Everton vs Chelsea preview - Moyes urges fans to be realistic - 7M sport

Everton vs Chelsea preview - Moyes urges fans to be realistic



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Posted Sunday, May 22, 2011 by PA

Everton manager David Moyes has promised supporters he will spend the summer looking for players to improve his squad.

But the Scot has warned fans not to get carried away with thoughts of toppling the country's top clubs.

For a second year in succession, the Toffees have finished the season strongly and left people wondering what might have been had they started brightly or had money to spend.

Everton, who look set to end the Barclays Premier League campaign in seventh, have spent little in the last three transfer windows due to a lack of funds.

Moyes said: "The media will speculate about players, most of them probably miles off the mark.

"What that does to the supporters is lead them in a wrong direction.

"I have always said, unless you hear it from me, don't believe it.

"My job is always to give supporters the best team I possibly can.

"I will try to do that with what we have available. I will try to make sure I get them the best team we can.

"But let's not be kidded. Next season is going to be incredibly difficult with what is going on.

"For Evertonians to be expecting us to do any more than seventh then I think they would need to tell me the reasons why they think we should be higher than where they are just now."

Moyes' summer plans suggest a commitment to the Goodison Park cause despite repeated speculation linking him with wealthier clubs.

The former Preston manager has often spoken of the difficulties of trying to compete on relatively meagre resources but has rarely complained about the situation.

"I will have a chat with the chairman next week some time and we will try to work out what we are going to do," he said.

"We have identified players for the last three, four, five years that we have never been able to do for different reasons.

"But we will see what happens, there are no rules to it. We will try to be ready for the start of next year.

"We do have a good team. If we can get the players playing we have a good side and with the right people joining them we could compete again with the teams at the top."

Looking forward to his summer recess, Moyes said: "I hope we can have a really good summer and we can try to have a freshness when we come back at the start of pre-season.

"I am going to have a break. I work hard throughout the year, watching games, taking training, doing all the work.

"It is important I actually get to that position where, when I do come back, I am starting to look at the team and formulate a side for next season."

Carlo Ancelotti has insisted he would not care if Roman Abramovich failed to tell him to his face that he had been sacked as Chelsea manager.

Ancelotti appears set to lose his job next week at a meeting with the club's hierarchy.

Despite the ultimate decision over his fate resting with billionaire owner Abramovich, the Russian is unlikely to deliver the news himself but rather let that fall to either chief executive Ron Gourlay or chairman Bruce Buck.

Having masterminded Chelsea's first ever double last season, Ancelotti could be forgiven for thinking he is owed an explanation from Abramovich himself if he is given the boot.

But he said: "It doesn't matter."

The double win is unlikely to spare Ancelotti the chop, with the Italian having followed it up by overseeing the Blues' worst season of the Abramovich era.

He has still managed to guide them to second place in the Barclays Premier League after their worst league run for almost 15 years threatened to see them fail to finish in the top four.

At almost any other club, finishing runners up would be considered a success but the lack of public backing for Ancelotti since Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League last month appears the latest demonstration of how failure to win silverware is simply not tolerated at Stamford Bridge.

Yet, Ancelotti had no complaints about the support he has had from above.

"Until the last day I work here, the club have given me the support," he said. "Also in this moment, when things were not so good, this is enough for me. If they want to change, it's their decision."

But he also hinted that expecting Chelsea to win a trophy every season was unrealistic.

He said: "To win every year is not easy because it's a very competitive competition, the Premier League.

"There are a lot of teams involved, Manchester United, City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool - so it's not easy to win every year."



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