The imagination runs wild; it is often thus amid the waterfall of conjecture generated by the modern game. Yet, it is the message between the lines has become ever more intriguing this season, brief and counter brief shaping the narrative as never before. David Gill’s subtle approach to media management at Manchester United has been replaced by Ed Woodward’s seemingly incorrigible need to call in a story. But at a time of great uncertainty, Woodward’s quirk offers at least some insight into the club’s strategy, if not mode of execution.
Take the Reds’ summer transfer plans, which are spectacular if Woodward’s word is to be believed. True, supporters are now well educated to be cautious; this promise has been made more than once over the past eight years, not least in the fallout from Wayne Rooney’s previous contract negotiations in October 2010. But time will tell whether United have the funds, will and means to revolutionise David Moyes’ squad in the summer, as is Woodward’s apparent promise. It is a triumvirate that has only once come together in the months since Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson departed last May.
More intriguing still is Moyes’ future, with Woodward privately insisting that the ruling Glazer family intends to stand by the man Ferguson anointed king last spring. Yet, for all Sir Alex’ will the club would still be remiss not to plan for an altogether different outcome. Indeed, as Moyes’ odds of being sacked tumbled last week, a fresh picture has begun to emerge. One that assumes United is courting alternative options amid an increasingly fractious dressing room atmosphere.
Robin van Persie’s recent tetchy interview with a Dutch television station, for example, brought an implied criticism of his team mates, Moyes’ tactics and then a quick-fire apology. Yet, as an insight into the Dutchman’s frustration it offered much. After all, rumours that the striker is happy under Moyes’ direction have rarely sunk below the surface this season.
Neither did Michael Carrick’s non-committal interview, following defeat to Olympiacos in Athens last week, convince anybody that Moyes’ squad is lined-up to support the 50-year-old manager. “I know you’re looking for me to blame someone,” Carrick told interviewer Gabriel Clarke, before the Geordie pointedly failed to back his manager.
More speculative still, some pundits have come to believe that United’s squad is turning against the new man, with the club almost certain to finish the campaign trophyless and out of next season’s Champions League.
”I spoke to somebody who is very close to the squad after the Olympiacos game,” claimed journalist Rafael Honigstein this week.
“He said the situation is a lot worse than it has been reported. He said ‘he has completely lost the dressing room and has to go now’. If a squad doesn’t like a manager, that is one thing but if they really stop believing in him then it is a serious problem because they will find a way, collectively, to get rid of him.”
Meanwhile, a rash of stories appeared across the British press over the weekend suggesting the board will approach Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal after the World Cup – it is unlikely to be the last feverish speculation regarding Moyes’ future.
For the moment the party line remains reasonably firm – the Glazer family will support Moyes to the tune of more than £100 million in the summer transfer market. It will take little for the pressure to increase once again though, with United’s upcoming fixture list offering a potentially brutal period for Moyes’ squad.
March begins with United’s visit to West Bromwich Albion. Moyes’ side then faces Liverpool, Olympiacos, West Ham United and Manchester City in 10 days that could well decide the Scot’s fate. Heavy defeat to Liverpool and City, together with European exit, will substantially increase the pressure for change at Old Trafford.
And with just 11 Premier League fixtures to go United’s European participation next season rests on Moyes’ squad finishing above Everton come May. City’s victory over Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final adds an extra Europa League place to whomever finishes sixth. Even that may not be enough to nullify the groundswell supporter opinion in social media, which has seemingly turned sharply against Moyes in recent weeks.
Still, there are plenty surprised at United’s resilience to outside pressure; that the long-game is more than simply spin. The view that Moyes would have been dismissed at almost any other club is given credence by those within the game. “In Italy, managers are judged simply by results,” former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli told BBC Radio 4. “David Moyes, in Italy, would have been sacked three times now.”
“I’d change the manager if Real Madrid finished sixth and failed to reach the Champions League the next season. Of course I would,” adds former Real president Ramon Calderon. “It’s a real disaster in every sense. Sponsorship deals are linked to the Champions League. There’s no difference in the contracts of Real Madrid and Manchester United. They will have to deal with losing as much as £100 million.”
But as the vultures circle Moyes retains public support within the Old Trafford boardroom, even if some have seemingly briefed the nations fourth estate to the contrary.
Ferguson, a non-executive director, has rarely offered Moyes audible support this season, but is presumably central to his protege’s future. Sir Alex’ call last May for Old Trafford regulars to “get behind the new manager” remains prescient.
“They [United] will be all right,” said Ferguson, speaking in Los Angeles where he attended Sunday’s Oscars. “It’s early days and there have been a lot of changes. He needs time. I was there for 27 years, so with a new manager, it takes time. But they’ll be okay.”
