Lots of names were banded around for the job which eventually fell to David Moyes, who was handed a 6-year contract showing the long-term ambition of the club. Moyes was after all the longest serving manager in the Premier League after Ferguson and Wenger who had enjoyed 11 moderately successful years at Everton.
Let's be realistic, you'll struggle to find many United fans who would have expected us to win the league in Moyes' first season, but a title challenge should for a club of our stature be a minimum.
Things never really got going and from the off set off on a frantic bid to win the fans around with a marquee signing. While the summer Wayne Rooney saga I'm sure won't have helped his cause, the circus surrounding the summer transfer chase was laughable. While I admired the fact we were chasing players of the calibre of Cesc Fabregas, the public admissions of transfer offerings (followed by inevitable snubs) was not the kind of confidence booster we needed.
While fans got behind Moyes, many were quick to get on his back. It became clear fairly soon into the season that a title challenge was not going to be a realistic aim, but that's ok, its the post-Fergie rebuilding time. We will take 3rd and address things from there.
The #MoyesOut gang were out in their forces before too long, a clan which seemed to increase in members by the week. While I was always keen to give the new man a chance and give him the opportunity to turn things around patience seems to be at an end.
While I admire the fact that the United board took advice from Ferguson on who would replace him and saw his long stint at Everton as another opportunity for longevity at the club, the gamble hasn't paid off. While there were other options out there, (Yes Guardiola accepted the Bayern job well in advance, but surely Fergie knew he would be off at the end of the year) a manager was brought in who had done well at Everton, but was used to doing so with no budget.
With all due respect to David Moyes, he was always going to struggle to bring in the big names, while the prospect of playing for Manchester United or Sir Alex Ferguson may have been enough to lure players in the past, but players on the continent would hardly have been queuing up to play for Moyes.
Fair play to Moyes, he's come in and given it a go and who would blame him, but the differences this season to what we are used to is astounding and not one anybody could have really predicted. His interviews are baffling, and while our Champions League campaign was the only small ray of light this season this was constantly referred to by the Scot as something which "We're really enjoying playing in and want to carry on doing so."
"We're really enjoying playing in and want to carry on doing so."Enjoying? Interviews like this made Moyes sound like he had won a competition to play in the Champions League (maybe he had), he was not referring to this as something which we have come to see as normality. And now we won't be next season.
I am by no means a fickle Manchester United fan. In fact I am very realistic and like I said, I will always support my team no matter what. While this season has been a disaster, far more so than anybody have expected, the blame can not completely be laid at Moyes door. When your player of the season by a mile is your goalkeeper, you know things aren't going well. The players have not performed, senior players like Vidic and Evra have looked out of sorts and our general play has been lacklustre. With the attacking talent in the team it's quite incredible how we can have so much possession and create so few clear cut chances.
But while the players have under-performed, the manager is there to address that. It's no use listing the unwanted records Moyes has tallied this season, but from 1st in the table to struggling for 7th place is an extra-ordinary fall from grace.
The players seem completely unmotivated, and while I've always been behind him and will be as long as he is at the club, it's painfully obvious that Moyes is not that man to inspire. While other clubs have strengthened their squads, so have we spending £70million this season on Mata and Fellaini. While our squad is not what it once was, it is better than last season, when we were Champions. While we weren't strong last year we had a winning mentality. We had a never say die attitude. We had belief. Players would have been scared to go back to the dressing room on the back of a shocking performance knowing the rollocking that would have come their way were they to do so.
Let's look at Liverpool for example. Brendan Rodgers may have led his side to 7th place in his first season, but due to those who had come before him, this wasn't a complete disaster. Liverpool were playing at around that level and had hired an intelligent manager who played an exciting brand of football. It pains me to see Liverpool doing so well and will hurt even more so when they inevitable clinch the title, a title which they realistically had no right to win. On paper perhaps at the start of the season you'd have said their squad wasn't up to it, but they have played by far the best and most exciting football this season and will deserve the title. The players believe in their manager and play well for him, without them having to spend the £100m + which you would have thought they would have needed to this season to compete.
While a 6 year contract was optimistic and done with good intention ( I was fooled, I was happy with the choice and happy with the belief instilled in the new man) perhaps it has reached a time where you have to assess what is in front of you and address something before it gets worse. Of course Fergie's early days weren't always easy, but in there you saw a passionate manager with experience of winning trophies who could encourage the team and put the fear of god into them at the same time.
Patience is thin, belief is thin so reluctantly, #MoyesOut.
