So the David Moyes experiment has ended in a childish and embarrassing way. This has been the case with any news coming out of Manchester United this season.
Yes, I am glad to see the back of Moyes, but I feel bad for the guy in the way his sacking has proceeded.
A lot of rumours were circling around that our glorious CEO Mr Woodward, leaked the story to the press before telling Moyes, which shows just how little this guy knows about running a football club.
If only the Glazers’ next sacking can be him.
It was sad to a see man, who has held himself with much integrity, be shown the door in the way that Moyes has. Moyes should’ve been informed first, without the glare and kilometres long trail of news journalists trailing Carrington Ground, and his sacking should never have been made into a speculation circus that was plastered over tabloids worldwide 24 hours before the man was informed.
It’s yet another immature move from United, following the departure of our old CEO David Gill.
And the whole thing about the Glazers not sacking him until it was mathematically impossible for us to play in the Champions League next season – which was done to avoid having to pay out that few extra million as per his contract – was a little shady from them too.
But moving on, I really had nothing against Moyes. He seems like a well grounded chap with no agenda behind his actions.
But when you see your club who won the league by 11 points be outplayed by minnows, be out manoeuvred by minnows and humiliated week after week by minnows, you surely know that change was to come.
This Moyes experiment was simply a disaster. He was never cut out to be the ‘chosen one’, he never had the credentials, experience or wit to take on one of the biggest challenges in world football.
Tactics and decision making was probably Moyes’ downfall. The guy made every possible negative decision one could make in his 10-month tenure. His tactics, team choices and structure destroyed United in every possible way.
The fact he thought Chris Smalling was superior to Rafael was just baffling, his constant faith in Fellani was bizarre and his ability to destroy the likes of Juan Mata by playing him out of position was mind-boggling.
But the moment he cleared out the 2012/13 backroom was when you knew it was all going wrong. His assistants just look thick, dull and overwhelmed.
Moyes constant talks about trying and insists on calling Liverpool favourites. That and wanting to aspire to be Manchester City are just a few of the selected errors that have made him far unworthy of being the manager of England’s most-successful club in recent decades. But mind you, this is just a selected few examples, I could go on and on about the errors he has made.
Moyes is a man who accepts failure, and that kind of man has no place at Manchester United.
I have written several articles on him and the club this season. They started of as being fairly optimistic, then desperately optimistic, then they just had a complete loss of hope and faith in the man that was supposed to make it right.
After the sacking was confirmed, so many stories have come out about player rebellion, disharmony and dislike. This kinda makes this whole picture make a lot more sense.
Yes the buck stops with the manager but the players have to accept some of the blame. I agree with Roy Keane that “some of the players should be ashamed of themselves because they really let him down.”
They did let him down, they weren’t playing for him, which resulted in them not playing for that red crest on their shirt.
Moyes couldn’t inflict fear into them, he couldn’t inflict respect or fire them up in anyway. It was just a toxic relationship all round.
People say we didn’t give him enough time. People compare his start to that of Sir Alex 27 years ago, but the damning fact is that Sir Alex didn’t inherit a side that won the league by 11 points.
He didn’t inherit a team that had have funds at their disposal. He inherited a relegation-battled side with limited funds to spend.
The situations are completely different. Ten months of failure was never going to be good enough.
Now as we look to the future, two of my idols growing up are now part of the managerial make up at United for the next three matches: Good ol’ Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and cult hero Nicky Butt.
It’s going to be surreal seeing Giggsy manage this club, I can just imagine him subbing himself on in the last 15 minutes of the match against Southampton and scoring a goal that will continue his record of scoring in every EPL season since its inception.
The next three weeks will be fun. It will be the numbing cream which will make us forget the season from hell and our current league position.
It’ll also be interesting to see who the next manager will be.
My personal preference would be Jurgen Klopp, the mad scientist with the infectious smile and bold personality that would have the charm and wit to take on such a mammoth challenge.
It is pivotal that the board do not get this wrong. We cannot fall any further behind the top-four teams. Money must be spent, youth must be blooded and a strong, bold coach with the ability to succeed against adversity must be appointed.
United are a wounded animal and need a feisty, mad zoo keeper to kick the living life back into them. It’s going to be a scary one for us United people who have never experienced this amount of unpredictability and instability.
Enjoy title 19 Liverpool, ’cause we will be back.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Erik ten Hag hopes Manchester United's nail-biting last-eight win over arch-rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup can prove the turning point in a challenging…
Phil Foden has led Manchester City's fightback - even despite an astonishing miss by Erling Haaland - as the champions beat Manchester United 3-1…
Arsenal remain just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after trouncing Newcastle 4-1 to continue their rich vein of form. Rebounding quickly from…
Watching Manchester United trip, stumble and struggle in English Premier League football is compellingly appealing, satisfying and almost comical for those of us who…
It was a move retro by comparison to much of the Premier League, and indeed modern football: a natural right-footed winger stationed on the…
Manchester United knew their task: beat Bayern Munich at home. They also knew their limitations, with the other game in the group, requiring a…
