Is this David Moyes' last season?

[bluebottle]

I hope not. He's currently in the process of building a new team and I'd like to see him see it through.

He's on a high wage considering his achievements and the position of our club but he's operated on a meager budget for a decade now and he's done very well to build a team of such quality.

I kind of think he has rediscovered his drive since January. He seems infinitely happier, hes back on form transfer wise and weve laid down a marker on the first day of the season. If he has his mojo back i think hed like to see us to a trophy before he left.

 

[Allezfan]

Dya reckon if Moyes had elite money to spend on transfers he would be up there with those types?

I think if in 2005 he'd been given the money to spend that Benitez was we'd have won the league. My problem with him is I think sometime after the fa cup final he gave up and he hasn't been the same since. I think in the last three seasons he's actually held us back.

If he can get back to the 2004-05 Moyes who I worshipped I'd be more than happy.

 

[Allezfan]

Does he? How would Wenger of done if he couldn't afford big wages and didn't start out with a world class team, but instead had to generate his own transfer funds from a squad near relegation?
They are on comparable wages but not comparable situations.
Poor squad, no money, players leaving, low wage caps and Moyes gets us to finals, semis, top 4, several european years whilst all around spend, spend, spend, he is still selling. I know you don't want to see it but the job he is doing is actually far more impressive than you will ever admit. If he went that extra 80 minutes with the injury ravaged team he had against Mourhino's 200mil team and won the FA cup that time, would you be liking him now?

I've never once blamed him for the fa final loss, that squad was down to it's bare bones and there was no manager in the world who could have won it for us.

Last years semi, however? All on him. That was an inferior team that knocked us out.

 

[Goat]

I think if in 2005 he'd been given the money to spend that Benitez was we'd have won the league. My problem with him is I think sometime after the fa cup final he gave up and he hasn't been the same since. I think in the last three seasons he's actually held us back.

If he can get back to the 2004-05 Moyes who I worshipped I'd be more than happy.

Moyes is gonna mug you all off this Season lad, your gonna love him as much as me then he will koff somewhere and you will cry.

Well I wont be there with a freaking towel lad!

 

[bluebottle]

I think if in 2005 he'd been given the money to spend that Benitez was we'd have won the league. My problem with him is I think sometime after the fa cup final he gave up and he hasn't been the same since. I think in the last three seasons he's actually held us back.

If he can get back to the 2004-05 Moyes who I worshipped I'd be more than happy.

Do you not get the impression that we are getting a return to form? He can start to actually add his players (with only slight financial restrictions). I reckon he'll sign again and look to push on.

 

[Allezfan]

Do you not get the impression that we are getting a return to form?

Not really but I certainly hope to be proved wrong. Last night was a great start.

 

[Guest89]

The thing I'd say to anyone who goes on about our need to win a trophy to really deem Moyes period here a success, I'd say, a trophy is only a good sign of progression and achievement if it's complimented with a good league performance. I'd rather we finished 5th in the prem this season and won the League Cup than I would finish 17th winning the FA Cup.

I think Moyes has made us an attractive prospect for players because we look like we could challenge every season, even if we haven't won a trophy under him yet, we look capable of. Same goes for Europe and Moyes attitude toward the Europa League. The next time we make Europe, I expect us to replicate (or better) our 07/08 run or better it now.

I will concede when Moyes does leave if he hasn't won at least a trophy with us, then to a point his time here was disappointing, but for the time being, he is still with us and on his watch, I do feel it's more a case of when, rather than if, we'll taste some silverware.

 

[Allezfan]

I'd rather we finished 5th in the prem this season and won the League Cup than I would finish 17th winning the FA Cup.

But they're both trophies. I'd rather finish 17th with the league cup than 5th with nothing. No question at all. Only in two situations does our league position matter, if we get champions leage football or if we get relegated, otherwise it really makes little difference whether you finish 5th or 17th.

 

[bluebottle]

Not really but I certainly hope to be proved wrong. Last night was a great start.

Agreed. I just reckon hes had a little freedom in the market (lulz) compared to previous windows and it has reinvigorated David a bit.

 

[steken1]

Dya reckon if Moyes had elite money to spend on transfers he would be up there with those types?

A very fair question.

But when he's had players to go and do a job on the elite managers he's been found wanting too.

Unlucky for us that to get back to where most of our supporters think we belong he would need an eye for a player almost as good as Wenger, Man-management almost as good as Ferguson and tactical awareness almost as good as Mourinho with the constraints he operates under.

I just think he's very good but not great.

 

[Baines' left foot]

I kind of think he has rediscovered his drive since January. He seems infinitely happier, hes back on form transfer wise and weve laid down a marker on the first day of the season. If he has his mojo back i think hed like to see us to a trophy before he left.

He does seem happier, and he's finally signed a striker that is more than half decent, and had another go at fixing the right wing, finally.

I think rather than keep hold of our squad and just add 1 or 2 minor players he's chosen to sell a big name and instead he's managed to shuffle the squad and keep it fresh. We were badly stagnating before January last season.

 

[Deleted member 28206]

Frightening that it correlates with Neville's contract expiry...( I think )

 

[Guest89]

But they're both trophies. I'd rather finish 17th with the league cup than 5th with nothing. No question at all. Only in two situations does our league position matter, if we get champions leage football or if we get relegated, otherwise it really makes little difference whether you finish 5th or 17th.

Yeah reading that back I realised that point was a bit weak.

But that is where I'd disagree, a trophy is great in the moment, but next season, or even that summer, when you're looking to build again and progress and push on, you're still a team who just avoided relegation and the chances of you replicating that success and challenging for a trophy again look slim, whereas if you're a team that's on the cusp of the CL and one of the best in the league, regardless of the lack of silverware, you're an attractive prospect.

I do understand the people who prioritise trophies because I do agree, that's what goes in the record books, not 4th, 5th, 6th place league finishes. However I really do feel, the legacy Moyes will have left us (regardless of what he does end up winning) will be the structure and reputation left behind. And I think strong league performances, year in, year out are essential to that.

While I'd go absolutely mental at the time and love every second of it at Wembley, if we did win the Capital One Cup this season but then finished 15th, by this time next year, I'd be feeling a bit more hollow inside than I would if we'd have got two semi-finals under our belt and a 5th place finish. Because with the latter, I'd have optimism we could compete for the 3 cups we'd be in then again and that 2012/13 wasn't the best it was going to get.

Under Moyes I do feel like we're laying the foundations for a genuine period of some kind of modest success (in comparison to our history, something similar perhaps to what Liverpool had under Houllier) that's why, while I still see Moyes here for the forseeable future, strong league performances are more important to me than a one off cup run.

Like I said, to me, the most important thing when we do win a trophy is supplementing it with strong performances across the board and following up the year later with strong cup and league runs again.

 

[bluebottle]

He does seem happier, and he's finally signed a striker that is more than half decent, and had another go at fixing the right wing, finally.

I think rather than keep hold of our squad and just add 1 or 2 minor players he's chosen to sell a big name and instead he's managed to shuffle the squad and keep it fresh. We were badly stagnating before January last season.

I think Moyes has played a blinder and brushed off the cobwebs in the process. The feel good atmosphere is palpable and other such cliches...

 

[ToffeeMike]

He hasn't even been offered a new contract yet! :blink: