Presented without comment, Lord David Moyes
The long nightmare for the Red half of Manchester is over. One year to the day after United won their last title, David Moyes, the former "chosen one" has been sacked by Manchester United. The last straw for Sir Alex's hand-picked successor was a disappointing 2-0 loss to his former club Everton on Easter Weekend. This morning United released a very short statement on their website that simply read: "Manchester United has announced that David Moyes has left the club. The club would like to place on record its thanks for the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role.”
In the space of a year, United has gone from Premier League champions under Sir Alex to 7th place in the league, and eliminated from Champions League Qualification for next season. This in itself is going to cost the club big time for it's war chest. With Moyes' transfer policy showing itself as an abject failure, United will be happy to place it's cash in someone else's perhaps more capable hands over the summer. As far as Moyes' mark on the club, Fellaini has been a huge bust, and Juan Mata, who couldn't even play for United in the Champions League due to being cup tied to Chelsea, faliled to really lift the team. To be fair to Moyes, many of United's vets are long past their prime, think Rio and Giggs, and both Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie have missed significant time with injuries. However, in the end, Moyes was never able to really push United into great form no matter who was on the pitch.
According to the club Ryan Giggs, who had been occupying a player/coach role, will take over as manager for the remainder of the season. I actually like this move for United. Giggs has perhaps the deepest ties of anyone to the club and can probably connect to the fans more than Moyes ever could. He should also benefit from the pressure being totally off, as it appears that United aren't at all interested in giving him the role permanently.
Most of the early speculation is focusing on managers who have experience in big matches, which Moyes certainly lacked. A lot of the current talk centers on Dutch national team manager Louis van Gaal, who is leaving the Netherlands after the World Cup this summer. Van Gaal had been previously tapped to join Spurs , but ESPNFC is reporting the his talks with United are pretty serious in nature. Another name that seems to be popping up is Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp, but the German side have said that he will not be leaving. Whichever way they go, it has to get better than it was Moyes, especially in the transfer market.
It will be interesting to see where Moyes himself ends up. He has proven that he can be a successful manager, but perhaps the big club, pressure-packed role was too much for him. It's more than likely that Spurs will be in for a new boss, but I can't imagine any of my Spurs friends being really excited if that move were to happen. Norwich could be an interesting situation for him, whether or not they manage to stay in the Premier League. Aston Villa might undergo a change in ownership, which could spell the end of Paul Lambert there. A manager who has proven himself at a medium sized club in the Premier League might be right up their alley.
At any rate, most United fans that I've heard from are more than happy to see Moyes go on his way. It'll be interesting to see what changes await the club in the offseason. It should be one of the story lines of the summer.
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