It is an assessment that remains popular among United’s core support, although one that is eroded with each new defeat. It might take a series of extraordinary results, but the thought that supporters’ will could break in March is visceral. After all, while time is a commodity proffered Moyes through a six-year contract, patience is one dissipated quickly, especially where Liverpool and City are tightly woven into the narrative. Should fans turn, United’s board might find it hard to resist.
It leaves the Scot in an increasingly difficult position. While Moyes descent from Old Trafford’s ‘chosen one’ to a man odds-on to lose his job this summer has been piecemeal, his dismissal, if it comes at all, will be abrupt. Or to bastardise that old Hemmingway line about how a man goes bankrupt: there are two ways, gradually and then suddenly.
“the ball’ll be comin’in aff the wingers, Duncan. You get ye heid oan it” “Who’s Duncan, bosh? I’m Robin!”
written with real quality. Bravo.
The situation is clearly irrational and highly political. All I care about is football and from that prospective I cannot rationalize Moyes still managing United. It defies logic and it is sad.
the players he inherited ,had the summer to assess ,if rebuilding needed he could have started early but didn’t, the change he made to the backroom staff is awesome ,I think that’s his downfall
Ed – I think regardless of results it’s about painting a compelling vision of the future, a pattern of playing, a sense of progress behind the scenes. Instead what we have seen thus far is a reliance on limited talents of Young, Valencia, Cleverley etc & the former talents of Rio, Evra, Giggs; marginalizing /loaning out youth that could have provided a much needed dose of exuberance, 2 transfer windows of reactionary signings and pandering to the whims of a single player. Added to this our ambition and tactics have been largely lamentable.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the foundations would certainly have been apparent in a year. We’re needing a dramatic turnaround that seems increasingly improbable to be afforded similar evidence of this regime’s foundations. As you say, the next 5 games will indeed be a thorough examination of their progress to date. Minimally, for Moyes’s sake, Utd need to make a statement of intent on the field, unlike anything seen so far this season.
If it really is true that Moyes has lost the dressing room, then he has to go NOW.
It’s one thing to say he has been given a long term contract, but it’s an entirely different thing to realise you’ve made a mistake so early on, and then persevere just so as not to have to admit you got it wrong.
Nobody expected to be challenging for the title this year, but just how far we have fallen in 6months is nothing short of appalling!! As both readers above have commented, if things were merely stabilized and you could see the light ahead, then yes, by all means, carry on with patience. But from the outside it just seems like a total implosion which is only getting worse, with no real sign of turning things around at all.
To leave things as they are defies all logic and is infact only promoting the downward decline.
He wouldn’t have a job anywhere else in the world with his results, so why on earth give him the worlds biggest???
Anyone…??
Very sad times for us United fans. Rooney should have been sold to Chelsea for 30million n we got Mata and maybe demba Ba as a freebie. We will be alright giving Rooney that contract was stupid. Of course the dressing room will be divided…Rooney wasn’t essential to wining the trophy last season…however he is a good player but unless that deal has some financial motive in the long run for United then its crap management by Moyes yet again. He has to win at west brom.
Demba Ba?
What would we do with Demba Ba?
Another spot on article and a struggle to find one now that remains in support. The supporters are turning.
Any chance you can add a twitter share button to these articles ?
Share price dropped again alarmingly. At one stage yesterday more than 4 percent. Dead man walking.
What should be taken into account is the fact that far greater managers than DM would not be able to lift the players from their current ineptitude and lack of confidence to the minimum level required to win the next 5 games.
If fans really are serious about shaping the future they should look to what Rangers fans are trying to do. Year after year the reptiles leak false stories about who we are going to purchase. Year after year fans believe them and buy season tickets. Year after year the parasites fail to deliver.
This year will be no different. So pay the season ticket money into a holding account only to be released if pre agreed transfer funds have been spent. This is an overview that would need a great deal of fine tuning and negotiations with Glazers cronies. It may not happen but it would send a message .
The other way would be to embarrass the Glazers in front of their sponsors e.g.the next time we are crap chants of are you watching Chevrolet etc should ring out around the stadium.It would be interesting at least to see the look on Ferguson and Woodwards faces.
I am just wondering what will happen should we lose ALL of those games — we must be certain to lose v City and perhaps v Liverpool, but it is far more likely that we lose them all than wi them all. And just to make this point seems incredible — it’s like we are back in 1974 battling to stay up.
