Football 2012-2013 Season

[Cory]

I think how he handles the Rooney thing will be huge. I'm not sure on the true perception of Rooney in Manchester, but seems like he's a fan favourite. If he dolts to Bayern, the fans could quickly jump on Moyes for his replacement. I think how he replaces Rooney will be a huge factor in people backing him.

[Rob]

Well he gave Rooney his first ever professional game so him even leaving looks unlikely now. I can see Bainesand Fellaini following Moyes to Everton to be fair

[Flins.]

I think Moyes has been lined up as Fergie's replacement for a long time. Wouldn't think it coincidental that his contract at Everton expires the same season Fergie retires, that and the constant praise between the two, the relationship between the teams in terms of transfers and such. I've always wondered why he was never snapped up by the other big clubs when they were looking, he's done a fantastic job at Everton.

Baines would be the most likely player to move over, considering the years of speculation about that move and needing a natural replacement for Evra. With Ferdinand's contract up and Vidic never seemingly fit, I could see Jagielka making the switch as well, the best English centre back in the league in my opinion and the perfect partner for Jones/Smalling. Fellaini would be interesting, especially if Rooney goes, as they probably occupy similar positions, though Fellaini can play more defensively. The only reason for Fellaini not making the move is reputation, he is very Suarez like in his play, throws a lot of elbows and in a high profile team like Man U, he'd quickly become vilified.

Players leaving, I think Nani will definitely be going. Injury prone, inconsistent when he is playing, and generally just seems out of place in the team when he does play. Anderson, for similar reasoning, though he seems to have a little better understanding with his teammates (may just be the difference in positions). Rooney hasn't seemed particularly happy in every game I have seen him play, essentially being pushed out of his preferred position by RVP. Might be the right time to cash in.

Certainly interesting times ahead for the summer, sad to see him retire, not sure it will be the same without him.

As for the club I support (Burnley), both our keepers are out of contract and leaving, not sure how the fuck that happened, and I doubt Charlie Austin will be with us come September. I think we have one of the strongest back four in the Championship, but no creativity in midfield, and just the one consistent striker (who will be leaving), need some proper reinforcements if we're not going to be involved in the relegation battle next season. We've been hemorrhaging players for a couple of seasons now, it made sense in the post-premiership season, but we've been  steadily declining, something needs to change.

[Kirk]

Rooney will leave. He's been a great player for us, but he just doesn't fit into the team any more. RVP is better than him up front and Kagawa needs to be given a good run in behind him (otherwise signing him was pointless). Rooney could be moved back into the midfield, but why play him out of position when you can sell him and buy two specialist players with the transfer fee and freed up wages?

As for Moyes and the Everton players that have been mentioned, this season was their best chance in years to show that they are capable of competing at the highest level and they have fallen short. Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs were al, there for the taking this year but Everton didn't gain on them. The players Moyes has had at Everton for the last couple of years should have been capable pushing the teams above them much harder and they are certainly good enough to have done much better in the cup competitions. Moyes is tactically rigid, has no experience of dealing with players with the wages and egos the size of the United players, has won nothing in 10 years and has utterly failed to keep hold of and develop the youth players at Everton. His transfer history doesn't exactly fill me with excitement either. People have said to me that Fergie picked him and I should trust his judgement, but Fergie told Randy Lerner to hire Alex McLeish at Villa. We all saw how that turned out.

Giving Moyes the Utd job reminds me of when Liverpool gave Hodgeson a chance. They are both sensible British managers who had done well at a mid table club and were moving to a club with one of its legendary managers on the board. The difference is that Hodgeson had already won loads of trophies, had extensive European experience and had been in charge of Inter Milan (another big European club). Hodgeson was far more qualified than Moyes and he cocked it up at Liverpool. I don't see Moyes fairing much better at Utd.

Moyes is the wrong choice and giving him six years is insane. I'll get behind him once the season starts, but I'm not remotely optimistic about the future. At least Jose would have given us a fun couple of years before everything imploded.

[Dorling]

Harsh. Moyes is a very good manager. You have to learn sometime. Ferguson will be there to guide him and Ferguson had no knowledge of egos and wages when he arrived either.

Keeping hold of young players is an argument that doesn't make sense - Everton never had the money to hold on to them and develop them, they could not possibly have turned down the cash they were given for players like Lescott, Rooney and Rodwell. Moyes would have liked to keep them I'm sure - but it wasn't his choice.

His transfer history isn't that bad either, he's never had any real money to spend. The only expensive flop I can think of is Bilyaletdinov. Mirallas, Fellaini, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Cahill, Neville, Howard, Lescott etc have all been great signings for his side - not to mention mostly very cheap by Utd standards and exactly what his squad needed at the time.

It's simply unrealistic for a side with the squad size and money of Everton to expect to compete consistently with teams that spunk their money up the wall like Utd, City, Spurs, Liverpool (who they actually beat often) and even my Arsenal. Everton are the last of the big teams to break the top four. I think Moyes will do very well after a possibly difficult first season. Man U will probably finish 1st or 2nd next year.

