- 18/05/2025
Everton boss David Moyes previews their final game at Goodison Park before moving to Bramley Moore Dock as they prepare to face relegated Southampton
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
Finch Farm, Liverpool, UK
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00:00First of all, how are you feeling about Goodison's final ever Premier League game now?
00:08First and foremost is that I'm getting prepared for a game. It would be really important for us
00:14to try and get another three points and keep trying to be as high up the league table as
00:19we possibly can. I think when we came in, the position we were in wasn't good and I think
00:26we've got ourselves a lot stronger position now and I want us to remain there. I want us to try and
00:31finish as high as we possibly can. Have you been able to balance that with all the emotion
00:36surrounding this week? I know it's kind of outside the dressing room environment because it's coming
00:40from the fans, but at the same time it obviously permeates into the dressing room as well, isn't it?
00:45Coming from the media as well, if you've got to say. There's been a lot of things getting asked
00:49from the media about Goodison. There's a lot of people who are probably a lot wise and
00:55a bit more knowledgeable about Everton and also about Goodison than I am, but we've had
00:59a lot of talk about it just now and it's great history. There's some great stories and obviously
01:06there's been great managers and players who've all performed here. So I'm just the one who's
01:12going to shut the door on the way out, certainly on the way out for the men. We're looking forward to
01:17the ladies joining us, but it'll be sad when it goes, but we're moving into something which we
01:24think will give us a bigger and better future. How do you feel though about that responsibility
01:29as being the manager that effectively shuts the door on the men's team playing at Goodison?
01:34Well, I'll tell you what, it might sound difficult, but it wasn't as difficult, I think,
01:38that was I going to keep Everton up or not. That was far bigger responsibility in a far bigger
01:44situation or was I going to take the team into the new stadium in the championship or in the
01:48Premier League. So that was something which I was concerned about. But we're seeing the end of
01:54Goodison now and we're coming to the end. I think all the Evertonians have been waiting in this moment
01:59for a long time in some ways because it was something everybody's been looking forward to
02:03as a new stadium. So we're getting there. It'll be a sad day. I think it'll be an emotional day for a lot of people.
02:09I've got to keep the players focused in the game and try to do the best we can in the game.
02:14The fact that it remains as an arena for the women's team, what does that say about the commitment of
02:19the club's owners now? Well, I think it's something which is really good for the city in some ways
02:25as well that Goodison's going to stay. I'm sure there'll be bits all get tidied up in Goodison and
02:32maybe the offices will keep working and maybe the football in the community will still have a hub there.
02:37So hopefully there's a lot of good things coming from it staying. It certainly will be great for
02:42the ladies' teams playing there as well and for other teams who come to play there. It's an iconic
02:46stadium and it should be something that anybody who comes to play there looks forward to.
02:51Obviously off the pitch, Angus has come in now as Chief Exec. I just wonder, have you been able to
02:57make any progress now as regards the contracts for those players that could possibly leave in the
03:02summer? Can we possibly expect any announcements before that final game?
03:05Yeah, we may announce something before the final game. We're down the road with quite a few
03:10situations at the moment where there's quite a lot going on behind the scenes. We're just not quite
03:15there yet with the announcement, but we're not too far away. I think you can't give us any hints.
03:20No, and I think it would be wrong because I always say that I'd like to make sure that the players are all
03:25aware of situations and there's some other situations. We've got an awful lot of players on loan,
03:30we've got a lot of players coming out of contract, we've got a big turnover of players. All those
03:36things come into our decision making and there's one or two difficult things we have to decide on
03:42and we're just getting along to doing that now.
03:44Irrespective of his own contract situation, I think it would be nice if Seamus Coleman was leading
03:50the team out as captain of the week. I'm not trying to pick the team for you, David, obviously,
03:54but I mean, how much does that come into your thinking as well because of your long association
03:59with Seamus himself as well? Yeah, it does come into my thinking. But what I will say,
04:04you know, Saturday or Sunday, I should say, Sunday's a game where we're going to do everything we can
04:10and make sure we prepare the best and play the best we can. But Seamus will stay next season,
04:16without doubt. Seamus will be part of the group. I need him here. His leadership,
04:22his sort of message he has amongst the players and in the dressing room is so strong, it would be
04:29wrong of me to let him go. So one way or the other, Seamus will be here certainly next season.
