Thursday, November 3, 2016

BIANCA WESTWOOD: David Moyes' stock has plummeted - now it's almost as painful to watch Sunderland as it is Honey G

David Moyes is on the brink.

The meagre sliver of hope that came after Jermain Defoe’s equaliser against Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on Saturday quickly evaporated just six minutes later when they totally capitulated, conceding three goals in quick succession.

When the Gunners are at their rampant best they can dismantle most teams but Sunderland gave up without a sniff of a fight.

Every manager knows the technical area is a lonely, lonely place when things are going wrong and Moyes was left to stalk the touchline alone with a blank, shell-shocked stare and the air of a cornered fugitive.

Sunderland have had their worst ever start to a Premier League campaign. They make Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland side of 2006 (five points from the first 10 games) look good, and if there isn’t a volte-face sometime soon they could smash Derby County’s unwanted record of the lowest ever Premier League points tally.

Paul Jewell's flops of 2008 were relegated with 11 points but even those hapless Rams managed a paltry six points from their first 10 games. Sunderland have two.

Moyes (right) attempts to rally the Black Cats without success against Arsenal

By his own admission Moyes has taken to lying alone in a darkened room on a Saturday night and who can blame him?

The only thing worse than watching his woeful team at the moment is the X Factor’s Honey G, who is equally excruciating on the eyes (and ears) and I wouldn’t wish that punishment on anyone.

Moyes' stock has plummeted dramatically since his heady days at Everton.

This is the guy who was headhunted by one of the greatest managers this country has ever seen to inherit arguably the finest, most prestigious job in English football.

How has it come to this? Given opportunity, trust and that most rare of commodities in the game, time, he fostered a solid, reliable team playing decent football on a limited budget.

Honey G goes through
The only thing worse than watching Sunderland is a Honey G performance on X Factor, says our columnist

The only thing that eluded him was silverware. He was a three-time LMA manager of the year, had taken the Toffees into Champions League football in 2005 and an FA cup final in 2009 but he seemed to have reached a ceiling on the resources he had.

Everton fans were sad to see him go but felt his time had run its course.

It was time to see what he could do with the big boys and with big money at his fingertips.

I often wonder if he laments the decision to leave the comforts of Finch Farm.

It seems like it was this fateful choice that was the beginning of his Reginald Perrin-like downfall.

Emulating his Scottish compatriot at Old Trafford unfortunately ended up being nothing more than a fantastical daydream.

He should have been a young manager in his pomp, instead he accepted an impossible job.

David Moyes of Everton celebrates victory with Leighton Baines and Leon Osman
Everton fans were sad to see Moyes go but his stock as fallen dramatically since then

Sir Alex Ferguson is no fool. He is a shrewd operator who knew that although the group he had bequeathed was a championship-winning one, it was also a squad that was showing signs of deterioration.

With Scholes retired, an ageing defence, Giggs a bit part player and Robin van Persie's best years perhaps behind him, the core players that had given their messiah one last hurrah, the very spine of the United team, were on their way out.

We all know what happened next. It was average at best. And, at that time, Manchester United didn't do mediocre.

David Moyes was accused by many of looking out of his depth and he quickly found out that the mountain was insurmountable.

And yet you don't become a bad manager overnight (admittedly he did spend £27m on Mariouane Fellaini) and in hindsight his record is certainly not as bad as it seemed then.

Fixtures announced, difficult first five games
Moyes was handed a tougher task than it originally seemed when appointed at Manchester United

Managers with the CV and experience of Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have since recognised that all is not what it's cracked up to be in red half of Manchester.

But the fact remains that although David Moyes wasn't necessarily the wrong man it was definitely the wrong time and being the next in line after Ferguson he appeared a little out of touch, lacking innovation, unable to inspire, and therefore doomed.

Fair play to Moyes and credit where it's due - it took courage for him to test the Spanish waters at Real Sociedad and although he didn't pull up any trees it did help rebuild his reputation.

West Ham fans were clamouring for his attention following the departure of Big Sam (the irony), he was on Newcastle's shortlist before the arrival of Rafa Benitez and at the end of last season he was tipped to take over at Aston Villa before he pulled out of the running.

David Moyes poses with a scarf of his new club during his official presentation at the Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian
It took courage to move to Spain and take on the Real Sociedad job

Instead he plumped for Sunderland. Somehow it didn't seem the right fit for him. For somebody who was trying to reignite his career it appears he opted for a club with quicksand foundations.

Sunderland has unfortunately been plagued by mismanagement, poor investment and short-termism.

The last manager to do a full season was Steve Bruce six years ago. Martin O'Neill saw the signs early and and was quickly on his toes.

Managers of all kinds have come and gone since then and somehow managed to keep them above the drop. Di Canio, Poyet, Advocaat and Allardyce all achieved the impossible dream but having done so nothing was then put in place to ensure long-term stability at the club.

Ellis Short says he had targeted Moyes for the last five years and finally got his guy. Unfortunately being the chosen one doesn't always work out so well for Moyes.

Now Sunderland are in serious trouble with an escape route seeming unlikely

Allardyce's late departure for England didn't help, leaving Moyes with a brief pre-season and less than six weeks to come up with reinforcements.

Consequently he ended up with last-minute buys to the tune of almost £30m on players with limited Premier League game time or experience.

Talking of a relegation battle so early in the season did little to endear him to the fans. If that was a ruse to lower expectations it backfired spectacularly.

They complain of negative tactics, sitting too deep, insipid performances and last season's saviour Jermain Defoe left isolated and forlorn - as naturally gifted as he is he can't do it alone.

Jamie Carragher singled out Lamine Kone for a dressing down on Monday Night Football but the apathy runs right through the team.

The ghost of Sam Allardyce is looming if the Black Cats' fortunes don't turn around, but would he even want the challenge?

Moyes said: "When you've had 450-500 games in the Premier League you keep doing what you have always done, you keep doing what you think is right".

Now Moyes knows far more about football management than I ever will but I do know Einstein once said that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of madness.

Something needs to change and relegation looms large yet again. This could be the season where they finally succumb to the drop.

Let's face it, it's been on the cards for some time. They've finished with fewer than 40 points in the last four years which is why it's surprising he took the job in the first place.

Allardyce got more from virtually the same squad but he went in when the team were on the floor - it's far easier to get a reaction and have a positive impact when confidence is low and you can go charging into the midst of the chaos fighting fires left, right and centre.

Arsenal
Lamine Kone has been singled out for criticism in a squad showing little reason for fans to be optimistic

Now Big Sam's apparition looms large like the ghost of Christmas past. I'm not sure even he'd risk his injured reputation on this situation.

Back in the good old days Moyes might be given until the festive period or, even better, another transfer window to put things right. Sadly I'm not sure he'll get that long.

They say when you hit rock bottom the only way is up but this is the Premier League and better teams than this one have fought the relegation good fight and failed.

Maybe they need to see out Short's "long-term rebuilding plan", "do a Newcastle" - regroup and repair.

Relegation can sometimes be a hidden blessing, at least you get to see your team __win a few games.

Ellis Short
Ellis Short has some big decisions to make on whether to stick or twist with Moyes

The Black Cats travel to Bournemouth this weekend and they'll need more than luck to get anything out of Eddie Howe's side.

Moyes will sit this one out having been charged with misconduct by the FA but if his team puts in a similarly woeful performance he probably wouldn't want to see it up close anyway.

If they get nothing at Dean Court the fixture following the international break at home against Hull is set up to be an eye-wateringly desperate relegation six-pointer.

Three teams have to go. Thems the rules. On this form I can't see another team worse than Sunderland so it's looking very, very bleak in the North East.