Quite a good read for those of you thats interested.... David Moyes walked into Old Trafford with good intentions but, according to Patrice Evra’s autobiography, things unravelled almost immediately. Evra describes how the warning signs appeared before a ball was even kicked in the Premier League. During United’s pre-season tour in Sydney, Moyes suggested a light stretching session at Bondi Beach. United’s security team objected, reminding him that “you’re at Man United”, but Moyes brushed it off. What followed was chaos. Within minutes, crowds stormed the area and mounted police arrived. Evra called it “a shambles” and that word, looking back, could have summed up the season. The biggest shift, Evra explains, wasn’t tactical it was psychological. Under Ferguson, authority was absolute. Moyes, however, tried too hard to be accommodating. Before a match, he told the squad:“Guys, you’ve won everything here… you have to show me the way to win. I have never won the league.” Evra immediately understood the problem. Ferguson would have told them how to win never asked. And players sensed weakness instantly. Suddenly, those who used to accept being benched were complaining. Stories leaked to the press, including the infamous “chips ban,” which Moyes later reversed. As Evra put it, “The players knew they were in charge.” By late September, United were mid-table something Evra had never experienced. The aura had vanished. Opponents had stopped respecting United. Even Moyes could see the pressure written on his face. Evra approached him after the derby humiliation against Manchester City, telling him straight: “There’s something wrong here, boss. The dressing room is not happy.” Moyes admitted he wasn’t the best communicator but didn’t seem to grasp the scale of the problem. The internal divide soon grew toxic. A meeting between Moyes and the defenders ended in an explosive row between Evra and Nemanja Vidić. Moyes was “shocked”, not used to that type of confrontation. But Ferguson’s squads thrived on that fire. Moyes simply didn’t know how to channel it. The Champions League defeat to Olympiacos was embarrassing enough, but what stunned Evra was the team’s reaction on the plane home: Players laughed, gamed, and relaxed as if nothing had happened. They had stopped seeing Moyes as the leader. Evra organised a players’ meeting where the truth emerged: They admitted they weren’t performing but also admitted they didn’t trust the manager. After the loss at Goodison Park, even Ryan Giggs snapped, shouting on the bus: “F****** Everton fans are now taking the p*** out of us. Enough is enough.” The next morning, senior players were called into Ed Woodward’s office. Woodward asked each one the same question: "Is David Moyes still the man to lead this team?”He knew then it was over. Moyes was sacked soon after learning about it first from the media. Evra was the only player who went to say goodbye. Looking back now, Moyes walked into an impossible situation. And yet… who could have stepped into Ferguson’s shadow and succeeded?
Sounds similar to his time here, lost respect quickly and never recovered it, though he also seemed disinterested at the time as though he was doing us a favour.
He lost respect in his first ever interview when he said we'd be in a relegation battle before a ball was even kicked, this was coming off the back of an amazing end of the season with Big Sam.
And in the January window he warned us that any incoming players wouldn’t be any better than what we had . So , current players “ I think you’re poor so I’m getting a replacement”. Incoming players, “ I think you are as poor as the current player I think is poor” Some motivation
Still hate McBastardly more. Moyes might come second in the list, because my hatred for him is nowhere near that of "Big Lawrie". The bastard nearly drove us out of existence, still wanted money out of us despite the situation we were in, effectively relegated us (we'd have gone down earlier if not for Stokoes efforts), then tried to claim the glory for performances the next season of young players he regularly over looked.
It was said after Middlesbrough at home when they beat us at the SoL, second game of the season. Still, it was unacceptable and ridiculous so early on in a season.
Definitely. Mackemenemy was a con man, pure and simple. He wouldn't last five minutes today. His Southampton team were good, but listen to any of the players from that time and it's clear, the players ran the team. It's a long list, but Keegan ( current Europe player of the year when he was signed), Alan Ball, Peter Shilton, Peter Eustace, Dave Watson and multiple other experienced and quality players did the job down the years. All McMenemy ever did was sign them and do soft soap interviews. The bloke was a horrible, slimy, two faced con man. The worst ever to manage us, albeit in a crowded field.
A true story. A mate of my late dad met him (McBastardly) through work shortly after he was appointed, at first he was really happy and excited to meet him, until time came to actually meet him and shake hands. He said McBastardly seemed ok to everyone as he was introduced to people, coming across as big jovial Lawrie we all saw in TV, but once he got to meet him he could tell straight away he was false. He said McBastardly had "dead eyes", he was playing a part and not actually interested in anyone he was meeting, it was just a perfunctory experience for him, he could have been introduced to a farting gorilla and he'd have been the same. He said it was one of the most deflating experiences he ever had, up until then he was over the moon and thought we'd do something special, (well we did but just not how we all thought at the time) but he came away feeling it would go wrong.
