ACCORDING to North End, Preston will pocket a packet if David Moyes can keep Everton up.

They are annual relegation candidates, and a succession of backroom problems have spilled out onto the pitch.

Not even a manager with the reputation of Walter Smith has managed to put the good back in Goodison and the question now has to be: Is Moyes the Man?

He certainly has a reputation for turning things around. He did it at North End - but he had the best part of half a season to do it.

At Everton, he has just nine games to turn around a team which have struggled to perform all season.

He will have to deal with Premiership egos as well - something never tolerated by Moyes at Deepdale.

And the run-in couldn't be tougher for Moyes either. Everton are only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

Next up are Fulham - a game they need to win just to pull themselve clear of the drop zone. But the big-spending Londoners have been nobody's mugs this season.

They also have to play Newcastle, Chelsea and Arsenal before the season is out, along with Blackburn Rovers - who have started to come good after a poor midseason sent them into the bottom three.

For North End fans, as much as it would amuse to see Everton at Deepdale next season (assuming North End don't get promoted) the cash released to Preston if the Merseyside men stay up could be much more beneficial in the long run.