By Hughie Southon
David Moyes readily admits he is the first one who has to stand up and be counted in the present circumstances,
He accepts that responsibility stretches onto the pitch once the players have crossed the white line ahead of kick off itself
Asked if in these challenging times, he created a siege mentality in the dressing room he responded: “Hmmm, a little bit.
I can stand on the touchline and I will prepare the team and get them ready for the game, do what I think will be the best players and the best tactical way to play.
Then when you cross the white line, I think you have a responsibility as well. It is not going to change for any football team. But what comes from that is the manager. The manager is the one who has to stand up. And I will always stand up for the players.”
Of skipper Declan Rice he added: He is hugely important. Yeah. He is such a good player, he will want to play well. He is not enjoying this. None of us are.
As I said, we have built expectations to be better. At the moment we have not reached those expectations; whether it will be us, players or staff, whether it is supporters, we have not reached those expectations.”