THERE is a ‘rule’ about football management that says you should never get too high after a win – and David Moyes has mastered it. I bumped into him in the tunnel at Goodison Park after a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon watching Everton dismantle Blackburn Rovers and the first thing I said was: “How good was that?” David, however, was relatively unmoved and simply replied: “Aye, it wasn’t too bad.” Some may say that he is a killjoy but, in actual fact, you would rather see him like that than getting carried away and jumping for joy. The manager, you see, has to keep driving his players and finding different ways to do it, so it would be folly for him to tell the players that they had produced the perfect performance, even if that was the case. Beating Blackburn with great comfort was another step in the right direction and came at the end of a positive week but there is still a lot of work to be done to get back in the top six and David knows he cannot afford to rest on his laurels. However, if the lads maintain their current standards, we will be occupying a position up there sooner rather than later – everywhere you looked against Blackburn, you saw signs of players coming into top form. Take Tim Howard – people will accuse me of bias but the saves he made when we were only one goal up enabled us to maintain our advantage and build on it. Then there was Louis Saha, who could easily score 20 goals this season if he stays away from the injuries that have blighted his career. But it was just so encouraging to see the Blues playing with a swagger again to show we have got over the Joleon Lescott saga. That certainly put the club out of kilter and had a big impact on the opening weeks but things have now settled. Now there is a chance to make up lost ground and don’t be surprised if we put a winning run together – but, equally, don’t expect the manager to do cartwheels. Everton FC should go all-out for Carling Cup success >>> | 
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