One of the sterling qualities Sir Alex Ferguson maintained during his 26 year reign at Manchester United was his strategic and covert ways of handling transfer issues and player dissent, he did manage some of the biggest and the most difficult players the game has ever seen, from Eric Cantona to Ruud Van Nistelrooy, he’s had a lot on his plate on his plate and at the end of it all he came out unscathed due largely to his immense man-management skills(which most of his players have attested to)and his mastery of how the media operate(he really knew what to say and when to say)
Present Manchester United Manager, David Moyes is filling one of the top and toughest jobs in world football and considering his previous roles it will be an understatement to say he’s going to find the job very challenging. He came on with a lot of goodwill with many rightly believing the club has taken the right direction in appointing him considering he’s a manager on his way up, amazing work ethic, passion for the game and controversy-free(unlike the other contender Jose Mourinho).
Mistakes on a new job isn’t unusual but when you’re managing a club of United’s stature, it will be expected that there are mistakes you must avoid and unfortunately for Moyes, he has made two already and I’m sure you’ll agree with me that the revered Sir Alex would’ve handled both situations differently
THE WAYNE ROONEY SAGA
Wayne Rooney called for quality additions from United when faced with challenge from Manchester City before signing his last contract and now that Robin Van Persie is at the club, Rooney feels he’s playing second fiddle, that he has been relegated to the background as the club’s main player, that feeling increased when he was dropped for last season’s second leg encounter against Spanish giants Real Madrid. I never saw it coming when Moyes added fuel to fire during a Press Conference at the pre-Season Asia tour by stating “Wayne can play up on his own, he can play dropped in. Overall my thought on Wayne is, if for any reason we had an injury to Robin van Persie, we’ll need him”
A statement like that will make any player feel worthless especially for someone like Rooney given his ego and stature at the club. Ferguson wouldn’t have handed the media such a sensitive information, he believed in handling issues of this nature behind closed doors, away from prying eyes, the way he handled the David Beckham and Ruud Van Nistelrooy issues readily comes to mind. That gaffe from David Moyes broke the camel’s back as far as the Rooney Saga is concerned because as I speak, the player is really contemplating handing in a transfer request to ease his way out of the club and into the welcoming arms of Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho.
THE PURSUIT OF CESC FABREGAS
What Managers do before tabling a bid for any player is to get an affirmation from the player himself saying he’ll welcome a move to the interested club, that has always been the modus operandi especially with big names where you know money cant do it all.
After Jose Mourinho took it to the extreme in his attempt to sign Arsenal’s Ashley Cole in 2006 when he personally invited the player for a meeting his hotel room, it caused a huge uproar and Mourinho was fined by the FA for “illegal tapping” nowadays managers are more discreet in that respect, it is believed that Luis Suarez has given spoken with Wenger that he’s ready to join Arsenal hence their continued interest in the player.
David Moyes should’ve discussed discreetly with Cesc Fabregas or his representative regarding his interest instead of continuously embarrassing himself and Manchester United with bid after bid all in a futile attempt to sign a player that has no intention of leaving his hometown club plus the Catalan giants were also not willing to sell, rejection hurts and it dents image, Moyes should’ve known that.
I strongly believe Sir Alex Ferguson would’ve handled those issues differently but like I said earlier, starting in one of the toughest jobs in the world wouldn’t be easy but Manchester United fans will be hoping these gaffes wouldn’t transcend on to the pitch as the new season kicks off this weekend as they bid to continue their dominance on the English Premier League.
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