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Gav - Keep Moyes!
"He has curly hair."
"He's single-handedly keeping Karbon Grill in business outside the SOL."
"He's got a nice personality... actually nah, he's boring as f**k."
"He sounded weird saying 'illarramendi' that one time."
"His weekly doom updates are pretty entertaining, where he announces 15 injuries."
Those were real suggestions made by my mates. So... aye.
It's not exactly easy to make the case for David Moyes, but there are decent reasons for why we probably should hang on to our fledgling manager beyond the West Ham game, even if they aren't particularly pretty.
Though I remain to be convinced about Sunderland's future with David Moyes in charge, sacking him in the event of defeat this weekend would see us achieve very little in my opinion.
So you sack him - then what? Ellis Short's track record would suggest that he's adverse to buying manager's out of their contracts at other clubs and I struggle to see that trend changing.
Reputable names like Louis Van Gaal, Andre Villas-Boas, Laurent Blanc, Roberto Mancini and Marcelo Bielsa are all currently without clubs, but I somehow can't see any of them being willing to take on the nuclear task they'd have on their hands at Sunderland - and if 'having a long term plan' is what the club have in mind, none of the men I've named there would suit the role. Domestic options like Tim Sherwood, Nigel Adkins, Steve Clarke and Paul Lambert don't exactly wet the appetite. Big S.... yeah, don't even go there. That didn't end well, and as much as some might want it, it's just not happening again.
And whilst I wouldn't completely rule out Short going out and paying for a manager, it just doesn't make sense. The club as business are allegedly streamlining and re-structuring under Martin Bain - it just doesn't look good on the balance sheets if you decide to pay off a manager three months into a four-year contract.
Bain's comments yesterday in his interview with the club website would suggest that they aren't prepared to panic on Moyes and are firmly behind him as part of a longer term plan. Regardless of whether we get relegated this season or not, I don't believe that Bain and Short are going to tear up their plans again and sack David Moyes. They seem pretty happy to give him whatever time he needs to put things right at the club.
The easy answer to this question is to say 'just look at what he did at Everton', and whilst most people will just shrug their shoulders at that, it is worth remembering. Whilst what he did then has absolutely no baring on what he does now, his proven track record as the Toffees manager at least buys him some time, with Short at least, to get it right at Sunderland long-term.
Alex - Sack Moyes!
For what it's worth, I was optimistic when we first appointed Moyes. I mean, yeah, he'd had a rough time at Man United and Real Sociedad, but once everyone saw the Scotsman holding up a scarf adorned with Sunderland colours - all we could picture was his success at Everton.
Gav's right to point out that Moyes's time with the Toffees is a source of optimism, but such optimism is wavering fast for many, perhaps virtually non-existent now for others - and rightfully so. Before I get into exactly why that man shouldn't see out another day under our club's employment, I'd like to swiftly eliminate any leniency you may have in allowing the Scotsman to dine out on his long-gone success on Merseyside.
The only reason people cling to Dave's success at Everton is purely because of a longing for an era such as the one Moyesie presided over. Stability and formidability in the top flight, peppered with an array of hidden gems unearthed from the football league gave Moyes's Everton the look of a side that was homely and likeable, but not one that you would ever consider soft opposition under any circumstances. How many Sunderland fans do you reckon would give a limb to have their club in a situation half as credible as Evertons?
That's exactly why he hasn't been hounded out already. Too many fans have deluded themselves into thinking Moyes is still the manager now as he was then. This idealistic assumption that Moyes will replicate his Everton mould with us is toxic. Dave's real reign of Sunderland is a wound that needs to be cauterised.
Many people have excused Moyes by simply stating that coming to Sunderland was akin to career suicide; that a man who was already on a downward spiral was putting the final nail in his coffin by attempting to steer our club away from it's annual trip to the relegation zone - but I don't buy into this viewpoint for one second. The squad Moyes inherited from Big Sam was one fresh from an injection of quality and fighting spirit, the objective for Moyes was quite clearly to hold the team together - in body and spirit - whilst adding a few more players of a similar calibre to Kone, Kirchhoff and Defoe in order to give us that extra depth should any of the aforementioned get injured.
That's what we expected, at least, but what did we actually get? A withered, frightened man appearing before cameras and microphones to announce either an oncoming relegation battle, or a plethora of injuries which he planned to amend with panic purchases - whether those be pensioner Pienaar, temperamental problem child Adnan Januzaj, or the embarrassingly ambiguous Paddy McNair, whose true playing position has essentially become the eighth wonder of the world.
Bottom line, David Moyes took over a good team and brought it back to square one in quality. Moyes took a winning mentality and turned it into a losing one. Moyes has never had a clue, he's never had hope and he never will. Moyes needs to go.
Who do you agree with? Leave your comments below this article.
