FEW will have expected the man in the away dug-out to have been the more animated of the two managers.

Paulo Di Canio was characteristically theatrical after the full-time whistle when he bathed in the adulation of another important win, but it was David Moyes who spent most of the game gesticulating on the touchline.

And he wasn’t pointing out anything good.

The Everton manager threw up his arms in disgust, protested angrily with the fourth official and kicked a water bottle as he watched Everton fall meekly to a Sunderland side bursting with energy and enthusiasm.

At full-time Moyes turned and marched down the tunnel, failing to hide his bitter disappointment with what he had seen.

The Blues boss was restrained in his criticism of his players afterwards and even praised them for getting the club into top four contention with only a handful of games remaining in the season.

But privately you can imagine there were less forgiving words exchanged.

Moyes knew full well Everton could not afford a slip-up if they were to remain in with a chance of emulating his side from the 2004/05 campaign.

But the Blues had a streetwise streak right through the team; wise heads with the experience to grind out results back then.

Perhaps the differences between those days and now were highlighted perfectly in Sunderland.

With a quarter of the game remaining, Moyes moved to the edge of his technical area to try and rally his troops to find the goals to keep their fading Champions League hopes alive.

The response was hardly resounding.

Sylvain Distin’s was the lone voice to reinforce the manager’s call while the rest of the players kept quiet.

Many of them had the weary look of an already beaten side.

Many of them looked like they had nothing more to give at the end of a season where they have punched above their weight for so long.

If Everton’s top four hopes had to end, this is not how Moyes or the supporters imagined it happening.

When the Blues needed to dip into that pool of grit and determination, they found it largely dry.

After three demanding games in the space of a week, tired bodies were understandable but the worrying aspect was that it felt there was a lack of leadership on the pitch.

With captain Phil Neville on the bench and his successor Phil Jagielka injured, Everton struggled without someone to fire them up and drag them from their slumber.

Had Moyes been able, he would have pulled on the royal blue shirt and been the one to do so. Rarely have his side lacked resilience and resolve but when they needed it most of all, it was not there.

Marouane Fellaini, so often the talisman, tried to lead by example but became frustrated at the lack of a response from his team-mates. At one point his exasperations boiled over and he bickered with Nikica Jelavic.

Steven Pienaar looked worryingly off the pace once more, Leon Osman – who wore the captain’s armband – had none of his usual verve and Kevin Mirallas had a largely anonymous afternoon.

Substitutes Ross Barkley and Steven Naismith tried to add the spark which was desperately missing but time was not on their side.

It also appears now that time is up on the Blues’ top four hopes.