Manchester United manager David Moyes has just 12 games to demonstrate to the Glazer family that he is the man they should trust with a £150m summer transfer kitty to fulfil their aim of winning the Premier League next season.
Though the club retain full confidence in Moyes and, despite a flurry of Twitter rumours yesterday, his job is not under immediate threat. However, the defeat at Olympiakos was the worst performance of his seven months at the helm. It has dented supporters’ confidence in the manager’s capability to turn around the situation at Old Trafford even further.
United have not yet contemplated changing manager this summer, with the expectation being that Moyes will have set United on course by the next campaign.
However, he will not be retained at all costs and is not immune to dismissal if a downward momentum takes hold between now and May. The fall-off in performances – United have 45 points from 27 Premier League games this season against 68 from 27 last season – is of a scale that the club had simply not anticipated.
One of the most disquieting aspects of the last month is that United do not seem to be improving despite the return of the Robin van Persie/Wayne Rooney partnership after injuries and the addition of Juan Mata to the ranks.
United face Liverpool and Manchester City at home in a nine-day spell next month, with the Champions League last-16 home tie against Olympiakos sandwiched in between.
United trail 2-0 after Tuesday night’s dismal away-leg display. Several more bad results could put Moyes in a very vulnerable position.
He must satisfy the Americans in the next 10 weeks that he is the man to rebuild United into a side which can bid for the title next season.
The club’s executives, who are privately resigning themselves to a season out of the elite European competition, are well advanced with their preparations for this pivotal summer. They will launch into the transfer market with a pitch to prospective new players that winning the Premier League – rather than merely regaining a top-four premier league place – is their ambition for 2014/15.
Written by Steve Milne
Follow me on Twitter : @stevenmilnelive
