It sums up recent Old Trafford troubles and the perilous nature of management that Moyes was so swiftly moved onIn the parallel universe of where Manchester United imagined they would be six years ago David Moyes is planning a little party this weekend, inviting a few close friends around to mark the successful completion of his first Old Trafford contract.The manager has long known he would be staying at United for many years more than that – he basically gave himself the right to draw up his own terms in his annus mirabilis season of 2015-16, when he signed Jamie Vardy, won the league and the FA Cup and succeeded in persuading David Gill to return in place of floundering...
David Sullivan promised a ‘high-profile’ appointment but having already lost out on one, the co-owner has to get it right this timeEven as late as Tuesday night, David Moyes had the backing of one of West Ham’s owners. But when David Gold appeared on Sky Sports News to throw his support behind Moyes, his words only heightened the growing uncertainty. A day earlier, after all, David Sullivan had met Shakhtar Donetsk’s Paulo Fonseca at his Essex mansion and that left Moyes feeling he had to take matters into his own hands.Sullivan, not Gold, is the man who holds the power at West Ham. He was the one on the other end of the phone when Moyes said he no longer...
Paul Hurst’s high-flyers have been defying expectations all season and will offer a stern FA Cup test for a side with both eyes on Premier League safetyA funny thing happened when Shrewsbury Town played at Wigan on Boxing Day. The visitors earned a goalless draw to end a run of five straight wins by the League One leaders, though that was not entirely unexpected. What was odd was that when the home crowd chanted: “We are top of the league,” the away fans responded with: “We are staying up.”At that precise point Shrewsbury were second in the table, as they are still, about to reach the same points total by new year as they managed in the whole of last...
West Ham have found great discipline under their new manager and it paid off again with another positive result against a side in the top sixIf he paid any attention to the scoffing that greeted his appointment as Slaven Bilic’s replacement two months ago, David Moyes would be entitled to hold up this game of attack-versus-defence and wonder goals at either end as evidence that reports of his demise were premature. Son Heung-min blasted Tottenham Hotspur level just when it seemed that West Ham were going to pull off one of the great Wembley heists, but Moyes could still reflect on another minor tactical triumph.There will be a temptation to belittle West Ham’s approach, even though they were confronted by...
Manchester City juggernaut had to find an extra gear to overcome a West Ham side who, despite a 2-1 defeat, offered something for their manager to work withAn unkind reading would be that the fact West Ham United can take such heart from what was eventually an Alamo‑esque occasion speaks volumes for the position the club find themselves in. That would not be unfair, even if caveats do exist. If David Moyes could not conjure a result up here then the semblance of a platform, a hint of the resilience that has deserted his new charges for so long, would reflect well on everyone involved: he got that at the Etihad and, with a little more quality at either end,...