NEIL MOXLEY Don’t give Moyes the Short end of the stick
Fwolwloww. Tew. eurk: @peoplesport SUNDERLAND owner Ellis Short needs manager David Moyes.
And the former Manchester United boss certainly requires backing from the American billionaire, not sacking.
Like contestants on Strictly Come Dancing, the duo are standing cheek by jowl, locked in a desperate embrace of convenience.
The Wearsiders’ chief decision-maker this week affirmed his support for a man who was ‘the first choice’ of his last five appointments.
Little chance of the Scot being sold Short, then.
No, the businessman needs to ditch the habit of a lifetime and resist the temptation to act in knee-jerk fashion.
The Black Cats owner made his considerable fortune spotting potential, squeezing every pound until it bled and showing no remorse for ailing components of failing companies.
Dropped
Given that evidence, quite how Sunderland have fallen so spectacularly should be a matter for a parliamentary commission, never mind the court of public opinion in County Durham.
But dropped they have. Like a stone. And one that shows no signs of hitting the ground soon, either.
As with any sporting sob story, there is a convergence of contributory factors that has led to the worst start by any team in the history of the Premier League.
At the very heart has to be the man at the summit.
It is he who empowers those in senior positions to make the right decisions. Short’s problem has been separating not just the good from the b a d, b ut t he indifferent from the bad.
Some of t he managers employed by him – notably Dick Advocaat, Martin O’Neill and Steve Bruce – knew what they were doing.
Unfortunately, none was able to impress the owner quickly enough or a set of supporters often enough.
From a fans’ viewpoint, frustration is understandable when your sole source of joy has been an annual triumph at St James’ Park.
But patience has now worn thin for a stoic bunch who would more than settle for the David Moyes who turned Everton into a club that the top four of the time SLAVEN BILICBIL says Andy Carroll was ‘brave’ after gun-toting hijackers tried to steal the West Ham striker’sstriker car – while he was still in it. The benign pony-tail roared off in his superchargedcharged 4x4 back to the Irons’ training ground as fast as heh could. But quite how speeding away qualifies him as ‘brave’ I’mIm not sure. Bravery doesn’t come into it. But being scared sh..witless does. THE LAST WORD ... took seriously. Familiarity may eventually have bred indifference at Goodison Park, but Moyes’ teams of old were welldrilled, hardworking and devilishly hard to beat.
Eventually, when Fireman Sam (Allardyce) discovered that sidelining Jermain Defoe was not the way to go last season, those were the exact qualities which l eft Wearside laughing at Tyneside’s expense.
The timing of Allardyce’s exit was unfortunate. There were just three weeks to go before the start of the new campaign. But an absence of planning and muddled strategy from Moyes has contributed to the demise.
Promising, but in Premier League terms inexperienced, youngsters from Manchester United and Manchester City were recruited. Then there were two expensive imports of unknown quantity in Didier Ndong and Papy Djilobodji. Plus Steven Pienaar, who showed his age in picking up a red card yesterday.
Was that ever likely to be sufficient for a team that stayed up on the penultimate week of last season?
No. And Moyes should have known better. The words ‘panic buy’ scream out from the page. As much as Short needs to keep his nerve, Moyes needs to get a grip and find those qualities that earned him promotion to one of the hottest seats in football. Now, the Glaswegian’s stock has plummeted faster than the Stock Market after Brexit.
Real Sociedad was a real error. And, despite Sunderland’s three points yersterday, they are still heading towards the Championship. Unless he can convince his employer that any relegation would be a temporary setback – and the Black Cats have already been laying people off in readiness – his reign could be over before the name has been changed on Allardyce’s office.
Likewise, if this American hotshot was telling the truth about Moyes being the first among equals, then Sunderland’s owner needs to accept the situation, show patience, and pray the alchemy returns.