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Reports: Moyes ouster from Man United “imminent”

DavidMoyesManchesterUnited1-Liverpool2013 (Getty)

By CAITLIN MURRAY

David Moyes’ time may soon be up.

Multiple English media outlets are reporting that Moyes may soon be fired as manager of Manchester United, with ESPN also reporting that Moyes’ dismissal is “imminent.”

United owners, the Glazer family, and vice president Ed Woodward are reportedly in discussions about whether to continue with Moyes at the helm, having first considered it after United’s FA Cup defeat to Swansea City in January. A 2-0 loss at Moyes’ former club Everton on Sunday may be the final straw.

According to ESPN, meetings to discuss Moyes’ future with the club took place Monday morning, with some players reportedly disillusioned with his leadership.

The Guardian called Moyes’ ouster before the end of the season “likely,” with Ryan Giggs as a possible interim coach.

Manchester United declined Monday to confirm reports of the impending firing.

Moyes had left Everton after nine years to take over United last May. But after 11 months on the job and millions spent in some pricey trades, Moyes doesn’t have much to show for it. United are on pace to complete their worst campaign in about 24 years, having lost 11 of their 22 games this year.

The Glazers are reportedly willing to spend as much as £200 million to rebuild the beleaguered club, but it appears they may have lost faith in Moyes’ ability to steer that process.

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What do you think of this news? Should Manchester United sack Moyes before the season ends? Who should replace him? Or should they give him more time?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I like Moyes because he gave Donovan a Chance. Tell me how many US players have played for a top 4 or 5 EPL team? Not bench Warmers or subs. I think he may be that coach that gives an American a shot.

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  2. They need to completely blow this team up and start from scratch. Moyes hasn’t been nearly good enough, but he’s not the underlying problem at Old Trafford.

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  3. Rogers had time at Liverpool. Moyes needs time at United. That alone won’t guarantee same result and Rogers and Moyes have different strengths, but dumping Moyes now does guarantee United aren’t building toward anything, they’re starting over. Again.

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  4. why did Ferguson choose Moyes as his successor? Machiavellian conspiracy theories aside, he knew Moyes’s strengths and weaknesses from a decade of coaching in EPL (sample size 400 games+?) better than a bunch of knee-jerk internet experts…

    did Moyes lack ability all along? Or did he need a chance to clean house and rebuild a team in his own image? He clearly never got that chance at Man U

    this is all very confusing, but I hope management continues to make rash decisions and the team continues to flounder

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    • “did he need a chance to clean house and rebuild a team in his own image?”

      If that’s the case, then I would say that Moyes lacked ability all along. “If you create the exact environment I had elsewhere then I will produce the same results” speaks to consistency, but is not a great sales pitch from a coach. Man U didn’t bring in Moyes so that they could become Everton.

      Just as I would criticize a striker who is only successful in one formation with service from one particular midfielder, I will criticize a manager if he has to gut and remake a team before he can figure out how to manage it.

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  5. hire Roberto Martinez for NT manager after 2018

    In fact hire a bunch of dutch and german and spanish coaches to work with USSF in coaching and developing youth players. that’s how we will advance. stop trying to emulate the English

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  6. This is a pretty awful United squad and that isn’t really Moyes’ fault. I’m not saying Moyes was the answer but what’s the point of giving him only one season? I’ve been surprised by the amount of flipping out from Man U fans based on one bad season after a run of basically 20+ years with nothing but success. I guess it’s mostly US based fans who jumped on the bandwagon when the team was already winning everything. They can always go become Man City or Liverpool “fans” I guess.

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    • A pretty “awful” squad? U really think so?
      It’s almost the exact same players as last year that won the league by a strong margin.
      A few injuries here and there ( which also happened last year)… on a deep team that added Fellaini , Januzai, and Mata for 1/2 the season is pretty awful?
      Maybe the highlight should be on “squad”, because he didn’t inherit bad players.
      – Team goes from first to seventh
      – Team changes manager
      – Manager changes staff
      – Manager’s replacement takes a team with much less talent and performs better

      Ask these questions:
      – How many times did they put on an impressive performance (even when they won)
      – How many times were his lineup selections baffling
      – How many times were his substitutions baffling
      – How many times was he playing people out of position
      – How many times did that team look like it’s midfield had any idea what was going on

      Sometimes oil meets water, sometimes where there is smoke there is fire, following a legend is almost always a lose lose situation..
      But that’s not an awful squad

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      • It’s not unusual for a team with a lot of older players to fall off the cliff in one season, it isn’t always a slow decline. And it is an awful squad, compared to the big clubs United aspires to compete with.

