Moyes the Luckless

Article by e-Manchester United Correspondent Noel Hutchinson

Thank you David Moyes, and sorry.

So there we have it. David Moyes has been sacked, United are in the market for a new Manager, Van Gaal, Klopp, Simeone, Hitzfeldt et al will be rumoured over the coming weeks, everybody will have their say on their various merits and flaws and we will end up with a new regime at some point.

I for one feel conflicting emotions.

I have written extensively in support of Moyes this year, sighting his terrible bad luck as the over-riding reason for our poor form. That injuries to key players like Van Persie, Rooney, Vidic, Rio, Carrick, Nani, Raphael, Jones, Valencia, Young, Evans and Smalling would have been tough for any manager, however brilliant , to deal with; that the early fixture list was a baptism of fire direct from Hell with bells on, all singing and dancing down the road of doom; that many of the matches themselves turned on moments of bad luck, bobbles, inexplicable individual errors, bad referee decisions and key events occurring at the worst possible times; that the club is unique in being more vulnerable than any other in the game to change in manager due to the fact it hasn’t happened in over a quarter of a century and that all this has been against the backdrop of our direct competitors, Liverpool, City, Chelsea and Arsenal, including spurs and Everton at times, all being resurgent and highlighting our poor season. An ageing team in need of renewal and a bad transfer window didn’t make things any easier either- how many managers would have dealt with things better?

I have suffered with and for Moyes as he has been dealt blow after blow after blow by teams, pundits and phone-ins alike. As he faced ultimately overwhelming adversity by standing in plain view on the touchline game after game I winced at the cruelty the game inflicted on a decent and proud man. In the last few weeks though I started to feel that things had gone too far, through no fault or lack of ability, football fate had conspired to maul David Moyes to such an extent that maybe however talented he may be, he would never be able to turn it around; that maybe the club should be cruel to be kind.

I wanted United to stick with David Moyes. to hold our nerve, support him with money and good will but in the end we haven’t.

So I for one would like to put on record my genuine and sincere thanks to David Moyes- I am really sorry it went the way it did, I don’t think the job was too big for him or that he would not in time have brought great success to our Club, he would have done.

I wish him all the best and hope he gets another club quickly, where I am sure he will be terrific.

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