hope that I get it right more often. It's my way of doing things.” It.
“We are now in a world where things are moving much faster, but I always try to get as right as possible. I think managers live and die by their recruitment. You have to get your recruitment right.
“If you do that well you have a chance of winning more games and probably staying in this job for a lot longer. When I was here the first time we had a very good record of buying players and a lot of them came through and became full internationals.”
'I want my Everton to be like Kendall's Cup Winners'
What does Everton mean for Moyes? What are the qualities that make an Everton player loved by supporters?
Moyes immediately remembers the 1985 European Cup II match, when Howard Kendall's men triumphed over Rapid Vienna in Rotterdam.
“If you look through the history of Everton, and I look back at Reidy [Peter Reid]Paul Bracewell, Andy Gray, Sharpie [Graeme Sharp]all those, look at that team, they had something every Evertonian wanted.
“They wanted their teams to be like that. And I think in my time here I always tried to be that way. It was obviously very difficult.
“They had a great manager in Howard [Kendall] also. They had great players. But I think back to my period, we had a team in Everton where we were knocking on the door.
“We were trying to qualify for Europe. You know how we did it, and I think Evertonians would certainly accept that at the moment.
“The Premier League has become much more difficult, much more competitive, more difficult to be a success. If you look at Aston Villa, they have been pouring in good money continuously over the last four, five, six years and now they have the opportunity to be successful to book.” income from Champions League football.
“They are doing very well. They also have an excellent manager. So I don't think you can really achieve success overnight. I think it is a building process. And I think this period is the same again.” a building process for Everton, I think it will take some time to come back.
“But we need to make a bit of progress to progress and move up in the league.”
Success is a building process, but Everton must make a start
Moyes accepts that in the short term the remaining games of this season are more of a 'plaster' to maintain the club's top status.
Everton's problems in front of goal this season have not been helped by the form of their attacking players. Those in senior roles on the pitch have between them scored just nine Premier League goals from a total of 148 shots.
Only two players (Dwight McNeil and Iliman Ndiaye) have a positive xG performance, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin currently has the worst xG performance of any player in the Premier League (-3.22).
Moyes adds: “You always want to go into a job with an idea of what it's going to look like next year, and then a year after that.
“Let's be honest, Everton have probably been in this situation for the last few years. We've probably felt the same, very difficult to look ahead when all you can really do is look at the next game and how you're going to get something.” points.
“Ideally, you want to prepare and start building a team that will improve over the years. Sean [Dyche] He had gone through a very difficult period and he had done a fantastic job of steering the ship in the right direction and getting them over the line when necessary.
“He did a lot of good things for Everton at the time and I have to say I didn't expect him to leave when he did, but on all counts I think it was good for both parties.”
About the near misses before Everton returns
Moyes is now back where he enjoyed 11 successful years, but the 61-year-old may have returned before at various times over the past 12 years.
“There were different times,” he admits. “I met the owners three times to see if I would come back. Once before they took Carlo away [Ancelotti].
“It took a few days before I met them in Germany and so I had everything ready and came back. Carlo was then fired [at Napoli] and they took him away at that time.
“But there have been opportunities at different times where I would come back. It just didn't quite work out. This was something I always wanted if it ever came back.
“I've had a number of opportunities this year to go back to other clubs and I didn't think it was the right time. I didn't expect this job at the time. I was hoping that maybe if things had changed in the summer there might have been It is a consideration, but I did not expect it to come up so quickly.
“But it was one that I thought couldn't be turned down. I know we have difficult situations, but it's one I want to be involved in.”
So why the urge to come back? What was the appeal of Everton?
“I spent 11 and a half years here. I got to know everyone so well. It just felt like a family overall. My family was so close too.
“My dad went everywhere, supported by my dad, drinking too much, pubs, different places. My son was here. My wife, we were always involved. We were completely absorbed in it. Then I left because I felt that it was Okay, I felt like I didn't want to overstay my welcome, time to go.
'I had the opportunity to get another big job [at Manchester United]. That was the reason at the time, I think it was right for all parties, I've said it before. But it just felt good.
“If I could come back, I would. But obviously I have returned to a very different Everton to the one I left and I will probably come back to a different David Moyes.”
“Longevity in football, especially in football management, is not easy. To be a manager who has been in the same job for eleven and a half years, that is not easy.
“I actually think there's probably more stress and pressure at work. Maybe there's a world that wants change a little bit faster than what's happened. So I think there's a lot of reasons why I think it's going to be harder to move through to go .
“But my long life has given me more than a thousand games. I have managed several clubs and enjoyed every club. And I will continue to do that, but I am not going to become Roy Hodgson.”
“I'm not going to become Neil Warnock and carry on. I don't expect to be doing this for that long.”
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