No doubt about it, probing questions are already being asked of the newly-appointed managers in charge of last season’s top three Premiership clubs. Okay, they may not be the same questions asked of each and, in all honesty, few of any real significance are being put to Manuel Pellegrini, probably through fear of upset and the possibility of piquing early. However, if genuine answers are to emerge and real comparisons made, the other two should at least be judged on the same level playing field. The Guardian, for instance, recently posed five questions specifically aimed at David Moyes when a far more worthwhile approach would have been to widen their Q&A coverage to incorporate the [press-alleged] only other candidate for the United job and, with Jose forced to dry his [press-alleged] tears before coming home to Chelsea, assess them and their ‘new’ clubs in tandem.

 

The process can turn out to be a revealing one and here’s my take on the current state of affairs, using exactly the same enquiring format. Apologies for the length of the topic, but if you are able to trawl through it, answering the same questions in reply, I’d be interested to see if regular Shed Enders might now be starting to view things in a similar way…

 

1. Is this squad only of average quality?

 

Ironically, the Moyes-inherited United squad, in the blink of a critical eye, is starting to be viewed as inadequate. “To win the Champions League, you have to have five or six word-class players…we’ve not got that yet†admitted the new incumbent, but, such was previous all-encompassing denial under Ferguson, the selfsame squad was never before considered so short on quality, be it Fellaini-festooned or otherwise. By comparison, judgement on Jose’s return has been played out with him as an overseer of an emergent, burgeoning bunch requiring very little in terms of motivation, an easy and smooth-as-silk transition if ever there was one, thereby enabling the hacks to comment unfavourably on any omission from the team or squad, portraying it as a catalyst for impending doom and disunity.

 

Conclusion:- well, Moyes, by common United fan consent, is a PR disaster to date and, as I type, is still right up to his neck in Media muck and bullets fired from all directions, whilst Jose continues to dodge the ammo with only his name on it, despite never ducking any of the important issues. It is a stark contrast, borne of applying differing standards of journalism to an experienced operator and [at this level] a wet-behind-the-ears newcomer who is proving to be far too honest for his own long-term good.

 

2. Experience is vital, but are too many key players over thirty?

 

Henry Winter, in The Telegraph yesterday, told us “At times [Rio Ferdinand] seems to defer to United’s respected media department over what questions he should answer†before then biting his own particular bullet by going on to say that he should be dropped after the team’s poor start this season. Unlike Rio, nothing much seems to get past Henry these days, albeit that he remains in awe (and probably indebted) to the Manc Media Machine, even to the point of not knowing which way to jump regarding its insidious influence on football matters - is it right or wrong to doff your cap to a media department, whether it’s respected or not? Who knows, certainly not Henry, he seems totally befuddled.

 

A word that could also be used to describe the Ryan Giggs/Paul Scholes age-defying experiment that’s been bubbling away at the Old Trafford laboratory for longer than most of us care to, or even can, remember. Still, at long last Winter and his cronies have realised that time waits for no Manc [ultimately] and it’s just a shame for Moyes that these once reliable crash-defying dummies are all keeling over on his arrival and the one he really wants to push down the stairs (Evra, to allow Baines in) still looks remarkably chipper. Meanwhile, down at the Bridge, we’ve been told for years that Petr, JT, Lamps, even Ash on occasion, are all past it. Hacks throughout the land have been imparting this information since well before we won the Champions League, remember that final game in which nearly all of them were defying the odds, drinking down Horlicks at halftime, then still finding the energy to shuffle about the Munich pitch in their carpet slippers in the extra.

 

Conclusion:- Jose need not worry too much about Father Time in this squad - forty is a long way off for the majority and none of them look as slow as Rio has done over the last half dozen seasons.

 

3. Questionable cohesion - they aren’t playing as a unit?

 

The Chels ‘unit’ should really have first crack at this cohesion issue, as there has been an ever-growing Media obsession with rubbishing the Mourinho motivation factor right from the moment he walked back into our club. Hence we witness Mata machinations being used to undermine our adoption of any formation other than a past [perceived successful] standard design. Debate decreed, much like for the Model T Ford, that we could have any colour… as long as it was black, which, when translated into fan-speak, meant a guaranteed No 10 position for our little Spanish maestro. Of course, the Media response was even more expansive - you can have any player in there, except we are only going to write and talk about the guy who is outta there, thereby creating unrest to match United’s sorry situation. By comparison, that ‘situation’ up North left Rooney in limbo, all energy and professionalism on the pitch, plying his cohesive knitting trade, which might as well be directed at fog, the use it will be in ousting Van-another-over30‘s-Man from his ’box’ seat in every attacking future formation. No wonder he remains uncommitted - Ferguson had made the break, why wasn‘t he allowed to?

