“Ferguson and United’s hierarchy had anticipated a smooth transition behind the scenes following the 71-year-old’s retirement,” said Mark Ogden the Telegraph’s Manchester correspondent on Thursday. Yet, David Moyes introduction to the Manchester United hot-seat has been anything but smooth, with Ferguson, his brother Martin, the chief scout, and three senior coaches leaving the club this summer.
In addition to Moyes, the Scot’s Everton assistant Steve Round is set to join United, while Toffees veteran Jimmy Lumsden, goalkeeping coach Chris Woods and scout Robbie Cooke could yet join the Reds before the new season starts in August. Meanwhile, former United defender Phil Neville may also be seen at Carrington next season.
The rapid-fire changes impose Moyes’ will on the United coaching set-up, potentially reducing the risk of Ferguson’s long-shadow inhibiting the new man’s work. But does the significant disruption also carry a risk? After all, in losing Ferguson United is now devoid of 26 years of experience. His key lieutenants Mike Phelan, Rene Meulenstein and Eric Steele have been part of 28 United campaigns in aggregate.
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Of course he is he needs to show from the start that he isn’t Fergusons puppet and do his own thing if that means letting go of Herbie, Eric Steele and Rene Meulenstein ´then so be it.
what a shame you are to every logical school of thoughts? Dont you think he should have atleast let them stay for a while to learn the ways of United, gaining lots of eperience from coaches who assisted the most successful coach? I would just tag his actions as being simply egoistic
rene meulenstein & eric steele is a big loss. they were the key staff in guiding sir alex’s united side all these years.
We want a manager who will be able to work freely and through his own methods. This would mean that having his own trusted staff rather than people who have worked with Fergie and however professional they may be would quite likely find it difficult to work with new plans or ideas, and might even become difficult to work with. Moyes needs his own smooth operation rather than try to change himself to fit an already well established machine.
Yes he needs to make his own mark and by doing that his own team need to come in. I’m more concerned on the signings he makes, the team he has right now are winners and know how to win, that never say die attitude fergie gave them will still remain I just hope he dosent sign fellaini!
Absolutely, I think if Moyes has any chance of making his tenure a long and successful one, then he needs to do things his way. No point on hanging onto Fergie’s lieutenants. They would probably only undermine Moyes to a certain extent anyway.
Fergie’s gone, we have to let Moyes do it his way.
I don’t look at it as a disruption… Ferguson leaving was the disruption… Moyes is now responsible for the rebuilding… and how he does that is entirely up to him.
What a pointless subject matter! Seriously, why even bother typing this?!? Find something interesting next time please
Tom – looked in the mirror lately?
haha you got him. the useless twat
The only changes that concern me are those regarding Meulensteen and Eric Steele. The new coaches are not guaranteed to produce better results, but you never know.
Everton’s knack of finding quality players on the cheap will definitely come in handy at United, so I am ok with Moyes bringing his own scout in.
The way i see it is this. Can a new CEO of a company fires all the managers he met simply bcos they were employed by the out going CEO? Wonder what has happened to the adage ” don’t fix it, if is not broken ” if he is afraid of being undermind, then he will have to bring his own new set of players as well bcos most of the players will still be loyal to SAF. Moyes must thread cafefully .
First sentence spot on
2nd…sadly prophetic
Why cant people face up to the fact that Alex Ferguson is no longer in charge and regardless of who got the job the new manager needs to stand or fall on his own actions which includes the staff.
Knock fucking knock
the key staff in guiding sir alexs united side
Now its David Moyes side to do with as he see´s fit
the problem with old heads is that they may always compare you with the old master and if from their own prism they think you are straying they can easily become your biggest destructors. so yes, let moyes stamp his authority from the off particularly given the man he is replacing.