My problem with Moyes is that he seems to have lose the pot so completely it’s hard to think of him managing any team successful from here on in, not just united. There were plenty of opportunities for a rethink and to change tack, but he missed them all. i wonder how many Ranters are sitting at home playing football manager with their version of United sitting five six points clear of Chelsea or city at the top of the table. and look at their teams and what do you see: zaha up front for pace, Januzaj in for skill, rooney and Van persie alternating because even in a computer generated simulation they can’t play together, Kagawa given the number 10 shirt and the young defenders picked and having been given enough games together to play as a unit, and someone somehow brought in to acr as a defensive shield to the back four in mdfield.
how come Moyes can’t do this with the real united. i assume he is a man of intelligence — but the intelligence seems to have been overthrown by paralysing panic and a failure to come up with anything creative, any kind of thinkng out of the box.
Which is going to take longer and be a more miserable and dehumanzing experience: that of Gogo and Didi waiting for godot in Beckett’s play, or us waiting for Moyes to give us a United who can actually play — for up to now he has caused problems for journalists who are almost exhausting their repertoire of extremely negative adverbs and adjectives (the Olympiakos game really taxing them in this regard).
What does moyes need to do — simple: find the eleven players (and 5 subs) that will give us victories over Liverpool and over City. Forget about champions league 2nd legs and WBA away or whatever. We need to beat our rivals and feel good about it. If we lose horribly to City and Liverpool and Moyes is allowed to stay, in the strange hope or convinction that he will be able to turn things around then it is clear that there is not an ounce of rational sense left in those that run the club and that the team, once the very embodiment of cavalier attacking foortball, is now condemned to an eternity of dull defensive mediocrity (every minute of such foorball seeming like a horrible eternity to the shrinking band of fans).
For me its about personal pride, what we seen in Greece from the players is nothing short of a disgrace, not 1 player was even trying and thats unacceptable, play for the badge and the fans that pay your pathetic salarys
So you mean the players should somehow play above the limitation of the tactics the manager is using?
Hold on, you mean kagawa should invoke the ball to himself even though 97% of the time it was just punted long to the wings?
Wait! Or maybe RVP should discover a geenie, magically grow 10ft tall and start connecting to the atrocious deliveries from ash young and tony valencia?
You are daft sir and your continuing to blast our players just to shield mr moyes clearly shows you are either a rival fan or a troll.
Am amused at how Ferguson now undermines the club at every turn.
While I never for one moment believed the Glazer froth and spin about trying to sign Ronaldo and Bale, good old Uncle Alex has now come out and said United should have sold Ronaldo for 150 million! As Ronaldo is now a more complete player, maybe a fair valuation in Fergieland would be 200 million. Good of him to remind the greedy Glazers Ronaldo is totally out of their league!
Goes back to your podcast of a number of weeks ago Cognitive dissonance. Mind you Van Haal & De Boer would bring some zing to OT
If there is are Moyes supporters out there who can give at least one positive attribute of the man which makes him the right choice, I’d like to hear from them.
the time for change is upon us,if only those that make those choices could see that
I think the worst part is the ‘transition’ hasn’t even started yet. Vidic is off in the summer; Evra, Ferdinand and Giggs will most likely be leaving too, while it seems hard to believe there won’t be a transfer request or two from the likes of Hernandez, RVP and Kagawa.
Moyes has wasted an entire year, and all we have to show for it is a £64m net spend (give or take a negligible fee for fabio) which hasn’t actually solved any of the issues we had before Moyes arrived and an ageing squad another year older.
Prospects like Jones and Smalling have gone backwards, while Zaha hasn’t even had a look in. Cleverley, Young and Valencia have regressed from useful squad players to spineless mediocrity, Rafael has been alienated and our main cause for optimism in the future Januzaj has found his route to the first team crowded by the unnecessary purchase of Mata.
Next year could well be even worse, with virtually an entire back four and a decent wide player needed, and that’s before we even look at the centre midfield positions.
We had years to plan the transition from Ferguson to the successor, and when the time finally arrived we messed it up. We had a real chance to go out and consolidate our position as the leading club in england last summer and I fear it might take us another 3/4 years to build a squad capable of challenging for the top honours once more.
All those words Ferguson said about Moyes needs time are nonsense.
The Glazers are faced with a dilemma – or at least they should be. Do they take proper stock of the current situation and act now or do they go with the advice they are no doubt receiving from the club’s CEO and their erstwhile and trusted former manager, that Moyes needs time.
My view is that they should take stock now, or at least after the next five games culminating with City at home. Their new manager must at least show that he has the basic aptitude and ability to eventually become successful as manager of United. Right now the reality is that he does not have the required capability. Moyes should therefore be given these five games to at least show that he has the necessary wherewithal. Whether or not the Glazers tell him that in advance is a moot point. Of course the next five games may be inconclusive in terms of results. But it is not only about results its about the way the team plays and the tactics employed. So far, apart from a few isolated games, Moyes has failed the test somewhat dismally.