        Seriously, how many United players would be first-choice players for City, Chelsea or Liverpool? Not too many I would say, particularly in midfield and defense.

        If you think this team is competing with the big boys without a near total overhaul of the squad, I think you’re going to be disappointed. I don’t expect United to challenge for the championship for at least the next couple of seasons regardless of who is in charge.

      • First of all, I’m not going to be disappointed, Man U isn’t my fav team, but they’re on TV every game, so I watch them as much as any other team.
        To infer that it’s not uncommon for a team to fall of the cliff, I recall a similar situation at Chelsea a few years ago under AVB who looked totally lost and then won the Champs Lge. once replaced. The same way you can infer that it’s not uncommon for a team of vets to fall fast I would submit its more common in sports to see a leader totally miss the mark with the players he has.
        If you looked at my hypothetical questions above, you would see my point.
        If that team had any spark, or any cohesion, or any short stretch where they looked strong, Moyes would get the benefit of the doubt and another year. But none of these happened. Even in most of their wins they were unimpressive.
        As far as who would be first choice on the big 3? Is that really the point? Ok, they haven’t done 2 major things, replace Scholes and find a consistent CB (Jones???) But his lineup choices and formations have been baffling all year.. and he never started the same 11 one time???
        I could ask the same question about Everton, and Leighton Baines would be the only answer… but that’s not the point. Because Everton outperformed Man U up and down all year. That’s coaching.
        To say that squad is awful is just wrong. There’s a heck of a lotta fans and coaches that would be more than happy to have a squad made up of those players.

  7. I give a rat’s bottom about Man U, but I have always liked Moyes. But the reasons I liked him – his ability to get mid-level talent to play together and buy into a team concept – were never going to work at Man U. Different expectations and mindset. Plus, I also felt that Sir Alex was getting out while the getting was good. (RVP, healthy for once, masked a lot of shortcomings last year.)

    I would give him another year. Let him cut deadwood and bringing some younger, hungrier players. But it looks like that won’t happen.

    I may reboot my Moyes for USA campaign. (My Martinez for USA campaign will never get traction now, I’m sorry to say.) If after the World Cup, JK resigns to pursue a club role (which I think is posisble), Moyes would be the first guy I would talk to. He has an affinity for US players and I think he could do well for us..

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    • So we are supposed to discount the work Moyes did building that club? Nonsense.

      And while I love Martinez and would take him in a heart beat for the US or to replace Wegner (eventually) he couldn’t save Wigan from relugation last year. So apparently we have to toss out his past too?

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      • thats cause he won them a FA CUp. 1 trophy is worthy of relegation especially as they’ve been fighting it for years.

      • If they were fighting reulgation for years, he bears some resposbility since he coached them from 2009 through 2013. Wigin also reached the semis this year without him and if they do not get promoted back to the EPL this year, you have to ask if the trade off was worth it.

        Look, my point is that evaluating managers is more complcated thatn your post suggests. This time last year, Moyes certainly looked like the better manager. You can’t toss out both their past records based on one year.

      • +1 on Roberto Martinez for the USMNT in a heartbeat, or Jurgen Klopp also. For all of Jurgen Klinsmann’s good qualities, of which being an excellent PR man is at the top of the list, his coaching qualities and eye for judging and utilizing talent are average at best. Three years after Bob Bradley the more things change the more they stay the same. Not much is different except for a few younger faces who, lucky for Klinsmann, are at a higher level than their predecessors who BB had.

      • Tony: You put a lot of words into my mouth. I can’t find any parts of your comment that are relevant to mine.