Good point,well made.A new broom and all that.Rene was apparently made a very decent offer to stay as Assistant Manager but politely declined.He fancies management (Wigan Could do a fuck of a lot worse) As long as he’s nowhere near The Emptyhad or fancies Mourinho, then the very best of luck to a fantastic coach.Progress.Let nothing stand in its’ way.
CEO wont fire all managers. But he might very well fire all the executive team, which is the relevant analogy here
In the end the new CEO needs to implement his new vision. And if anyone is not fully onboard with this new vision, they need to be out.
Players want to win trophies and make money. I dont think any of them is particularly loyal to Fergie, as they know Fergie will be the first to kick them out once they lose usefulness.
Disrupt ain’t the right word
He has to bring in his people, but some of his people are suspect
Moyes is very wrong for letting those ones go. You don’t do that if you want continuity. Moyes doesn’t knows this guys well yet and these guys know them in and out, he could have waited and know what they can offer him before he ask them to go. With those squad he had at everton, he couldn’t even win any trophy, while the likes of roberto martinez could win FA cup even despite facing the big stars like man city players in the final . I just hope moyes could perform at United because we fans can’t settle for any less. SAF had won many trophy at aberdeen even with players of a very tender age before he came to man utd.
All be gone by Christmas absolute joke setup with 70s ideas
It never ceases to amaze me how fans can make judgement on the coaching staff Moyes is bringing in when they’ve no idea how good the lads are.Year after year Everton have turned players from lower divisions into prem quality.Turned players careers around,Gibson being the latest example,so someone’s doing something right
Moyes needs to be left alone to get on with it,last thing he needs is to be 2nd guessed by fans who have no idea but make judgments anyway.
Wayne – ok but that does beg the question. What does turning players from the lower divisions into Premier quality have to do with managing a set of already established players? If this were a set of four Everton players being swapped for a set of four United players would we be happy? Point being – there is a market for coaches too. The cream tends to rise.
Interesting article and poignant at this time of turmoil.
While most United fans accept Moyes would, has made changes, did the cull need to be done so quickly to remove so much experience and the knowledge of the football club in such a short time. Nobody likes change I accept that as a human trait, but it could be viewed as David Moyes in its simplest terms as imprinting his authority on the football club.
This of course puts everyone at the club on a state of unease and worried about their own position in the immediate future, players of the ilk , Nani, Anderson as examples.
This could have a dual effect in inspiring the players who we know should be performing better for United and offering more when provided the chance to play.
Some players have possibly become too relaxed about their position and sit on a contract happily.
The other aspect is as we know an unhappy work environment or in United’s case an unsettled one now, does not lead or encourage a team performance, a togetherness, all fighting and pulling in one direction.
The chattering classes within the dressing room are given air, which could lead to division.
Moyes has unfortunately laid the foundations by haste for the media in the future to beat him with his actions with the departures, as we know in some quarters they will happily do this. The other area I would be concerned for David Moyes he had an impossible task anyhow to fill Sir Alex Ferguson’s boots, anybody, whoever was always onto a hiding, saving one or two football managers. Should United suffer two defeats on the bounce next season the ‘ knifes ‘ will be out for the likeable Scot, but he has no record of winning success at either Everton or obviously United to fall back on to give him time and bat away attacks on his pedigree.
How Moyes deals with the Wayne Rooney debacle will be a deal breaker in my opinion, he best have all his diplomacy and political skills primed and ready to take the flak, whichever way the outcome of the clubs 4th top highest goal scorer of all time falls.
However I also think we should all get behind as Sir Alex on his key parting shot asked of us, the new manager. Who must be given a fair crack of the whip, on what we watch and see on the actual football park, which we are trying to make a judgement prior to witnessing this key ingredient.
