When David Moyes left Everton after managing the club for 11 years to take the Manchester United job it seemed to be met with mixed views from the football community.
Many pointed to the fact Moyes had failed to win a trophy in his time at Everton, wondering how Manchester United could appoint someone with his record to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson.
Others argued Moyes had done a brilliant job at Everton with limited resources, taking over a club in a relegation scrap and turning them into a consistent Premier League club.
Certainly many Everton fans felt the club had become stale under Moyes and a change was needed for both. Moyes did a great job in always convincing people that little old Everton were competing with the big teams and even convincing people that Everton were fortunate to have him.
Yet the separation from Everton has not been a positive one for Moyes.
Whoever took over from Ferguson was going to have a difficult time. Moyes initially signed a long-term contract but was sacked after only 10 months in charge, the third shortest managerial stint in Manchester United’s history.
The Moyes reign saw some unwanted history created during his tenure. West Brom, Newcastle and Everton picked up their first wins at Old Trafford in over 20 years. Stoke also enjoyed their first victory over United in 30 years.
Some felt Moyes should have been given more time but the win-loss ratio is always the most important in analysing performance. After a 2-0 loss to Everton, a result which meant United could not qualify for the Champions League sitting in seventh place on the table, the decision to sack Moyes was made official.
The next move for Moyes was always going to be a very important one. It did not take long for him to be linked with struggling Premier League clubs.
Moyes took his time in accepting his next managerial position, obviously wary his reputation had taken a battering after his United experience. On November 10, 2014 Moyes signed on as manager of Real Sociedad in Spain. Many felt the move was a good opportunity for Moyes to rebuild his reputation in a different country.
Almost a year on, has the move paid dividends?
The answer unfortunately for Moyes is no. When Moyes took over Real Sociedad were sitting 15th on the table. Sociedad did show some improvement under Moyes, finishing the campaign in 12th, but the true test was always going to be how the 2015-16 campaign unfolded.
Unfortunately this season things have not gone according to plan. Real Sociedad currently find themselves with two wins out of 10 and sitting in 15th. The rumour mill is starting to gather pace that Moyes is under pressure to hold on to his job.
Most recently Moyes had been linked with the vacant Aston Villa job but that position has been filled by ex-Lyon boss Remi Garde.
So where to next for Moyes? He has given every indication he would one day like to return to managing in England. Moyes would be hoping, however, that it would be after a more successful experience in in La Liga.
Who knows, he might hold onto his job and turn it around. But it shows how quickly things change in the world of football. Maybe life at little old Everton was not so bad after all.
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
Reports filtering in now that Moyes has been sacked.
Mitch
Guest
Another loss for Moyes!! Surely gone
Mitch
Guest
I don't care how anyone spins it. Moyes to United was stupidity.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Moyes is the guy who gets you out of the basement driving a Skoda. Give him a Koenigsegg though and he'll crash it straight into an oncoming Mack Truck. Waste of Fu4king time and money this man!
jbinnie
Guest
Liam -While appreciating all that you say could it be that Moyes was thinking ahead of his time for today we are witnessing more and more teams,at all levels employing what could be a defensive style of play based on quick movement back when possession is lost and even faster movement forward when an opponents team is drawn too far out of their defending area. This of course is a tactical ploy but is thought to have originated in Switzerland when a forward looking coach was employed to coach the national team, and,recognising the fact that his players were probably not good enough to take on better players began to tinker with his line-ups in order to stop opponents scoring "easily" thus keeping his team "in the game". Study this evolvement period and you may start to understand why "parking the bus" is a ridiculous description of a tactic that has been around in different forms since the late 1930's,nearly 90 years ago. Cheers. jb.
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
You make some good points. The fact Man United haven't dominated since Moyes left does highlight the squad was in worse shape than what many people thought. But Moyes was still taking over a team that had won the title so automatically the expectation is they should be around the mark for the title the following year. Maybe that was unfair? But the Manchester United fans expect a certain level of results. While Man United have more resources than Everton from a financial point of view, there were still times when Moyes could have played a more attacking brand and simply didn't at Everton. Especially some of those games against Liverpool when Liverpool were completely out of form. Often only playing one striker and generally parking the bus, especially in away games. It became very depressing for Everton fans! Who knows if Moyes would have turned things around if given more time. But I just think when Ferguson was being replaced Moyes was never the right option. Someone who has not won trophies and minimal experience in Champions League didn't add up for a successful union. How Van Gaal is going as manager, well that is another story.
jbinnie
Guest
Liam -Whilst not wishing to enter the debate re.Moyes' credentials this last statement of yours raises a lot of questions in what Moyes' mindset actually was. You mention resources as being an important part of a managers "mindset" and yet apparently don't spell out the differences existing between Everton and Man Utd. Let's take a closer look. First of all I don't think you would question the fact that Moyes was given the United job by a board greatly influenced by Fergie. Moyes had been at a club,Everton, for some years where it was well known they were not heavily into spending big money so the move from a resource poor club to a world "giant" would not have been easy and in fact Moyes only 2 signings for a team that obviously needed re-building were Felliani and Mata (two players who still appear to fit into Van Gaal's strategy for the club). Now there were those who would dispute the re-build claim but compared to Van Gaal's expenditure in the following months Moyes' spending resembles the cost of postage stamps.in a business. What has been acheived in those months following Moyes' departure precious little it would seem,the club did move up 3 places in the finished league and qualified for Europe(a big financial gain) but today are sitting third in that league surrounded by teams ,Leicester & West Ham,that would have cost a fraction of what has been spent at United. When one looks at the big picture has Van Gaal's tenure accomplishes much more than Moyes did bearing in mind the use of those resources you mention.???? Cheers jb
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
Yes 0 wins in over 40 away games. Moyes often sent out Everton very defensively in those games. Many felt he would change his mindset with more resources at Manchester United.
Ian
Guest
Sociedad are playing the 2nd bottom team this weekend, Las Palmas. A loss there and he is in trouble. When he was at Everton what was that record against the top 4 teams? Something like 0 wins in 40 away games or something?
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
Not sure he was highest paid, he was certainly in the top 20 worldwide paid but was still behind a few Premier League managers. But in 2013 Moyes was earning more than the highest paid players at Everton, which were Piennar, Fellaini and Baines at the time. Not sure if that would be all that common at clubs.
Bryce
Guest
Amazing to the think he thought he was too good for Everton. Never won a trophy there and was the highest paid manager in the league! He is a con artist.
Mike
Guest
I think Moyes made the right move in leaving England for the Sociedad job. They are a club as well that don't have a lot of resources. If he can hold his job and get them to a 10th place finish I reckon that is a pass mark and will set him up to get another Premier League job. But a top job is certainly gone.
Paul D
Roar Guru
He can join Sam Allardyce and 'Arry Redknapp as the used car salesman gaffas - bit of wheeler dealing, making do with limited resources. Yes, I know you're not a used car salesman 'Arry but you should be.
Kim
Guest
If Moyes gets sacked again then his reputation will be beyond repair. The Man U experience itself has pretty much destroyed this anyhow. It also didn't help Moyes that in Martinez's first season at Everton they got more points than Moyes had in any season there.
Fadida
Guest
I'm assuming the author didn't write the headline?! Clearly Moyes isn't rebuilding his reputation, instead showing he may be a one trick pony. The stodgy underdog may be his limit, suited to a Sunderland, Watford etc