Moyes “distance” makes the difference

Us fans are great at making judgements and those who claimed David Moyes was most certainly NOT the man to take over from Slaven Bilic probably believed there was plenty to back their view.

Sunderland for example had been a total disaster for the bloke and things hadn’t been that clever at Man U but then who would have been able to follow Sir Alex – can’t think of anyone.

Lovely bloke though he was, there’s no question that Slav had to go. Let’s be honest, you didn’t need to be a NASA rocket scientist to spot that the squad were slow, lethargic and heading into more and more trouble.

But the arrival of Moyes appears to have proved another situation well known within the game but perhaps not so widely appreciated outside.

It’s this: Players don’t really want to be mates with the boss and Slav always gave the impression that was his approach to things with his treatment of such as Dimi Payet and Mark Noble.

Images of the manager and skipper in particular gagging around appeared with monotonous regularity with the boss making his feeling on the skipper and others pretty well known at times.

There was also the talking up of the rater awkward Frenchman as a jolly good bloke and the player around whom the team would be built. All well and good but unnecessary and in the end counter productive.

Rightly or wrongly, an impression was given that the guys were his pals and that he would trust them through thick and thin. It didn’t work and I believe a generally lethargy – along with a lax regime training regime – set in which finally lost him his job.

However things may go over the rest of the season – and as I write they look great – I can’t see Moyes sending out the same sort of signals.

He’s a pragmatist with bags of PL experience and an intimate knowledge of how managers should treat footballers.

In a nutshell, he appears to treat them for what they are – highly paid employees who do a job at work and who will be treated according to their performance – no more no less.

He appears to keep a distance between himself and them – never over praising and never over criticising – ensuring that none of them feel they are getting too close.

It’s about respect and whilst I detect no Sgt Major approach there’s definitely a straightforward “I’m in charge” attitude implicit in everything he

says and does.

There may not be the Bilic charisma but there’s an honesty, work ethic and a no prisoners (“If you don’t run you don’t play” ) attitude which was precisely what was required of a squad which was learning to take life far too easily.

No, he wasn’t everybody’s choice but was probably the best of those available as results in December showed. It’s interesting too that amid all the protests against the board at that time this was somehow overlooked.

Yes, the board must take their share of responsibility for all that had gone before there was barely a word about an appointment which appear to have been about as good as it gets.

A small matter perhaps, but balance and fair play are virtues which perhaps we should always be inclined to remember when people do get things right!

O Poor old Joe Hart eh. A dreadful start to the latest phase of his career means the World Cup is becoming more and more of a distant possibility as it seems is his involvement against his former club Shrewsbury Town in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Personally I’m not shedding too many tear given I always believed Adrian was the better of the two.