04:33How do you look back at that value that you paid for him all those years ago?
04:37Yeah, overpaid, about £60,000, I think, at the time. But it was great money spent. And look,
04:45Seamus has actually a little bit more than been a player here. He's gone into a position where he's
04:50helped the club through some of the most difficult periods. But he's never been to another club.
04:56We put him out in Lonty Blackpool when he first came in. And apart from that, he's been here and
05:02played the games. Did you put him in the bracket as like a modern day legend at the club?
05:06Well, I think so. I mean, legends are normally the ones who win FA Cups and, you know, are involved
05:12in league titles and stuff like that. But I think there's other reasons for Seamus. More
05:15important, he's professionalism, but as a human being. But I think he's also in some ways carried
05:21Everton a little bit through the difficult period. And I know he's certainly done it in the dressing
05:25room. There's a couple of things to check. Jake, is he fit for the weekend?
05:28Jake's fit and available, yes. And finally, for me, I know it's not about sentiment necessarily,
05:34it's about getting three points. But at the same time, when that final whistle goes,
05:37what would be the most sentimental aspect for you personally?
05:42For me, maybe fulfilling a dream to come back. Never expecting it to be, you know,
05:49at this time, you know, I didn't see it coming. I thought I'd be probably sitting in the stand
05:54watching the game with many other great players and people who are coming to the game.
05:58So, honoured to be the one who's, as I said before, shutting the back door on the way out.
06:06But also looking forward to opening the front door of the new building next season as well.
06:11Get the coach greets as well. I think you'll enjoy that.
06:13Yeah, good.
06:13Thanks, David.
06:15Thanks, Finny. We'll move on to Premier League production.
06:19Moving on from that, David, as sentimental as it will be for a lot of Everton fans to be leaving
06:24Goodison. Is it exciting for you and for everybody involved as well to be moving into the new ground
06:28and an iconic place that is going to be a real beacon, if you like, for what is the right future?
06:34Yeah, I think we're all looking forward to it because it's been something which we've been waiting on for
06:38for a long, long time. Certainly all the Everton supporters for many years have been hoping this day might come.
06:46Maybe not the day of leaving Goodison, but certainly the day where we move into a new stadium.
06:50And it's now very close, so we're excited by it.
06:55We hope that it can be something which in another hundred years' time we're all saying it's a great
07:01home and a place we really enjoy playing.
07:04And Southampton obviously would love to try and spoil the party.
07:08Presumably you'll be giving all the due respect that they deserve.
07:11Absolutely. I mean, as I'm saying, there's an awful lot of talk about Goodison which
07:15I completely understand and it deserves every bit of it. But there's also the part of it which,
07:22you know, we've got ourselves 42 points now. You know, we need to see if we can win the last two
07:29games and get ourselves as high up as we possibly can.
07:32Thanks, Fraser. We'll move on to Julia from Radio Merseyside.
07:39Hiya. Hi, Joey.
07:41Just wondering, have you got an eye on this mini-league that you seem to be in? Because a lot of people say,
07:45well, there's not really much on this game. But for you, you're currently above Wolves, West Ham,
07:50Man United and Tottenham. So given where you picked up Everton, to finish above the likes of those,
07:56would that be some achievement? Well, if you'd said that to me when I first came in and I said,
08:00well, I can't see that happening. But I have to say Wolves have done amazingly well because,
08:05you know, they were right at the bottom as well at the time. But for us to sort of keep
08:09a hold of the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United, and I know that both those sides have had
08:13probably, in their eyes, disappointing seasons. But we've had a disappointing season as well.
08:18So we want to finish it as high as we can and if we can finish above them.
08:22When you look back years' time, you'll only look at the league tables, you'll not remember too much,
08:26you'll not remember, you know, what happened, how the managers changed or whatever happened.
08:31You'll just look at the league tables. And you do it now, you look back at seasons I've been here
08:36and you think, well, we finished 8th that year, we finished 9th. And it's nice, it'll be much better
08:42saying that we finished 13th than it would be 17th. So my aim is to try and do that if I can.
08:47Obviously, you know, you are busy with the contract situation and trying to get
08:51everything done and tied up. Do you have an idea of when you would like, particularly players that
08:58are out of contract here, that to be sorted out? Because if that drags on, are you worried they
09:02might be talking to other people? No, I'm not particularly worried. We can only do things at our time.
