David Moyes sacked: 'PR shambles' has made Manchester United a laughing stock, say supporters
Supporters Trust highly critical of handling of Moyes announcement
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United have been blasted for showing “no dignity or class” in their sacking of manager David Moyes on Tuesday morning by one of their club support groups, who feel that the club have been turned into a laughing stock by the whole episode.
Sean Bones, vice-chairman of the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST), feels that the club have completely mishandled the situation regarding Moyes’ exit, with the news breaking on Monday night before the Scot had been informed that he was about to be sacked.
Having been in charge for under 10 months, reports emerged on bank holiday Monday that the 50-year-old will be sacked sooner rather than later. By 8am the following morning, having arrived even earlier at their Carrington training base, Moyes was informed by vice-chairman Ed Woodward that he was being dismissed with immediate effect.
Although fans had stood by Moyes throughout the season, recent defeats to Manchester City, Liverpool and most recently Everton proved to be too much for the club’s owners, the Glazer family, and Moyes was shown the Old Trafford exit with just four games remaining until the end of the season.
Bones believes that the whole episode has been a “shambles” and that it is “not the Manchester way”, although what is the Manchester way is rather uncertain given they have not had to sack a manager since 1986 due to Sir Alex Ferguson’s incredible reign as manager.
“It's a PR shambles,” said Bones. “Manchester United's history shows they deal with things with class and dignity but that has not been the case here.
“The story leaked before David Moyes has been spoken to, and that's not the Manchester United way. There was no dignity or class in the way they went about it.”
The hunt for United’s next manager has already begun, with Ryan Giggs taking temporary charge of the first team until a permanent replacement can be found. Bones feels that the original appointment of Moyes was always a risk, and it is one that has not paid off after Ferguson personally chose Moyes as his successor.
“The appointment of David Moyes was seen by a lot of supporters as a risk,” Bones added. “
“Moyes wasn't proven at the very highest level, and Manchester United should be attracting the best and most proven managers in the world.”
Despite Bones claim that the best managers in football should be lured to Old Trafford, two have already ruled themselves out of the running to become United’s next manager.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively, have wasted little time in confirming their happiness in the Bundesliga and that they have no ambition to head to Manchester for the time being.
Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal, who will leave his role with the national team at the end of the season following the summer World Cup, is currently the bookmakers’ favourite to take the vacant Red Devils seat, even though he has been linked with taking charge at White Hart Lane at the end of the season with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy expected to wield the axe over current manager Tim Sherwood in the near future.
No matter who comes in though, Bones feels that the club will still have problems providing the Glazer family remain in charge of last season’s runaway Premier League champions.
“The problems lie a lot deeper than David Moyes,” he said. “They lie with the Glazers and how they run the club.”
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