Assuming Moyes is unable to demonstrate more than a glimmer of the pre-requisite ability over the next two weeks, the Glazers need to assess the risks involved in giving a manager who is clearly failing and, on the face of it, wholly unsuited to the job “more time”. There is a great risk that next season will be much like this one and that possible suitable replacements such as Van Gaal will be ensconced elsewhere.
The key seems to be whether or not the Glazers will directly interfere with the club’s hierarchy’s view of the situation. Will they continue to bow to the views of Fergie and Charlton or will they finally put their foot down and demand action.
Next summer’s transfer window looks likely to be crucial to United’s immediate and indeed longer term future and particularly its success. If they are going to stick with Moyes then this season had better end on a high note. If Moyes continues to flounder they should make a decision to replace him with effect from the end of the season with someone like Van Gaal who has a proven track record of success at the highest level was and should always have been the club’s stated requirement for Fegrie’s successor. That appointment needs to be in place before the next transfer window opens. Stability and the prospect of United getting seriously back on track must be firmly in place come the start of next season with or without Moyes.
Because of the stupidity of awarding Moyes a hitherto unheard of six year deal, it will cost the club plenty to admit that its all been an awful mistake – probably in the region of 25m. The cost of continuing that awful mistake, if indeed it is one, could be a great deal more if things continue as they are for another season – or more!
Agree with almost everything. I don’t think they would pay him 25m. I would be very surprised if there were not any targets in his contract that must be met. I think the targets set for this season were 3rd PL, QF CL. Both of which he will miserable fail to make. I have a feeling he is nearing the end.
Makes sense. It will no doubt be a substantial payout though. They must act, I don’t think anyone can take much more of this.
Van Gal is a smug who has a very good history of dividing dressing rooms. He could potentially be worse than Moyes. No Dutch Managers please because they are all ego maniacs. We will have to find someone else if he gets the sack. Good football but bad influence. Hopefully its NOT Villa Boas who is probably the most overrated manager. His team are forced to adapt to his style even if they don’t have those type of players. The best choice was Carlo Ancelotti who could have given us 10-12 years.
Trust me when I say this dearly hope its not Van Gal because he will be a disaster. The team will play great football but he will divide it into small domains as seen in ferromagnetic materials. Bayern Munich sacked him because of his transfer moves and tactics. We can get Klopp because he recently stated he won’t mind moving. He will also offer 10-12 years. Diego Simeone would be OK too. Charisma!
Marcelo Bielsa is a risk not as big as Van Gaal but is still known to run players into ground. Joachim Low if he maybe wants to manage a club. The best options are Klopp who is very likable by most players in the world. It won’t be as difficult as people make it out. Money talks! Bayern have a lot and will win loads of trophies in the next 3-4 years and Dortmund don’t and will most likely compete for 2nd place.
NO Ole Gunnar Skoljaer, NO Giggs. NO Landrup The club is too big for those kind of experiments.
But then it does not matter what you or I think in the end our choice may or may not be the choice of the club owners. I just wasted 10 minutes writing this comment so I might as well add this
I am in favor of giving one more year. He created Everton from the ground up and any delusional fan who does not accept it does not know what they are talking about. Everton went from almost relegated team to a well oiled machine and Martinez has done nothing special. Martinez is very well known for making fake promises and then not delivering on them.
The problem with Moyes is he seems to have lost his testicles and wasted a year that could have been a period of transition. This is not a period of transition. This is a period of anarchy. The players who were average but would jump of the ledge for Fergie are now showing their true nature. At Everton Moyes had a similar group of players who would do anything for their manager. This is not his team and one more year could help him.
But in no way am I blind. Moyes does not ‘deserve’ time as many fans put it. I have zero sympathy for him because he has failed completely upto now. If a person fails one time if you are sensible you give him another chance. If he fails again then you give him another because life is tough but if he keeps on failing he is an idiot and just won’t change his ways. Moyes fall into that category. We don’t owe him anything. If Klopp is available next season then sack him without even blinking twice. If not then give him another season simple because he has already done it two times with two clubs and he just may pull it off but taking a hasty decision and hiring someone who is crazy like Van Gaal is a very bad idea. This time it won’t hurt to think it through and really get the right man.
Just want to add that this is a squad going through withdrawal system. To these players Fergie was magic and now the magic is gone. ITS A REALITY THAT 10-12 players in the squad won’t make it at any top 2 clubs in England, Spain or Germany.
Sorry for the errors I typed it in a hurry.