Giggs takes charge as Moyes gets the boot
Print Edition
VETERAN midfielder Ryan Giggs was appointed interim manager of Manchester United, shortly after the club announced the sacking of David Moyes.
“Following the departure of David Moyes as manager, Manchester United has announced that Ryan Giggs, the club’s most decorated player, will assume responsibility for the first team until a permanent appointment can be made,” United said in a statement.
Giggs, 40, made his United debut in March 1991 and has made a record 962 appearances for the club, winning 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, four FA Cups, four League Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. He has no previous managerial experience, but has combined his role as a player with a position on United’s coaching staff since the start of the current campaign.
The Welshman, Britain’s most decorated player, was informed of the news after arriving at United’s Carrington training ground yesterday.
His first game at the helm will be a home fixture against Norwich City in the Premier League on Saturday, which will be followed by matches against Sunderland, Hull City and Southampton.
Louis van Gaal, the current Netherlands coach, has been installed as the favorite to succeed Moyes on a permanent basis by British bookmakers. Jurgen Klopp of Borussia Dortmund, another rumored contender, has already ruled himself out of the running.
“Man United is a great club and I feel very familiar with their wonderful fans. But my commitment to Borussia Dortmund and the people is not breakable,” Klopp told The Guardian.
Moyes was dismissed yesterday after a desperate debut campaign at United, which has fallen 23 points below league leader Liverpool and can no longer qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Even while accustomed to success, United realized just how reliant its unprecedented dominance was on the managerial mastery of Alex Ferguson.
“Any successor to our current manager may not be as successful,” the club’s American owners warned potential investors in 2012. With Moyes not even completing a full season in charge, what an understatement that now seems.
And what a costly mistake it was entrusting Ferguson with hand-picking his successor, allowing him to overlook more accomplished candidates on continental Europe with resumes befitting a club of United’s stature, and turning to a fellow Scotsman who didn’t win a major trophy in 11 years at Everton.
“His appointment is a victory for common sense and stability,” the club trumpeted at the time. “United are in safe hands.”
It could be seen that appointing Moyes was the worst signing Ferguson made in his time at Old Trafford. Moyes’s transfer dealings proved equally disappointing with 27.5 million pound (US$46.2 million) midfielder Marouane Fellaini and 37.1 million pound record signing Juan Mata struggling to make an impact.
As a result, the Glazer family, felt uneasy about the prospect of handing him the funds needed to rebuild the squad during the forthcoming close season.
“I think it could have been dealt with a whole lot better,” former United player Gary Neville said. “I believe in managers being given time. However, there’s no disguising that the football this season has been poor and the results have been poor. The performances have got worse and worse.”
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