Manchester United have confirmed this morning that current manager David Moyes is to be sacked after less than a year in charge of the club.
BREAKING: Manchester United announces that David Moyes has left the club. (part 1 of 2) #mufc
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 22, 2014
BREAKING: The club would like to place on record its thanks for the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role. (part 2 of 2)
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 22, 2014
The club's CEO Ed Woodward delivered the news to him at an early-morning meeting today.
Attention will now turn to the search for a new Manchester United manager, with Dutch national team manager Louis van Gaal widely tipped as favourite for the job.
Moyes was chosen last year as the man to succeed fellow Scotsman Sir Alex Ferguson, who had been in charge of the team since 1986. Under Ferguson's management, Manchester United won 13 Premier League titles and a treble victory in the 1998-99 season. Ferguson's final season saw him lead the team to Premier League success once again, and he announced his retirement in May having sewn up the necessary points.
Moyes was hand-picked by Ferguson, and moved to the Manchester club from Everton, where he had enjoyed a largely successful career since 2002. But despite Moyes signing a six-year contract, and repeated pledges from club management to support his long-term plan, it became obvious during this year's season that Moyes was struggling to deliver the expected results to his new team.
Out of 34 games so far, the team have only won 17 while losing 11 - a big step down from last year's 28 victories and 5 losses. Currently at 7th place in the Premier League tables, the team have failed to qualify for next year's Champions League.
It might well have been United's weekend fixture against Everton that definitively made Moyes's future at the club untenable. The 2-0 loss against his former team was seen by many fans and commentators as a particular low point for Moyes's difficult season.
Old Trafford bosses insisted on Monday the manager had not been sacked after several British newspapers reported that Moyes' departure was imminent - but they fuelled interest after refusing to comment on whether the former Everton boss would still be in charge at the end of the season.
Former United star and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville urged to club to make a statement clarifying the situation. Speaking on Monday Night Football, he said: "Usually they don't comment on anything, but they're going to have to clarify this position quickly.
"They might have to break rank and do what they don't normally do and make a statement pretty quickly."