Rene Meulenstein and Eric Steele were great for United. Not only for their genius in their respective roles, but because they understood the dressing room family unit philosophy that was essential to Sir Alex’s core ingredients of success. Chucking them out to give his other Everton buddies a chance in the big times is just wrong! Unless he’s planning on using Paul Scholes in that Head Coach position, and going for Iker Casillas’ keeping coach, everything else is a downgrade. This isn’t a Lion Pride where the new Lion comes in and culls the young of the former head Lion then starts the family anew! This is Manchester United, THE BIGGEST club in football! This is THE biggest job David Moyes is going to have in his whole career as a Footbal Club manager, period. He’s going to need help, and Sir Alex is retired and probably wants to enjoy his retirement with his family instead of trying to solve Moyes’ blunders!
My advice to Moyes is that he should tread very carefully. This is not HIS club, it’s a club for every Manchester United fan on earth. There’s a reason we support this club, through thick and thin. It’s the heritage, the history, the romance, the Magnificent style of play. This is not going to change, but be sure the manager can be changed if they do not share the same philosophy of this club. There are hundreds of good managers who want this job after Moyes,but there is only on Manchester United. So get you priorities right David and take your head out of the proverbial hind quarters. United need continuance and progression, not a complete clean slate.
Are you “Scott the Red” from days of yore by any chance?
This is Manchester United not Manchester Ferguson so its right that David Moyles does things his way, make the side his side just as Alex Ferguson did when he came. People need to get it in there heads that Ferguson is no longer Manager, he did things differently than Matt Busby did which is the correct way to do it, a new manager needs to make his own mark and not be a clone of the previous one.
On that he will either succeed or fail but at least needs the chance to do it his way!
Make sure you READ a post before you blindly reply to it. I didn’t say the club was called Manchester Ferguson, unless you have dyslexia and read your own things there. And I didn’t say he couldn’t take on the mantle on his own. The only time I mentioned Sir Alex was when I was acknowledging that he’s retired,. And that any mess Moyes makes while being rash will be of his own, but us fans will be the ones to suffer. And if you read the comment, you should have read that I wanted Meulenstein and Steele ot stay not because of anything to do with Sir Alex, but because they are top drawer, SIMPLES! Why you keep dragging Sir Alex’s retirement into this suggests that you’re the one who’s having trouble letting go. And just because David Moyes is the new manager now, doesn’t mean he just do as he pleases. Like I said, there is a culture at United, a HISTORY! He has be in line with that or go bakc to Everton and do whatever he likes from there! If you’re going to reply, next time, try to be RELEVANT!
Who the fuck is David MOYLES and why has Herbie not informed us of his existence already?
No internet at the Job centre Pikey my man
You don’t just make change for the sake of it. I don’t care what anybody says, there is no way the Everton GK coach and first team coach will be more technically grounded than Rene and Steel. Moyes is just creating jobs for his boys. I hope it turns out good and i also hope many of you will still give him your support if it turns bad.
Would mike phealan get a niff at any other top club? hell no, i say… the football we played with him as head coach was dreadful at times. we haven’t played good attractive football for a long while, probably since quiroz, at which point SAF was perhaps more hands on…
feel sorry for meulenstein, he was a good coach by all accounts, and eric steele, but moyes has to bring in his own guys. the fact we get rid of phelan is worth loosing these two, to my mind anyway.
I was starting to agree with you but then remembered Phelan….
RE changes of coaching setup , Daily Fail claims that Everton academy manager Alan Irvine set to join Woods and Lumsden at United ..
Thank you for helping deal with my dyslexia by writing some words in capitals.
No one has doubted that Rene Meulenstein and Eric Steele are top draw and by all accounts they wanted to keep Meulenstein, but regardless of whichever manager came in these people would have been in the forefront of those going because the new manager be it Moyes, Mourinho or Guardiola or whoever would have or will bring in there own people regardless of culture or history.
has moyes ever had a foreigner on his staff
who are the 401 people who voted
Obviously they’re a bunch of chicken-shit fuck-cunts too scared to mix it up on a more regular basis with us big bollockses!
tbf
I didn’t bother to vote, because the answer should be self-evident: Moyes is the new manager at Manchester United, and he has the right and responsibility to set things up in such a way that he can go about doing his job with confidence. Letting these coaches go is not making a statement about their quality or questioning the contributions they have made; it is about making room to create a staff that will all be on the same page, with none of the, “that’s not how Sir Alex did it,” crap. It also means that when a player decides that he doesn’t like some aspect of the new regime, he won’t have easy access to the sympathetic ear of someone in a position of authority, he’d have to make his way to Sir Alex’s office to have a moan, and if Sir Alex didn’t summarily evict the player from his office with his ears ringing, I’d be very much surprised.