        But to answer your question, “So we are supposed to discount the work Moyes did building that club?” I agree, that would be nonsense. Credit Moyes for what he accomplished and recognize his skill in doing exactly that. And if that’s what you want in a manager—i.e., a team builder—then he’s your guy.

      • Not my intention to put words in your mouth. But the “common denomioator” remark certainly seems to point to saying Moyes is a poor manager.

        By the way, sometimes I find myself responding to an idea in a post, or an idea suggested by a post, more than the post itself and certainly not the poster. As Tessio told Tom Hagen, It’s not personal, You just got me thinking. (The irony is I am a fan of both guys. Martinez does seem to have another level in him, however, that maybe Moyes does not. Will be interesting to watch both ofver the bext couple years.)

      • Tony: “sometimes I find myself responding to an idea in a post…not the poster…. You just got me thinking.”

        Fair enough 🙂

        As you say above, “evaluating managers is more complicated.” My goal was not to argue for firing Moyes, but rather to distill the reasons. My “common denominator” remark would be the executive summary of a 14-page argument for Moyes’ ouster.

  8. Not that good for the last 5 or 6 years?

    Well, they won three titles in the last five years and made UCL every one of those years.

    Honestly, remind me again why they let you out of the clinic?

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  9. In all respect, Manu has not been that good like for the past 5 to 6 years and Ferguson stepped out before the mess got uglier and now the new guy will have to eat all the BS. ( I would keep Moyes since next season all they got to win is EPL, FA and Carling Cup, make him win them all)
    However, the difference is and was, that teams like mancity, chelsea, liverpool, arsenal never open their wallet and now they are. As a matter of fact, can someone answer me this, who has the best academy in the EPL and i say Mancity.
    I honestly also think, the EPL has no future if they keep buying talent, instead of producing. If MLS can produce in the next 10 years, then that MLS will be supplying talent to Europe like candy.
    First MLS needs to kill LigaMX, then become the number 1 supplier of talent to the world, before China or India does.

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  10. I read that article on goal.com about Rooney & Moyes..
    I don’t have a dog in this hunt, I could care less, but that’s one of the dumbest articles I’ve read.
    Rooney, like many alpha male athletes, has his issues, but to basically call him such a failure and a driving force behind the fall of Man U this year, and England as a Nat Team, is nuts.
    The guy almost holds the record for most goals in team history, usually works his tail off no matter where he plays… and to blame him for England’s failures?
    If there was ever a team that defined the term ” the parts are better than the sum of the whole” for the last 40 years… it’s the England Nat Team…

    Wanna discuss Moyes being sacked? Fine.. but that writer is effing stoooopid

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  11. The team “just not being that good” is his fault. He failed to draw quality or use the quality he had. He should shoulder the blame. That said, I’d give him at least 6 matches into next season. It’s not like United can compete for anything of note next year anyway.

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  12. Ha ha. So much talent, but cannot get into the penalty area enough. Moyes deserves two years, but at this rate, too much damage control. Run hard and show guts in the Premier League! How about running smart right into the penalty area ASAP.

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    • No one is going to take that contract. Y’all are pretty uninformed. Maybe read a little bit before you start posting in forums.

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      • I’m not talking about someone taking it. And some clubs would take on a contract of his size.

        I’m talking about cutting him entirely, hence “dump him.”

  13. Devastating piece on g.com about Rooney and David Moyse.

    http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2014/04/21/4766083/rooney-is-the-biggest-of-moyes-manchester-united-follies?ICID=HP_HN_2

    But it seems everyone is keeping quiet about the main culprit behind this fiasco of a coach, and that is the legend who selected Moyse at “The Chosen One,” none other than Sir Alex. After yesterday’s humiliation Moyse is gonna be gone by Tuesday latest, most likely with Giggs named as interim coach. The big question is whether Man U can make an offer that Jurgen Klopp (and his bosses) at BVB Dortmund cannot refuse. Money talks and Dortmund probably would be willing to let Klopp go for the right price. Klopp said a few days ago he will not go to Barcelona, who want him, but he did not mention Man U, where he probably would feel more comfortable because of playing style and his ability to speak a bit of English.

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    • German teaching the Brits the modern fundamental game of getting into the penalty area? Dortmund sure can, but you will need more continental European players at Man United to make it work. I mean just look at Man City.

