David Moyes’ problems at Manchester United have intensified after it emerged some of the club’s supporters are planning to send a plane over Old Trafford during their game against Aston Villa on Saturday with a banner calling for him to be sacked.
Arrangements are being made for a flypast with the message “Wrong One – Moyes Out” as a response to the “Chosen One” banner that has hung from the Stretford End since the former Everton manager was appointed as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor. If it goes ahead, the stunt will be the first concerted effort by supporters to remove Moyes from his position in a season that has seen the champions slump to seventh, 18 points off the top and guaranteed their worst return in the Premier League era.
The 3-0 derby defeat at home to Manchester City on Tuesday was the 10th time United have lost in the league this season and it finished with isolated shouts for Moyes to go. Stewards were positioned in front of the Chosen One banner to prevent anyone pulling it down and one fan had to be ushered from the dugout area after venting his feelings to Moyes. Ferguson, sitting in the directors’ box, was also subjected to the anger of supporters, having been the man who identified Moyes for the job.
Supporters on the Red Issue website have clubbed together to raise almost £1,000 for the flypast and insist they are going ahead with the protest, approximately five to 10 minutes before kick-off, despite a mixed reaction from other fans.
“This isn’t a reaction because we aren’t getting our own way in terms of winning games,” read a statement released by the group on Thursday night. “We cannot have a manager who thinks it is acceptable to call our major rivals ‘favourites’ when they play us at Old Trafford. It is a betrayal of the club’s ethos, a betrayal of the players and a betrayal of the fans’ support. We want a manager who understands and embraces our attacking traditions and has a vision of confidence for the future, not a manager who seems to be completely disassociated and visibly uncomfortable with the fact that he is the manager of Manchester United.”
United’s position is that they remain fully supportive of Moyes, despite Sir Bobby Charlton’s admission earlier in the week that they had played “really badly”. Moyes’s first season in charge has been so ignominious that the usually supportive Manchester Evening News has taken to lampooning him, running an “excuses gallery”.
However, the idea of hiring a plane – Burnley’s fans did something similar when they played Blackburn Rovers earlier in the month – has polarised opinion among the club’s supporters. Pete Molyneux, who raised the infamous “Ta-ra Fergie” banner when Ferguson was in danger of losing his job in December 1989, believes Moyes should be given another season. “Since Sir Matt Busby retired I’ve seen seven men take up the mantle, and only Ron Atkinson got United playing winning, attractive football in his first season,” he said. “Wilf McGuinness, Frank O’Farrell and Dave Sexton never managed it and Tommy Docherty took us into Division Two before finding the magic formula. Now trust me, it was as bad under Fergie as it is today – and for much longer.
“All were given the courtesy of time and money before judgment was passed. That’s the United way. Moyes deserves another season before we start tearing down the citadel.”
Source: The Guardian