I’m going to stand up and fight & I expect EVERYONE to do the same
CATS BOSS MOYES IS DOWN BUT NOT OUT
DAVID MOYES is frustrated, disappointed and grappling with one of the most difficult situations of his managerial career.
Sunderland are four points adrift of safety, have season-long injuries mounting up – plus Jan Kirchhoff ’s three-month knee problem which was revealed yesterday – and “very limited” funds to spend in January.
But there was a simple message. He will not walk out on the job, and instead has asked players and fans to stand alongside him and be defiant against the odds. The Black Cats gaffer said: “There is a frustration in it but I am going to stand up, stick my chest up and get on with it, fight for it, and I expect everyone else at the club to do the same.
“I have not been tempted to walk because I saw some steel from the players and a belief in what they are doing.
“It is a bigger challenge than I thought because of the situation the club are in at the moment and because of the situation I have been put in. So it is a bigger job.”
Owner Ellis Short is pursuing a quick sale in the region of £170million, and a change of ownership could be Moyes’ best hope of getting cash to spend. Interested parties are in talks.
And Moyes confirmed: “I am moving on, I have dealt with it in my head and we are getting on with it.”
Moyes is focusing on his core of up to 12 fit players who he believes can do the job, starting with a win against Watford.
Kirchhoff, Lee Cattermole and Lynden Gooch are out for up to three more months, plus Duncan Watmore and Paddy McNair for the season.
Moyes added: “We’ll use the smaller squad.
“We have got to say, ‘Come on we are in it, 100 per cent all games’. No other way, patch yourself up, get out and, you know, sometimes that galvanises you.
“We still have a strong 11 or 12. I might not have 17. But I still expect to win. We won’t be using anything else as an excuse.
“Psychologically it would be good to be moving away from the bottom. At the end you need to be away from it, but do it now and it might make that easier.
“We need more points on the board between Christmas and New Year. The Watford game gives us an opportunity to get those points.”