[Rob]

Moyes is going to be a fantastic choice. I was chatting with my Dad about it last night and we were putting the pieces together and realised that this has most probably been in the pipeline for at least 2 years now. I personally wondered whether Fergie would've left last season had he won the title, I suspect so. I think the plan was going to be for United to win one last title under Fergie and then he'd step down, and Moyes is the perfect replacement.


Now, enough about United and their crap.


REAL FOOTBALL TONIGHT. Palace vs Brighton. I am so unbelievably excited and nervous, and I'm not even going!

[Kirk]

Harsh. Moyes is a very good manager. You have to learn sometime. Ferguson will be there to guide him and Ferguson had no knowledge of egos and wages when he arrived either.

Keeping hold of young players is an argument that doesn't make sense - Everton never had the money to hold on to them and develop them, they could not possibly have turned down the cash they were given for players like Lescott, Rooney and Rodwell. Moyes would have liked to keep them I'm sure - but it wasn't his choice.

His transfer history isn't that bad either, he's never had any real money to spend. The only expensive flop I can think of is Bilyaletdinov. Mirallas, Fellaini, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Cahill, Neville, Howard, Lescott etc have all been great signings for his side - not to mention mostly very cheap by Utd standards and exactly what his squad needed at the time.

It's simply unrealistic for a side with the squad size and money of Everton to expect to compete consistently with teams that spunk their money up the wall like Utd, City, Spurs, Liverpool (who they actually beat often) and even my Arsenal. Everton are the last of the big teams to break the top four. I think Moyes will do very well after a possibly difficult first season. Man U will probably finish 1st or 2nd next year.

The thing about Moyes' signing is that the successful ones are almost all defensive. The problem for Utd at the minute is a lack of creativity in midfield (in the middle and out wide). Moyes seems to have a blind spot for attacking players and that is why I'm not excited about our prospects in the transfer market. I think It'd fans have to accept that finishing 3rd or 4th will be the most we can reasonably expect next season (City and Chelsea are going to throw their financial weight around in the summer). Like I said before, I'll get behind him when the season starts (I really didn't want RVP last summer but was cheering his name as soon as he put the Utd shirt on) I'm just disappointed considering the managerial talent that is available this year.

[Flins.]

Out of curiosity, who would you have preferred, Kirk?

I think you'll be proven wrong with your expectations of Moyes. His Everton side's are all about solidity, but when you're working on a budget, that is exactly the kind of base you need for the team. If you look back at the transfer history of Moyes at Everton, he is up there with the best of them in terms of bringing in quality for pennies. I'll just name a few players who have had a huge impact on the club, Tim Cahill - £2mil, Arteta - £2mil, Phil Neville - £3.5mil, Lescott - £2.5mil, Tim Howard - £3mil, Baines - £6mil, Pienaar - £2mil, Distin - £5mil, and more recently, Jelavic - £5mil, Mirallas - £6mil. His biggest signings have been Yakubu, Fellaini, Bilyaletdinov, and Andrew Johnson. Johnson and Bilya were the only guys who I would consider flops considering the money spent on them, and they made a £2mil profit on the sale of Johnson to Fulham, and a £3mil loss on the sale of Bilya. Lescott they sold for £25mil, Arteta for £10mil, and then there were the sales of youth players Rooney & Rodwell. That is a broad spectrum of quality signings in all areas, and he has shown an aptitude for knowing when to sell, and how to rebuild squads, something I'm sure Fergie will see as a huge positive. I don't think his transfer policy will change just because he has more money to spend, as long as he brings that same approach to transfer to United, I expect him to have a successful reign.

In terms of playing style, I think he is as tactically savvy as Fergie, well respected amongst his peers for a reason, must be good at motivating his players as well, don't think I've ever seen an Everton team half-assing it. I get that it is a blow for United fans to have such a legendary manager step down, and the replacement will never compare, but expecting not to challenge for the title? Ludicrous. Don't forget, Chelsea will have a managerial replacement as well, and no doubt City will be having a overhaul.

The only worry would be Europe, but then, that was never a strongpoint under Fergie's (especially the last few seasons) reign either.

[Rob]

Johnson was a flop yeah but when Moyes bought him, he was the highest scoring Englishman in the country. He may be on his way back to Palace too... Woopty doo

[Flins.]

It was the season after they were relegated that he was signed, which showed how decent a player he was at the time as Everton forked out £8mil + for him even though he'd not had the most prolific season in the championship. Shame the injuries got to him. 

[Rob]

He only scored a shade under 20 goals the season after we got relegated. He was one of the highest ratio scorers we ever had, as high as Ian Wright. It was a safe bet to make that he was a good player, but Moyes wasn't to anticipate that he was going to be injury prone

[Dorling]

Not to be mean Kirk, but to say you 'really didn't want' RVP doesn't show a great deal of judgment! Best striker in the Prem.

[Cory]

lol Wigan.

[GM Franchise]

Here's the ESPN story about Wigan's victory.

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1443356/wigan-stuns-man-city-win-fa-cup?cc=5901

[Rob]

Fair play to Wigan, but Man City were dreadful. This team did not look like a premiership winning side. Mancini definitely to get the sack this season