 

Conclusion:- Both managers talk of transition, but whereas Jose has work to do and will do it, anticipating scant praise for any premature success he might achieve along the way, Moyes has already retreated into bunkered gloom. An Evertonian’s tried and tested method of playing is being stretched to the limit by poor quality and lack of pace in midfield, so we are looking at a man soon to be broken on the rack of expectation [of an open field goal at the very least] sometime soon. In the meantime - Breaking News - amicable discussions are taking place in the press on the subject of cohesiveness…

 

4. Is there actually any real money to spend?

 

Those Shed-Enders who have read my previous post on this topic will be aware of my scepticism on money matters where the Glazers are concerned. This was a real no-go area under Ferguson, swept under the carpet with a dismissive wave of the hand, a sharp retort of ’they’ve always been fine with me’ then stony silence until the subject was changed. By now, David Moyes has seen the true picture he’s inherited and although he says he likes the look of the reproduction on show to the public, his private viewing of the real thing will have confirmed it‘s no masterpiece and probably worth **** all. I’ve lost count of the number of times, as with The Telegraph’s Mark Ogden in Donetsk at the moment, punters have been told that the Glazer family will give Moyes ’substantial transfer funds’ in [the next] transfer window. What was wrong with the last? And even if it did turn into the Ed Woodward Shambles Show, how come funds, purportedly being put up for Fabregas, Ozil and Bale, but not necessarily in that order, have since been squirreled away again and now, when deep in do-do with Moyes, they need to be repackaged as fresh monies, called-for and sanctioned to great acclaim?

 

Conclusion:- Thank heavens we have no such difficulty with Roman, although you wouldn’t notice this in any Q&A, because we‘ve hardly ever been included in them, there being no doubts over cash availability with our owner. None whatsoever. Overgenerous, if anything. No complaints from us. We don’t need to generate a song and dance about our guy at the top possibly putting his hand in his pocket, or seek solace from a headline written with the sole intention of placating fans for as long as possible. Happy days… what’s the last question?

 

5. Could things become a lot worse before they improve?

 

More to the point, perhaps, if there is worse to come, how will the fans react? Interestingly, the response of Guardian readers to this question and its implied rider was conspicuous by its absence. Nobody, it appeared, wanted to gauge fan reaction even though it was a natural consequence of undoubted ever-growing unrest. The yardstick for Moyes has to be that stunning latest defeat to City - United fans can no longer chant that ‘they can do what they like’ because in reality City showed them up to be the epitome of a comedic fall guy, my thoughts immediately turning to Eric Morecombe in one of those sketches where he stuck his flattened hand under Ernie Wise’s chin and grinned ‘get out of that then!’ They can’t, nor will they for a good while yet, I’ll wager. Whether Jose can get us up-and-running in order to challenge the Blue half is an altogether different matter, but first our fan reaction question can be answered with comparative ease - Jose is trusted to deliver, will be given all the time he needs, and the sooner newspapers and the Media realise the fact, the better.

 

Conclusion:- Clearer definition of ’a lot worse’ is required here and any fall from a previous pinnacle will hurt a lot more when you have further to go. City are new build in the hands of an engineer [yes he is qualified] and their foundations are unquestionably good. We are established, rock-solid and those renovations, in the hands of a skilful builder like Jose, should turn us into an architectural delight. United, on the other hand, resembles Downton Abbey in its declining years - all privileged-out, yet still getting the butler to put an iron over The Times, so they can keep re-reading those old rave reviews. Quick, before it’s too late, shout out and let Moysey know what’s really going on, preferably before someone pops into the training ground unannounced… to dress him for dinner.

　

Lovely read Dorset, fantastico. As things stand it will surely get worse before its better for Manc fans. Long may that continue!!

Even tonight, I think they will struggle. Ferguson was driving the Utd engine on fumes for the past year and now the tank is eating itself!

With a bit of luck the whole car will all fall apart and they'll be no road side assistance!!!!!