The Barclays Premier League Thread 2013/14

[therockbox]

Moyes could have moved. He didn't have to stay at Everton. There's a whole world outside the Premier League he could have gone to where he'd have had more of a chance to win trophies than Everton (although in England he was poor in the cups, often bottling it when a competition opened up). Apparently he was offered jobs in Spain and Germany over the last few years (he was heavily linked to Schalke at one point). He chose to stay at Everton though, where expectations were low and praise for achieving comparatively little was massive.

I posted this when he was hired;

What has Moyes done to make anyone confident he'll be 'brilliant' at Man United? Doing well at Everton (whose budget is nowhere near as 'shoestring' as some are now making out) is all well and good, but doing well on a smaller budget at a club with next to no expectations of success does not mean you'll be able to step up to a bigger club - one of the biggest in the world in this case - with a bigger budget and huge and be successful. Alan Curbishley did a similar job to Moyes when he was at Charlton, if Ferguson had decided to retire then and he was hired would the reaction have been the same? I seriously doubt it.

Moyes has won nothing in his managerial career. When they've had the chance to perhaps win a cup Everton have bottled it completely (last year they were awful against a dysfunctional Liverpool side in a semi-final, this year they got blown away by a team who will be playing Championship football next season when the competition had just opened up completely). Tactically he's not great and his ability to get his teams to really perform when it matters is hugely questionable - the cup games, shitting themselves when they got into the CL, his way record against Liverpool and other 'big games' against the likes of Man United and Arsenal - it's not the CV of a man who deserves to be given a job at one of the biggest clubs in the world. It feels more like a reward for his loyalty to Ferguson rather than a reward for what he's actually achieved.

and there were plenty of people in the Ferguson retires thread saying something similar, so it's not simply the benefit of hindsight that has people calling Moyes' appointment a bad idea. Doing a decent job at one level doesn't mean you'll be able to make the step up and multiply that success at a higher level with more money/a better quality of player. Managers have different skills, some are suited to getting teams to compete at the top end of competitions - Pellegrini, whilst he'd won nothing in Europe, had had a good season at Real Madrid where they were only beaten to the title by the best club side of the modern era, and got Malaga to within an inch of a Champions League semi-final. Others are suited to being the underdog, and over performing with unfancied teams, but whose methods don't translate to a bigger stage. There's no real one size fits all in football management now. Moyes clearly falls into the latter category and it was obvious back in the summer.

[Jimmy]

When Metalman is making way more sense than anyone else about football I think it's just best to move on.

[Matt]

I've been thinking Teddie was Bad Eddie for weeks.

[brenchill]

Who is Teddie then?

[Matt]

General.

[EddieG]

I think it's because you went quiet for a while and then here was someone with the username Teddie, which is not entirely unbelievable as something you'd change your name to. Plus with both of you taking so much delight in Man Utd's failures and all. Very interchangeable

I was laughing because Baddar has actually made that mistake, told me he sent me a PM when he actually sent it to the General.

[Noah]

I think it's because you went quiet for a while and then here was someone with the username Teddie, which is not entirely unbelievable as something you'd change your name to. Plus with both of you taking so much delight in Man Utd's failures and all. Very interchangeable

I was laughing because Baddar has actually made that mistake, told me he sent me a PM when he actually sent it to the General.

Hope it wasn't intimate pictures.

[Nerf]

It was. He was even smiling.

[Baddar]

Me? Smiling this season? Ha.

[therockbox]

According to Talksport (yeah, I know) there's going to be 2 planes above Old Trafford tomorrow, and a friend of mine who works for BT has been told they're not allowed to park at the stadium when they cover tomorrow's game due to 'heightened security concerns.'

This is going to end well.

[stokeriño]

Saw the idea of that reported yesterday - albeit with just one plane, flying an anti-Moyes banner.

If true, it is of course immediately reminiscent of some of Blackburn's anti-Venky's/Kean protests. But I guess some United fans would equate relegation and farcical mismanagement by absentee owners to the woes of being 7th in the Premier League...

[Lineker]

It's been confirmed as true - the MUST have condemned it.

[Colly]

What's the purpose, make the players play better? It's not as if they're in the middle of some horrendous mismanagement from the board, they're just underperforming. Although if the banner just says "Dear David, Tom Cleverly is shit" I'm all for it.

[stokeriño]

I was told it was going to say "Chosen Wrong", but that was just from a guy at work.

[Lineker]

According to the same article though, there are matchday stgewards at OT guarding the Chosen One banner at every game

[Baddar]

Moyes has made some horrendous team/tactical decisions this season, but the players need to take some responsibility too. It's down to him to get them playing better than they are, but it just hasn't been good enough.

[Lineker]

[MJB]

As if almost knocking Zabaleta out with a forearm smash wasn't bad enough, it now looks like Fellaini spat at him while he was on the floor.

Nice.

[MDK]

They should throw their prawn sandwiches on the field in disgust

[King Ellis]

Saw the idea of that reported yesterday - albeit with just one plane, flying an anti-Moyes banner.

If true, it is of course immediately reminiscent of some of Blackburn's anti-Venky's/Kean protests. But I guess some United fans would equate relegation and farcical mismanagement by absentee owners to the woes of being 7th in the Premier League...

You just don't understand how hard it is being a modern day Man U fan. They might even have to go one season without winning a trophy!