David Moyes has urged David Unsworth not to give up on management and to consider a job in the lower leagues when his time as Everton’s caretaker comes to an end.
Unsworth’s hopes of showing that he was the right man for the job after stepping in for Ronald Koeman last month have slipped away following five defeats in his first seven games, with Everton two points above the bottom three after losing 4-1 at Southampton on Sunday.
However Moyes, who could increase the pressure on his former side by leading 18th-placed West Ham United to victory at Goodison Park on Wednesday night, believes the 44-year-old should not hesitate to prove himself as a No1 elsewhere, perhaps beneath the Premier League, once Everton install a new manager.
“If he doesn’t take the Everton job, I think I would be telling Unsy to go and manage somewhere and earn your corn,” Moyes said. “If you want to move on, go and get a job in the Championship or League One. I think there has been a generation of really good players out there who I believe should go and manage and try and come up.
“I would say earn your stripes first and show you can organise so that you can control the team and show that your training works, all the things that are linked with management and leadership. Why don’t you go and do that and then get yourself prepared for the big job? But because the way the game has gone now there are a lot of them who don’t want to put themselves out and take a job because if this doesn’t work then they are done. I still believe the best thing to do is to go out and trust yourself to win a few games wherever you go.”
Moyes said he would not relay that message to Unsworth on Wednesday. “I think one way or another David Unsworth will still be hoping he will be Everton manager, and why should he not be?” he said. “He has to do that. But if he doesn’t get it, for Unsy he has done a very good job with Everton under-23s. I think he won the league last year, they are up towards the top of the league. Maybe the next step for Unsy is to try and get a decent job which would give him a chance of getting into the management level and get a few years under his belt.”
Yet Moyes, who spent 11 years at Goodison Park, will not be feeling sentimental when West Ham look to leapfrog Everton with a first victory under their new manager. “I need to win with West Ham, it’s really important we try and pick up three points,” he said. “We got our first point last week and we need a first clean sheet and a first three points. I’m hopefully going to get one of them when I go back to Goodison.
“Everton was part of my life, part of my family’s life, for a great deal of time. I don’t think many managers will do 11 years at a club again, but I’ve been away a long while now and I’ve been back as well. It’s a great place – the staff, the people behind the scenes – and I know a lot of the players and I know David Unsworth very well. He scored 25 seconds into my first game as manager, so I’ll always remember Unsy for that and he’s a good lad as well.
“I think when you are a manager you always look at how difficult it is for other managers,” Moyes added. “There’s no managers getting an easy ride. Unsy has taken over in a difficult period.”