Manchester United lost to Sunderland 2-1 in the first leg of the Capital One Cup last night as three generations of United legends watched shaking their heads in disbelief.
For those of us old enough to remember, or in my case, to be there, it is all Déjà vu. When Sir Matt Busby retired after Manchester United has won the European Cup in 1968, it was thought that he would fade away into retirement with his wife and family. But no, he decided he would hang around the ground, the training centre and the changing rooms. This was found to be a distraction for the players and the new manager and it ultimately led to him making a brief comeback, but it merely delayed the inevitable. United were relegated in 1975 and I have to say that the foundations for that were laid during the end of Sir Matt's reign.
Ageing players were not replaced and the team became a bunch of old men; a parody of their former selves. In amongst them was sprinkled some hasty additions to the squad, but they were misfits; they were not the standard required and in the end, the club just disintegrated.
We were told that whenever Sir Alex retired, the club had plans in place for e a seamless transition to a new manager. Unfortunately, this transition was rendered useless by the incumbent manager who basically told the owners that the new manager was David Moyes. No sort of interviews with other contenders for the job were even entertained as Moyes was ushered in before Fergusons seat got cold. Now we are seeing the results of that plan.
Bobby Charlton, Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Robson looked down at the players at the Stadium of Light last night, shaking their heads in disbelief at what they had just witnessed; yet another dismal display and another defeat. There was little to talk about in the match other than the goals. The first was an own goal scored by Ryan Giggs who was unable to stop the ball from creeping over the line after Sunderland had been awarded a free kick by referee Andrew Mariner. The fact that it should have been a free kick the other way should not detract from some shoddy defending which allowed a centre back to cross the ball with his feet across the penalty area for someone to prod it home. Unfortunately that someone was Ryan Giggs, so it was an own goal.
The United equaliser came early in the second half from a cross into the penalty area which was headed home by Captain Nemanja Vidic. Everyone then expected it to be like the Alamo, with Sunderland caving in, but it was actually the spur which led to their winning goal, a controversial penalty. Cleverley, who has been utterly useless all season, tried to chase winger Adam Johnson into the penalty box and could not keep up. However, his close proximity led to Johnson falling over and initially the referee, who had a clear view, waved it away, but the linesman, who could not see, gave the penalty anyway?
It was a wrong decision, but the truth is that Sunderland deserved it anyway for their positive attitude and effort. Now it remains to be seen whether United can overturn this result in the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
The Capital One Cup may not be high on Manchester United's list of priorities this season, but after defeat to Tottenham and an FA Cup exit to Swansea City, the overall picture is not a good one for David Moyes.
It was a poor game in truth, in which only Adnan Januzaj really impressed for the Old Trafford outfit, but they were back in the tie in the second half thanks to a Nemanja Vidic corner, after Ryan Giggs had bundled the ball into his own net before the interval.
And United might have had at least a draw if match official Andre Marriner hadn't given a penalty for a soft challenge by Tom Cleverley on Adam Johnson, who must have felt only minimal contact.
The tie is far from over with the second leg at Old Trafford, but this defeat makes the second visit of Swansea in the space of seven days all the more important.
Despite what Moyes says to the contrary, it cannot help having the previous manager hanging around the club all the time and attending all the matches like some harbinger of doom. If he has retired, he should stay away and let Moyes get on with it. We are seeing now that there was a need for a complete revamp of the whole squad this season and it has fallen to poor old Moyes to try and sort it out. Of course it didn't help when United's hierarchy allowed David Gill to leave at the same time as Ferguson; so much for forward planning?
Unless Moyes can somehow get some new players in the notoriously difficult January transfer window, he will find it increasingly difficult to even make a top four finish. The club has already had £200m wiped off its share price due to the poor start to the season, so the last thing they need is to fail to get into next seasons Champions League.
There has been speculation already about Moyes tenure at Old Trafford; however, I think that he will be given this season regardless of what happens. However, if this continues into the start of next season, I expect the owners will have to act and bring in a manager with the experience and expertise at the top level.