09:10We've just got Angus in the door, we're trying to put things in place. We've been trying to keep the players
09:17behind the scenes as aware of the situation as we possibly can. We'll let some of them know, probably before the end of this week.
09:28And there'll be others in different situations, but we feel as if we'll have to wait till next week.
09:32So it's a difficult situation when you've got so many of this number out and say, I think we'll get
09:38five players in loan in total, which is the most in the Premier League. So there's different situations
09:46for those boys as well. And we have players out of contract, as you well know, and we will get to it.
09:52So it won't be too long. Long days for you then. And how big a restructure then or rebuild of Everton
10:01is this? I'm thinking that, you know, to your previous tenure here, is it a similar situation
10:05or is this a bigger job to rebuild? I think the situation is a situation you don't see very often.
10:11I'm not saying that there isn't 10 or 11 players out of contract at other clubs, but I think when it's
10:17the situation we're in, you know, we've got five on loan, we don't own five of the players.
10:20So that's a different situation. We have to, you know, at the moment, we're giving those
10:25players a week back probably unless we're going to buy them. So it's an unprecedented situation.
10:31I see when I've come in and know what I've got to do. Do I really want an old huge overhaul?
10:38Probably not. I think I think it's too big a task to try and get it all done at once.
10:42But we'll try and do our best to to get myself better and hopefully a bit higher up the league
10:51if we can. Finally for me, do you have a Goodison Park highlight yourself from your time with Everton?
10:58Undoubtedly arrival the first time, you know, the first day probably coming onto the pitch against
11:03Fulham was probably for me because it was the start. It was the start of something which I was
11:08how long would it last? Would I be a lot of managers six or 10 months in the job?
11:16But I had really good people, really good people who gave me the opportunity to be successful or try
11:21to be successful. Let me go on with my job, didn't interfere and gave me everything they could.
11:28So I think I think arrival for the Fulham game was probably probably that that moment. I think I
11:34remember more than anything. And, you know, I'm in some ways I'm looking forward to having a walk
11:43round Goodison after the game on Saturday. But what we mustn't forget, it isn't the last game of the
11:47season for us. Our players have another game to play. We have to go again the following week. So
11:52we'll enjoy it. But it's not over for us. We have to prepare the team for the following week.
11:58Thank you. Thank you. Good luck.
12:00Thanks, Julia. Will?
12:02Yeah, go to Will.
12:10I will. Talk about the James Collins experience, but Ashley Young played 90 minutes at Fulham. He turned 40 in July.
12:16Incredible. How could he be in the dressing room and can you still see him playing on next season at this level?
12:22I've got to say, Ash is an incredible fit. His professionalism has been brilliant. He's also been
12:30brilliant in the dressing room, which he is. So we'll make a decision we're the same with all the
12:34rest of the players on Ash as well. But it's incredible that he's 40 years old in July. Amazing for
12:40him to be so fit and playing the games and ready to do so. And he trains amazingly well. He really does.
12:46By the same token, I think you've maybe got the second or third highest average start in the
12:52squad in the Premier League. Age-wise.
12:54Age-wise, yeah. Is that something you think you need to bring down or I know you need a bit of experience going
13:00to the new stadium maybe? I think ideally we would like to bring it down if we can. But I think if you
13:08don't have experience, maybe in the situation we're in, we probably need a little bit of experience to
13:12make sure that we are where we want to be next year. I'm not sure that we can go and be a great model
13:18right away and change everything round and suddenly turn all the players we've got into 20 and 21-year-olds
13:24and expect to be a glittering success right away. So I think we'll need to make sure that we're sprinkled with experience.
13:32But obviously, we will over time be looking to try and encourage to get more younger players.
13:38Just finally for me, there's only been four home wins a good season in the league this season.
13:44During your first tenure, it really felt like you could beat anyone at home. So how do you get back to making
13:50Bramie Mordoch a real fortress? Because it has felt maybe in time that I've been a little bit better at waiting to arrive.
14:00I don't know if it's a great question today, just before we go into the last game at Goodison.
14:06I think Goodison has been a brilliant place for us, for everybody who's been here. It's been great to get results.
14:12Brilliant stadium to play in. So I'm certainly not looking at it with a negative sort of questionnaire. You are? No, no, no. Okay.
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