Listen to the full chat via the Thursday Night Football podcast.

Back when Alex Ferguson was enduring struggles at the start of his Manchester United career, John Giles can distinctly remember certain people at Old Trafford "questioning him in a big way" and one well-known figure even described him as "absolutely useless".

Publicly, at least, no one at Manchester United has said anything like that about David Moyes.

But he is certainly under pressure after a dire start to the season and rumours swirling about the future of key players.

However, John believes Moyes needs time to "put a stamp" on the club as well as space - space in the sense that Ferguson should stay away from the club and matches for the time-being.

"I think Ferguson should have left the club for at least 12 months. I don't think it's a good thing for Moyes that he's a director or being at the matches all the time. And certainly bringing out the book wasn't in the best interests of Manchester United and didn't do Moyes any favours," said John.

He added that the squad needs major surgery particularly in midfield and that the Reds are paying the price for not renewing the team in the summer.

John also discussed one of his contemporaries, Eusebio, who passed away this week.

John never had the opportunity to face the Portugal and Benfica legend as Leeds United were never drawn against them and he was not involved on the one occasion that Ireland played Portugal in that era.

John also cast his eye over Manchester City and also explained why he does not feel sorry for Sam Allardyce whose West Ham side are struggling in all competitions.

"I wouldn't have any great sympathy for Big Sam because when Sam is winning, there's nobody better at patting themselves in the back than Big Sam. I think he's slipped up and the Andy Carroll situation is coming back to haunt him," said John.