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    • You can’t just cut a player. You’re talking millions of dallrs they will have to fork over if they cut his contract. I’m sure there are a myriad of clauses in his contract about a situation like this.

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    • Oh, c’mon, this is rubbish. The difference between last year and this was RvP, plain and simple. 15 fewer goals for a team that last year won games simply outscoring the opposition, not controlling the games.

      Also, Rooney’s goals are up this season, as are his appearances. The fairer critique is that in a year where a marquee striking signing might have been useful (when RvP went down), Moyes instead tried to ingratiate himself to the franchise by kissing up to a Rooney who was increasingly out of favor under Fergie at the end. The whole reason Rooney was transfer talk was he had reduced appearances for Fergie last year and just 12 league goals. Given that situation Moyes not only keeps him in the summer but reups him in the winter. At that point the personnel choice is your responsibility and it’s lame to blame the player you oddly chose to keep — slander suit and all — when sporting, legal, and locker room reasons would have suggested otherwise.

      But blaming Rooney for failure? He leads them in goals. It’s not like he’s had Altidore’s season. He might not be as good as before but he’s still pretty productive. If you wanted him out, you needed to pull the trigger last summer when he asked to leave. Keeping him and then blaming him for being OK but not great is harsh. Blame the man who didn’t fix the team and could have sold him last summer.

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      • Proof lies in the table, GA = same as last year, same as Liverpool this season, they lost 30 GF. Rooney is up, what they miss is RvP and more goals from the supporting cast.

  14. You never want the be the guy to follow a legend. The expectations and pressures are likely to be ones that few can overcome. Man United were only kidding themselves if they thought anyone was going to walk in and nothing would change. For 25 yrs. Sir Alex patrolled the sidelines and ran the gamut and there was bound to be a transition period when Moyes was hired, There was bound to be a culture change. Anyone one who didn’t think so is blinded. United’s season has been a bust, I get that, but it was always going to be a struggle with a new manager, no matter who was at the helm. A mediocre season was always on the horizon. I also understand that’s not good enough for the United faithful and unfortunately someone has to be the scapegoat. Moyes is that guy. I think he’s a wonderful manager, very capable of managing a top club. If he indeed is canned; he will not be short of interest and I’m positive he will not be unemployed long.

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    • This may sound odd but the Spurs could use a slightly boring organized sane fellow right now. Van Gaal would be better for Spurs but… I don’t think they are gunna get him which leaves not many managers available.

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  15. Okay, you give the guy a club in need of a major overhaul to compete after being managed by the same guy for decades and you don’t open up the purse strings then cut him loose after one season?

    It takes time for a club to get used to a new manager’s style, especially if they want to find long-term success. I don’t really understand this move.

    It’s natural for players to have trouble adjusting. It’s natural for there to be growing pains. But, if you don’t let the growth happen, all you’v allowed is the pain of the year. Disagree with this move.

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    • Well they did let him buy Mata. That was hardly cheap but really It’s not buying players being a problem. It’s getting rid of the ones who think they are more important than the manager and ones that don’t want to be there. By this of course, I mean Rooney. Too late for that boat though…

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      • This team needs major overhaul 5/6/7 players including a new defensive line. They also need another midfielder and Rooney can move to 10 behind Van Persie. They also need to cut a lot of the dead weight I would have given him through the Fall.

    • “It takes time for a club to get used to a new manager’s style”

      Agreed, but can anyone articulate Moyes’ style? I cannot.

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    • At first I’m inclined to agree with you. I always thought they have to give him enough time. I think Sir Alex had the foresight to see that it was a sinking ship and jumped right off!

      On the flipside, the quote yesterday from Baines that Arlo mentioned during the broadcast was pretty telling. He said that this year is the first time the team the team has been practicing a specific style and preparing to play their way as opposed to reacting to other teams’ styles. I don’t think that reactionary type game that Moyes was employing at Everton would fly at ManU.

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      • I see it the opposite, he coached a ragtag team that had to win games 4-3 or 3-2 routinely, to a title, it won’t get better than that, he’s won everything not nailed down, go out on top.

