McGeady on Moyes: Everton manager is working with tied hands

• Everton beat Ipswich Town 1-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday to reach seven matches unbeaten in all competitions before the international break.
• Deadline day sales of Iliman Ndiaye, Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson raised over £100 million, but a late move for Monaco striker Folarin Balogun collapsed.
• David Moyes has 18 outfield first-team players, with only 16 fit, following Aiden McGeady’s remarks that the manager is working with “his hands tied behind his back”.

Everton squad depth: how the deadline day shortfall happened

Everton have gone seven matches unbeaten in all competitions, sealed by Saturday’s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at Hill Dickinson Stadium. That is the good news.

The harder number is 18, the size of Moyes’ outfield first-team squad heading into the international break, with only 16 of those players currently fit because of injuries to Christian Norgaard and Merlin Rohl.

The McGeady Everton Moyes debate that has followed the win is really about that shortfall.

Deadline day brought in over £100 million from the sales of Ndiaye, Beto, Iroegbunam and Patterson, plus a loan exit for Adam Aznou.

A parallel deal for AS Monaco’s Folarin Balogun never got over the line, leaving Moyes short of a recognised out-and-out striker.

Supporters have watched the squad thin out at both ends of the pitch this year.

There is more detail on the club’s other outgoing business in our piece on interest in Jarrad Branthwaite, while the cup schedule adds fixture congestion to a squad already stretched; we covered that angle in our report on targeting Carabao Cup silverware.

It is against that backdrop that Aiden McGeady’s comments landed this week, first flagged in our initial report on the Republic of Ireland international’s comments.

The former winger, signed by Roberto Martinez from Spartak Moscow in 2014, made 43 appearances and scored once for the club.

He now watches Everton as a pundit, and his reading of the numbers is blunt.

The expert angle: McGeady says board disconnect leaves Moyes short

Speaking to Boylesports, McGeady set out why an unbeaten run can still sit above a fragile squad.

“It’s going to be difficult, the squad is pretty light. I think everybody would agree with that, I think that goes without saying,” he said, in his interview with Boylesports.

He pointed to the pattern in Moyes’ results: solid at the back, short of goals up front.

“Keeping clean sheets is David Moyes’ mantra. It’s been his whole career, hasn’t it? Most of his teams have always been difficult to beat. But yeah, that’s the problem, where are the majority of goals going to come from?” McGeady said.

That is where Jack Grealish comes in. McGeady rated his first season at the club highly.

“I think Jack Grealish did well last season at Everton. By all accounts, the fans took to him,” he said, before explaining why keeping him matters this season.

“They’re a little bit light on creativity and Jack Grealish is one that fits the bill. He’s really important for the team because I think a lot of the fans were really unhappy with how the transfer window ended.”

McGeady welcomed the fact Everton got that deal done, even if it was not the only business he wanted to see.

“So, to get him in is great, though Moyes would have liked a striker in as well, like Folarin Balogun, which never happened. But hopefully come January they’ll get some reinforcements in,” he added.

His sharpest line was reserved for the club’s ownership rather than the dressing room.

“It looks like things have been difficult because the ownership are quite clearly not communicating with the manager, the things that I’ve read,” McGeady said.

He was careful to frame that as his own reading of public reporting rather than direct knowledge, but the conclusion he draws from it is stark. An 18-man outfield squad, missing a senior striker, is the visible result.

What happens next for Everton before the January window

There is no fixture to hide behind here. Everton head into the international break with the same 18 outfield players, two of them, Norgaard and Rohl, still working their way back from injury. Moyes cannot add to that group until the winter market opens.

McGeady’s own answer to the Everton Moyes question is January reinforcements, specifically the kind of striker option that Balogun represented before that deal collapsed.

Nothing beyond that is confirmed, and Everton have not stated any fresh targets since deadline day closed.

Until then, the calculation for Moyes is simple. Sixteen fit outfield players have to cover a return to domestic and cup football with no depth to spare.

Every fresh knock between now and the window reopening tightens that squeeze further, and it is why McGeady’s verdict has cut through this week despite Everton’s unbeaten run staying intact.

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