Many pundits, journalists and fans have been queueing up to taunt West Ham with ‘I told you so’s’ as Moyes leads a remarkable Everton resurgence.
Privately the Scot is probably thinking the same thing.
There was a new contract on the table for Moyes from the club’s majority owner David Sullivan after he had led West Ham to back-to-back wins over Man United and Arsenal to close out 2023.
He wasn’t happy with the terms of that new contract, though.
Triumphant Moyes refuses to take the Sullivan bait
Chiefly the fact he was having his power of veto on transfers removed with Tim Steidten taking full control of recruitment and his son David junior being taken out of the scouting setup.
West Ham were sixth place in the table. And Moyes was hoping a strong end to the season would force Sullivan and co to bend to his demands over his contract.
But the Hammers would go on to win just five of their last 25 games under him as things completely unravelled.
In interviews since his departure, before taking the Everton job, Moyes criticised West Ham’s new structure with Steidten heading up the football side.
He has since been proved right on that score with Steidten and his successor Julen Lopetegui sacked.
West Ham are on their second manager since Moyes – an indication that moving on from their most successful boss of the modern era has proved easier said than done.
Moyes resists temptation to make things awkward for West Ham
The temptation would be to rub it in his old club’s face as he gears up for his first reunion with the Hammers.
Especially as Moyes was announced Premier League Manager of the Month on the eve of the game.
Not a bit of it, though.
A triumphant Moyes has refused to make things awkward for Sullivan in his West Ham reunion with Everton.
It was all teed up for him by Sky Sports’ Merseyside reporter Vinny O’Connor, but the 61-year-old would not take the Sullivan bait.
Instead Moyes says facing the Hammers will be different to the times he used to come up against Everton, because he’d done so with various clubs.
And he had nothing but good things to say about his old club and the special bond created by that unforgettable trophy win – West Ham’s only major silverware in the last 45 years.
“There’s a lot of differences now (facing West Ham than Everton),” Moyes said in his press conference.
“I’d faced Everton with Manchester United and other clubs as well (before I went to West Ham). So it is different.
“Because I left a club that I really, really enjoyed and had a great time with everybody at the club, you know the times we had.
‘It’s a really difficult situation to be coming up against West Ham’
“After winning the European trophy and coming back (after Prague) and to see what what the east end of London was like was fantastic.
“And to be fair I’ve not brought all the players (who are there now) into West Ham. But the bulk of them probably were on my watch really.
“And I’ve got a lot of really close bonds with the players there, so it will be great to see them all but a really difficult situation to be coming up against them.”Pure class from West Ham’s former manager.
Much to the relief of Sullivan and co, who he could have had squirming had he really wanted to.
In his final days as Hammers boss last year, Moyes conceded it is the ‘right decision for all concerned’.
“I’m really comfortable with the situation,” Moyes said at the time.
“I’ve talked about it with my family, and I think it’s the right decision for all parties.
“We’ll go our separate ways after a really successful period.”
Moyes earned the moniker the Moyesiah so good was the job he did at West Ham.
No matter what your stance on the Hammers boss and some of the football over his last couple of seasons, nobody could dispute that.
West Ham were a laughing stock when he returned to take over from Manuel Pellegrini.
Moyes dragged the entire club up by its bootstraps, got the team fighting for the badge and fans again – and duly saved West Ham from potential relegation for a second time.
Three years of European football followed after sixth and seventh placed finishes crowned with a first major trophy for 43 years.
All good things come to an end, though.
Now it is up to Potter to show there really is life after Moyes. And that West Ham can be competitive again while playing a more entertaining brand of football.
