David Moyes finally gave Everton supporters something to smile about yesterday by announcing that he is set to sign a new contract at the club this weekend. The manager’s present deal runs out at the end of the season and the uncertainty about his future had added to the general sense of drift at the club, which has contributed to their disappointing start to the season.

Little has gone right for Moyes and his players since the start of the season and in the past ten days they have been knocked out of the Carling Cup by Blackburn Rovers, outclassed at home by Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League and eliminated from the Uefa Cup by Standard Liège.

“I have always said I am staying put,” Moyes said yesterday. “[The contract] may not be signed yet, but it certainly will be in the next few days. The lawyers are working through things just now and over the next day or two, and maybe before the weekend I will be able to say I have signed at Everton.”

Several Everton players were said to have questioned their manager’s commitment to the club during clear-the-air talks this week, but Moyes denied reports that he had argued with his squad about his future after last weekend’s 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby.

“When footballers cross the line, it doesn’t affect them, it is 11 v 11, and I have already been saying that my future is at Everton and this is where I want to be,” he said. “People who write or talk about it don’t understand if that’s what they think players do. All it does is give talk or credence to why we are not doing well. The reason we are not doing well is because we are not playing well enough, and my job is to make us do better.”

Tying Moyes down to a new long-term contract, believed to be worth up to £60,000 a week, will bring much-needed stability, but other important issues such as the ownership of the club and the future of the controversial proposal to move to a new stadium in Kirkby need to be addressed. Bill Kenwright, the chairman, has admitted that he does not have the funds to compete with the billionaires who call the shots in the Premier League and new investment is required to help Moyes to bring the glory days back to the club.

“The board’s ambitions are as high as mine,” Moyes said. “The one thing that I have had is fantastic backing from Bill Kenwright. Every penny he’s been able to give me, he has done so. I can say that sincerely. I can’t ask for any more. But Bill has quite openly said that if he can get some backing, then it would be a help. I’m sure he means a help for the team and a help for the club in general.”

To help to lift the air of doom and gloom, Moyes’s team have to win at home – something that they have not managed to do this season. Newcastle United at Goodison Park tomorrow, with Joe Kinnear in charge of the visiting team for the first time, would appear to be perfect opponents, but Moyes and his players are taking nothing for granted. “It’s a dangerous game,” Phil Neville, the captain, said. “They’ve still got quality players and a new manager, which means they’ll be fighting like mad. We’re coming back from a European defeat, so it’s a big test. As a captain, I can say the team wants to give our fans something to shout about. They had such high expectations for the season and we’ve let them down so far.”

By signing a new contract, Moyes is hoping to send out a message to his players that he is committed to the club and up for the fight. Now it is up to his players to show their mettle. “The results aren’t good,” Moyes said. “I can’t hide the fact.

“Losing at Goodison is not something we have been used to. That has been hard to take. In truth, our away form has been very good. But I’m sure [losing at home] will change – because it’s Goodison, because of the players, because of what we have got there.”