Return of Greatness

I'm not coming out as pro- or anti-Moyes, simply because I'm not sure its helpful.  The very fact that everyone seems to feel the need to have an opinion on the matter creates a problem - instead of all pulling in the same direction we split off into factions; adding extra pressures; the tabloids lap it up as a way to criticise us; the speculation doesn't help anyone - perhaps it unsettles players, why should they play for this manager when he may not be in the job much longer.

Of course it's difficult to just ignore the question, because, of course, not saying a thing is pretty much the same as supporting Moyes, for the question, once out, can not easily be put back in its box - only a string of results will do that - something we can all agree would be a satisfactory outcome.

As an example of how the question colours everything, take this piece from The Guardian by Daniel Taylor. He writes of how one of the coaches has been given an offensive nickname as evidence that the players don't like the way things are being run:

the latest leaks out of the dressing room are not exactly glowing for Moyes and his staff, in particular the coach who now goes by a deeply unflattering nickname. Footballers can be brutal sometimes and, behind his back, that coach is apparently being referred to as "fuck off (name)" – on the basis that is so often the first response when they hear his instructions.

So far so damning.  He continues, however:

In football that kind of insult is actually quite common. A Strange Kind of Glory, Eamon's Dunphy's book about his time at Old Trafford, tells one story about a sheet of paper being passed around the team bus showing a caricature of Matt Busby, with his nose as a penis, his cheeks as two testicles, and the caption: "Bollocks Chops". Carlos Queiroz was hardly the most popular man when he was Ferguson's assistant and Eric Harrison, the coach who nurtured the Class of '92, is probably better off not knowing some of the names they used to call him.

So actually it's pretty normal - I mean Matt Busby did OK, Queiroz wasn't exactly unsuccessful, and the "class of '92" did ok, so there's no problem then?

Plainly, though, it is not ideal

Put through the prism of the question of Moyes's position though and any nickname takes on a sinister hue.

While it is obviously difficult, especially when results are so dreadful (and god knows what tonight will bring...), to try and remain apart from the question, it would seem desirable.  The papers can make capital out of it, we should try and refrain, hard as that may be.  Many of our performances obviously deserve criticism, but whether that criticism needs to be hash-tagged Moyesout is not so obvious.

When Moyes was (probably misguidedly) given the job and Sir Alex did his (probably misguided) "support the manager" speech, there was a great deal of smugness around - how we're better than all those other clubs who sack their managers for the smallest run of bad results - and yet at the first sign of trouble everyone's out with their pitchforks, "Sack the manager!" And there's no conflict, "yes we said we'd support the manager, but this is exceptional circumstances" And the point is that everything in football is exceptional, and all those other clubs who sack their manager at the drop of a hat would argue that the situation they were in was also exceptional.

I'm not altogether sure what my point is, because obviously we are doing dreadful and someone has to carry the can, and everyone has the right to criticise, I don't want to be one of those people who claim anyone who calls for the manager to go is not a proper fan (Although I suspect these people might just be mythical Twitter creations).  Perhaps my point is simply that the way we handle adversity gives us the chance to show our class, our greatness, in adversity, as we have shown it for so many years previously in victory.

Or something.

Ballad of the Unsent Letter

To the writers of open letters, 

I hope all is well and you are not feeling too self-important today.  I make no apology for the open letter format because that would be a bit of a kop-out wouldn't it?  As if acknowledging the stupidity of a format before launching into it exonerates you.  It's having your cake and eating it.  And, hohoho, David Moyes wrote one too so that makes it ok, the use of the format is actually ironic.  Hehehe.  Let's forget that David Moyes is one man who has to speak to millions of fans, making the open letter the most sensible means to do so.  Unless your self-importance knows so few bounds that you imagined you deserved a hand-written missive falling through your letterbox.

But anyway, I suppose I just wanted to say thanks for airing us fans' concerns.  Thank god for you because how else would anyone know our views.  I mean, if their was some means for our voices to be heard individually, some Twitter thing or Facebook thing, then your letter would have been unnecessary, but as these modern means of communication are, it would seem, yet to be invented, thank god for the noble writers of open letters putting our views for us, airing dirty laundry in public, and in the very pages of the tabloids who take such delight in our troubles.

Thanks again, and in the future, when something happens at the club, I hope you will be there to put the tape over my mouth and presume to speak for me and the millions of other fans like me who are perfectly capable of expressing our own opinions, be they pro- or anti-Moyes.  Times have changed, and yes, you're right, the open letter is a crappy format, especially when it's paid for by a tabloid.

Yours sincerely,

Man Utd MediaWatch