Face it, the papers were always going to try to create a controversy here, because there is a shortage of real stories and it’s United, so it will sell more papers. If Moyes wasn’t cleaning house, the papers would be full of stories berating Moyes for not stepping out of the shadow of Sir Alex.
I don’t see where there’s a debate to be had here. Managers bring their trusted lieutenants with them, it’s standard practice. Particularly important in this case given how deep Fergie’s roots are with United’s personnel — if Moyes didn’t bring in his own people Fergie would end up semi-managing by remote control through his proxies and the whole thing would be a cluster fuck (love that expression). Whether Moyes’ lieutenants are the best people for the job I’ve no clue, I don’t pretend to be able to judge the qualities of backroom staff. I will say that Stelle presumably is good because De Gea has progressed so well, but the rest of them, well I think United’s first team has been declining in terms of organization and tactics for a few seasons now, so I’m not convinced the people responsible should be considered untouchable.
Completely agree with this. Can’t let sentiment rule objectivity. We have barely produced a cohesive, flowing, dare I say exhilarating performance in 2 seasons. There is certainly room for improvement beyond grinding out results through the dogged determination instilled by Fergie. Whether Moyes’ men can do better we’ll have to wait and see, but to infer our tactics and level of performance have been top drawer in the recent past is plainly false.
Shows he has bollocks…unlike most of you cunts on here.
I’m definitely in two minds about this. On the one hand, Moyes has every right to bring in the people he trusts and knows he works well with. Also, apart from the handful of coaches he brings in, the entire organization (apart from Gill’s replacement) will still be the house that Fergie built. My concern lies in the quality of his current staff. I do plead ignorance as to their individual merit, but on face we are replacing some of the most experienced assistants in the game with coaches who have never dealt with players on 200K a week, nor a fanbase that demands a win every weekend. Rene, for instance, revolutionized United’s training regiment and is highly valued by some of our biggest names (RVP/Ronaldo). I hope that Moyes’ crew have the quality needed to replace the old guard. Also, someone like Rene deserves his shot at management and I completely understand why this would the ideal time to throw his hat in the ring at clubs like Wigan.
I am so unlucky that I don’t have backroom access like some people on here. I too coulda known that Phelan was useless and Steele and Rene have done such great jobs behind the scenes.
Yeah well, I’m still not sure where all this “Steele is a top goal keeping coach” comes from… who said he’s so good?
He didn’t make De Gea great, De Gea was already great, Steele just helped him come to terms with the more direct, physical nature of the league… big deal… and for all we know, he had fuck all to do with it… and other than De Gea, who can he claim to have mentored, that we should be impressed about?
Ta fuck with all this phony sentimentality… the only one that matters is Moyes… if he really knows what he’s doing, then no one will care as he brings success… and if he fails, it won’t be because he sacked a couple of Fergusons mates.
the sum of steeles work with gea seems to be telling him to get in the gym
somewhere I often frequent tbf
Pfft
From a daily mail articleon Moyes
Moyes stressed that upcoming coaches must take as gospel the old football maxim that matches are won and lost in midfield.
But he also argued that more attention than ever should be paid to the engine room, given the unprecedented tactical variety of the modern game.
Unsurprisingly, the new Manchester United manager was left enchanted by Bayern Munich’s play en route to the 2013 Champions League title, but the tactical innovations of the Swiss side Basle have also left him entranced.