Sir Alex Ferguson always used to say Elland Road was the worst place for Manchester United to visit, on the basis "they gave us the impression lynching was too good for us". Anfield was next, for obvious reasons, but it might be a surprise that Goodison Park was the other place he used to mention, ahead of Maine Road, Upton Park or any of the other places where that little red lucifer and his trident traditionally inspired so much rage. "It wouldn't matter if we had Dixie Dean playing for us," Ferguson said. "It is always a bloody nightmare going there."

For David Moyes, it is certainly going to be a different experience on Sunday than he has ever encountered before at Everton, the place he called the People's Club. The last time he was there, a line of stewards clapped him through the front door. The players formed a guard of honour to usher him on to the pitch and it is difficult to think of a more moving send-off for any other manager in the Premier League era, bar Brian Clough and Ferguson. "From Death's Door to European Tours, Thank You David Moyes," a banner read in the Gwladys Street end. Another said simply: "Great Memories". The public announcer introduced him as "the one, the only, Mr David Moyes". It was a hero's ovation.

Football is a strange industry sometimes. It feels like the emotions and loyalties change as swiftly as firelight and, without any context, no doubt it will confuse many outsiders that a lot of the people who serenaded Moyes last May view him now with something bordering on contempt. "Moyes is part of Everton's history," the Liverpool Echo reminded its readers on Friday. "His era was, by and large, one of stability and progress." Yet the chants from the away end at Old Trafford, when Everton won there in December, were loud and vindictive and should probably give United's manager a flavour of what to expect.

It is a pity because there is always something to admire when a returning manager is applauded to his seat and Moyes will not be alone in thinking he probably deserves better. The other side of the argument – and it will be heard on all four sides of the ground – is that he broke the relationship, not them. Every manager has to use his elbows sometimes. Moyes's, unfortunately, have banged into Everton's ribs enough times to create the separation, even if he does not necessarily see it that way.

It was always the risk because, realistically, it was never going to be possible to have a totally clean break. These things can escalate quickly and it has been revealing to see the change in the way they talk of Moyes at his old club.

For one thing, it has not been easy keeping track of the list of players, Leighton Baines being the latest, who have made it clear they prefer working for Roberto Martínez than the old guy. Kevin Sheedy, Everton's youth-team coach, has accused Moyes of virtually ignoring the academy. Graeme Sharp has said the culture under Moyes made young players "petrified" to make a mistake. Neville Southall, another important Everton voice, has described as "despicable" Moyes's perceived hypocrisies in trying to get Baines and Marouane Fellaini on the cheap. And in the past few days, several disparaging comments have appeared on the Twitter feed of Everton's head chef, who now claims he was hacked and has deleted his account. The head chef! At this rate, Moyes must wonder how long it will be before the Toffee Lady decides to go public and complain that he never complimented her frock.

Sheedy's comments seemed unfair when the wall outside his office is decorated with photographs of the youngsters who have made it into the first team, even before considering Moyes's habit of driving to the other end of the country to check out a promising teenager. People should not forget that the 18-year-old John Stones was his last signing for Everton. But then, some people clearly have short memories. More than anything, it is worth remembering Moyes did an awful lot more good for his former club than bad.

What cannot be denied, however, is that Martínez's ability to lift and invigorate the entire club has magnified the fact Moyes, to quote Sam Allardyce, has aged about 10 years in his new job. It is not the jeers that will hurt him the most. It is the 37-point swing between the two teams from the same stage last season. Or the fact that his replacement has already surpassed Moyes's best points total, with four games still to play.

A few days ago, I was directed to an article – and it is surprising this has never been picked up elsewhere – that a former Everton executive by the name of Ian Ross wrote for a public-relations firm a couple of months into the season. Ross worked with Moyes for 10 years, initially as director of communications, and introduces himself as having been part of a four-man team that ran the club with Bill Kenwright, including six months as acting chief executive. Moyes, he wrote, will "unquestionably upset and irritate far more people than he will amuse and beguile. The initial convivial smiles will disappear to be replaced by the more familiar pale-faced grimaces which so characterised his years on Merseyside."

The manager he remembers "built teams which were designed to avoid defeat" and "often – indeed, too often for comfort – stood accused of regarding narrow defeats at the hands of his club's perceived betters akin to triumphs". His conclusion is: "Moyes's fate will almost certainly be decided by his ability, or lack of it, within the transfer market. He often bought both well and prudently but I was once shown a list of the players offered to Moyes who he subsequently declined to take a chance on. It would be wrong to go into detail here – but it was one hell of a lineup."

It is not the most flattering character reference, but my guess is that it ties in with the suspicions of a lot of United supporters, and likewise the suggestion further into the same piece that "the 'Everton mentality' is so deeply ingrained that he will struggle to adapt to life at a club where winning is not regarded as a bonus but demanded". That prediction has become a reality, and it is why we should keep an open mind about what the Glazer family, United's owners, do next. One certainty: after this match, everybody should have a better impression whether his players are genuinely behind him.

Moyes has deliberately stayed away from Goodison until now – "time is a big healer," he explains – which indicates he does, deep down, understand why the bad feeling exists.

He is accused, in short, of double standards. At Everton, Moyes hated nothing more than the sense that bigger clubs were patronising or bullying them. Manchester City embarked on a public pursuit of Joleon Lescott a few years back and Moyes described it as "disgusting". Then, within weeks of replacing Ferguson, he was perceived to be doing something similar. "I know if I was the Everton manager and Sir Alex had come asking for Baines and Fellaini, I would have found it very difficult to keep them," he said. "I always felt the right thing to do was what was right for the players." That was the killer quote. And it was dubious, to say the least.

All the same, it still does not quite add up that someone who gave everything to Everton over eight years is being threatened with the hate-mob treatment. Martínez, lest it be forgotten, went back to Wigan to sign three of their players. He managed it without any of this demonising. Ultimately, though, if Moyes is ever going to display that he is suitable to manage United he really ought to be able to face it down.

Goals galore but City are far from the summit

Manchester City need two more goals to make it 144 in all competitions for the season and establish themselves as the most prolific top-division team in history, wiping out a 56-year-old record set by Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United.

Manuel Pellegrini's side had reached the century by mid-January, eight games quicker than any other team has previously managed, and there are four City players who have scored more than 20 times. Yaya Touré has 22 when, to put it into context, the seven central midfielders at Manchester United have managed five between them.

It is impressive stuff. But here's another statistic. In the past two seasons, City have spent a grand total of 15 days at the top of the Premier League. Eight of them came this season, the longest being a four-day spell at the end of January, and there was a week at the summit in November 2012.

In the same two-year period, United have had 197 days at the top, Chelsea 137, Arsenal 128 and Liverpool 44.

It was never going to be easy to achieve all their ambitions straight away but these are years five and six of the Abu Dhabi era at City, and it is fair to say the sheikh and his family expected more. If their position in the league is irreparable, one Capital One Cup in two years makes an unsatisfactory return, no matter how impressive the highlights reel.

Fans on the ball – but can't beat the wall

That was a new one at Bloomfield Road on Friday when Blackpool's supporters staged a protest against Karl Oyston and, briefly, tennis balls stopped play. Yet they still have some way to go before beating what happened at Rapid Vienna last season, when a group of disgruntled fans worked through the night to build a brick wall directly in front of the main entrance, attaching a photograph of the general manager, Werner Kuhn, with the message: "Ich darf nicht hinein." Translation: "I'm not allowed in." Ingenious, though it should be noted Kuhn still has his job, almost a year on.