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Red Hot Sports News: Manchester United unveil plan |
As the club prepares for the impossible job of replacing its legendary manager, we look at David Moyes's legacy, future – and the men who might step in. The David Moyes era is over.
The man who has bestrode football management like a smallish ginger colossus is finally leaving Old Trafford.
During a period of unprecedented mediocrity that lasted an astonishing 11 months, the fiery Scot shaped the club in his own image: a nervous, harmless, slightly worse Everton.
Thoughts will now turn to his successor, with Moyes expected to anoint his own man. It is only fitting.
Steve McClaren is standing by the phone, possibly in a managerial ‘Dream Team’ with Christian Gross. Dr. Jozef Vengloš is understood to have thrown his hat in the ring, slightly injuring himself in the process, while Nick Clegg is not without chances.
The opportunity has probably come too late for George W Bush, although he is a possibility to work in a Director of Football role while grooming Massimo Taibi.
Whoever is selected will have some mighty shoes (grey leather-effect Hush Puppies, size seven-and-a-half) to fill.
What manager would take on this poisoned chalice is quite another matter. Any decision – from whether to look confused in a press conference, play all the decent players out of position, or panic in the transfer window and blow the lot of a dodgy Belgian – will be scrutinised through the lens of “What would Moyesie have done?” and “Well, for Christ’s sake don’t do that, then.”
Moyes will come to be regarded not just as a Manchester United legend rivalled only by Wilf McGuinness but as the last of a breed.
Never again will one man be allowed to bend a club to his will, to create a dynasty, as Moyes was able to do at Manchester United. The stock exchange simply will not allow it.
During his reign of error, Moyes became known as much for his barnstorming inspirational speeches as much as his tactical brilliance.
Rallying cries like:
* “We’ve been stitched up by the fixture lists but we’ll give it a go”
* “On its day, this club can give some of the bigger teams a bit of a scare”
and
* “Please don’t hurt me, I’m doing my best”
will be forever remembered in Old Trafford folklore.
Journalists who suffered the full force of his slightly peeved bemusement will sleep more soundly tonight.
For Moyes himself, a world of opportunity gapes in front of him like a central defence manned by Phil Jones and Jonny Evans.
Already a second career in academia is a possibility, with the Runcorn Business School (Online Campus) poised to offer Moyes a chair at its prestigious John Major Leadership School.
An autobiography seems certain, with the publishing world already gearing up for a one-figure bidding war.
As to his legacy, we may only fully appreciate him in the years to come.
When Moyes took over, a pint of milk cost 45 pence, and a Wayne Rooney was just £300,000 a week.
His story has been the story of English football for nearly nine one-thousandths of a century. We shall not see his like again, at least not until Spurs need a new manager.
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