For those of us old enough to remember, or in my case, to be there, it is all Déjà vu. When Sir Matt Busby retired after Manchester United has won the European Cup in 1968, it was thought that he would fade away into retirement with his wife and family. But no, he decided he would hang around the ground, the training centre and the changing rooms. This was found to be a distraction for the players and the new manager and it ultimately led to him making a brief comeback, but it merely delayed the inevitable. United were relegated in 1975 and I have to say that the foundations for that were laid during the end of Sir Matt's reign.
Ageing players were not replaced and the team became a bunch of old men; a parody of their former selves. In amongst them was sprinkled some hasty additions to the squad, but they were misfits; they were not the standard required and in the end, the club just disintegrated.
We were told that whenever Sir Alex retired, the club had plans in place for e a seamless transition to a new manager. Unfortunately, this transition was rendered useless by the incumbent manager who basically told the owners that the new manager was David Moyes. No sort of interviews with other contenders for the job were even entertained as Moyes was ushered in before Fergusons seat got cold. Now we are seeing the results of that plan.
Bobby Charlton, Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Robson looked down at the players at the Stadium of Light last night, shaking their heads in disbelief at what they had just witnessed; yet another dismal display and another defeat. There was little to talk about in the match other than the goals. The first was an own goal scored by Ryan Giggs who was unable to stop the ball from creeping over the line after Sunderland had been awarded a free kick by referee Andrew Mariner. The fact that it should have been a free kick the other way should not detract from some shoddy defending which allowed a centre back to cross the ball with his feet across the penalty area for someone to prod it home. Unfortunately that someone was Ryan Giggs, so it was an own goal.
The United equaliser came early in the second half from a cross into the penalty area which was headed home by Captain Nemanja Vidic. Everyone then expected it to be like the Alamo, with Sunderland caving in, but it was actually the spur which led to their winning goal, a controversial penalty. Cleverley, who has been utterly useless all season, tried to chase winger Adam Johnson into the penalty box and could not keep up. However, his close proximity led to Johnson falling over and initially the referee, who had a clear view, waved it away, but the linesman, who could not see, gave the penalty anyway?
It was a wrong decision, but the truth is that Sunderland deserved it anyway for their positive attitude and effort. Now it remains to be seen whether United can overturn this result in the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
The Capital One Cup may not be high on Manchester United's list of priorities this season, but after defeat to Tottenham and an FA Cup exit to Swansea City, the overall picture is not a good one for David Moyes.
It was a poor game in truth, in which only Adnan Januzaj really impressed for the Old Trafford outfit, but they were back in the tie in the second half thanks to a Nemanja Vidic corner, after Ryan Giggs had bundled the ball into his own net before the interval.
And United might have had at least a draw if match official Andre Marriner hadn't given a penalty for a soft challenge by Tom Cleverley on Adam Johnson, who must have felt only minimal contact.
The tie is far from over with the second leg at Old Trafford, but this defeat makes the second visit of Swansea in the space of seven days all the more important.
Despite what Moyes says to the contrary, it cannot help having the previous manager hanging around the club all the time and attending all the matches like some harbinger of doom. If he has retired, he should stay away and let Moyes get on with it. We are seeing now that there was a need for a complete revamp of the whole squad this season and it has fallen to poor old Moyes to try and sort it out. Of course it didn't help when United's hierarchy allowed David Gill to leave at the same time as Ferguson; so much for forward planning?
Unless Moyes can somehow get some new players in the notoriously difficult January transfer window, he will find it increasingly difficult to even make a top four finish. The club has already had £200m wiped off its share price due to the poor start to the season, so the last thing they need is to fail to get into next seasons Champions League.
There has been speculation already about Moyes tenure at Old Trafford; however, I think that he will be given this season regardless of what happens. However, if this continues into the start of next season, I expect the owners will have to act and bring in a manager with the experience and expertise at the top level.
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