        The problem is there are few if any other coaches in the world who could routinely flip the script like he did last year over and over in the EPL, and since it was a flawed champion it was bound to fall apart in lesser hands.

        And I’d say he’s a better manager than a coaching search coordinator.

    • The inside scoop on Moyes was he brought in a new back room staff and let the Fergie’s staff go. Fergie’s staff were positive coaches that empowered their players. Sir Alex did not coach the team, that was Rene Muehlensteen and Mick Phelan. Alex was the Manager.

      Moyes is a prescriptive coach and runs his own training sessions. Leighton Baines summed up the difference: “Martinez is a positive coach, Moyes’ style is negative.” If Man United has been running a empowering system for the past 10 years, it would be quite a culture shock to have a prescriptive negative coach that blames the players all the time.

      Moyes is simply the wrong guy for the job. They could have had Jose Mourinho who has a track record of success. Moyes as a Manager has never won anything.

      As one tweet said, “The only accomplishment of Moyes has been to turn Man Utd into his Everton teams.” – that sums it up.

      If I was the Glazers, would I really trust this guy with $150 million to spend? Hell no.

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    • Huh, they spent a lot of money on Fellaini and Mata. A lot!

      And, what exactly is Moyes’ style? Does he know? Do the players know?

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    • You have to remember Fergie was the coach there from 1986-2013. That is an astounding period of time for them to not have to depose the head coach. The Steinbrenneresque habit of chucking coaches overboard at the slightest rough seas must be learned.

      I think they were looking big picture and long term and naively hoped he’d steady the ship enough for UCL quali or at least Europe so when that became mathematically out of that, and against a similar new coach with his old team, it’s the straw breaking the camel’s back. There are also financial consequences to not making Europe.

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    • Agree. The way there were no ideas in the final third, no creativity. Possession is one thing but what makes Barca Barca is the cutting pass, the killer goalazo, something that, anything that screams”We’re going to goal and we dare you to stop us!” Man U had none of that.

      Sacking him is the only choice left. They’ve had what, 30 games and have had 30 different line-ups? Hope can a manager not settle on his best 11 or best 13…c’mon. I liked Moyes but he’s proved he’s way out of his depth.

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      • A lot more than 30 games since you have to count all the FA and Champions League games too. Probably closer to 48 games so far.

    • “Enough is enough! I have had it with this mother[bleeping] coach on this mother[bleeping] plane!”

      Seriously, I know he’s dealing with a team less than the sum of its parts, but that only underlines the job Fergie did, and when your old team on the make with its new coach clobbers you at your new team, that’s a bad sign in terms of either team (the old team has improved in your absence and your new one has regressed).

      I think Moyes is a solid coach in a Pulis type sense of preparing a system team to fight midtable, and occasionally surprise or make the Europe spots, but I don’t think he has an overdog system, nor can he take a bad team and make lemonade with it like Fergie….that team was inherently flawed, defensive issues, etc., and he got them silverware still.

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      • Bingo…I knew this move would prove just what a genius Fergie was. He really did so much out some teams, and players that had serious flaws.
        Unreal. However, even understanding that, Moyes has done nothing to suggest he can cope with this level and has performed poorly with what he has. Yerrible combo for Man U, but I expected it.

        I can see a Glazer sale to the Arab group if they don’t make CL next year…good odds there.

      • The issue I see is how much debt is ManU currently saddled with as a result of the Glazers’ purchase, and whether a purchaser would in those circumstances be willing to take on the debt to get the team…….

      • If I were a billionaire in a klelptocratic country, I would salivate at the chance to buy Manchester United. Sure, as a profit seeking enterprise it might not be the best deal. However, it would be an absolutely steal in terms of insurance against prosecution, execution, or any of the nasty things that can befall a kleptocrat when they run afoul of the wrong faction within their home nation.

      • Not an issue at all.

        Say the team is worth $2B, and let’s say hypothetically, the team has $500M in debt. Well, you pay $1.5B to the Glazers and $500M to the banks and you have a team, free and clear; or, you just pay the $1.5B and keep paying off the $500M loan. The debt is a non-issue.

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