After guiding Everton to a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old
Trafford, David Moyes must be edging to the forefront of what will be a fiercely
competitive shortlist for when Sir Alex Ferguson finally steps down from his
red altar. Sir Alex has hinted at a possible three more years at the helm of
the United dynasty before the difficult search for his successor gets underway.
Ferguson will surely remain involved with the club, much like club ambassador Bobby
Charlton, and will have a huge say in his eventual replacement.
Ferguson has made no secret of his admiration for Jose
Mourinho, though you suspect the Real manager is likely to be warming a new
managerial seat this summer, several summers too early for the United job. A
controversial figure at Chelsea, the 49-year-old has further coloured his
reputation while in Spain as he continues his near eight year feud with
Barcelona. The grotesque eye gouge on Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova may prove a
step too far for a club of United’s pedigree and history and hinder his chances
of landing the job.
Other front-runners will include Pep Guardiola who looks set
to leave Barcelona, if not this summer, then in the near future. Whether Guardiola
could, and would, try to bring the la Masia philosophy to Manchester would be a
fascinating proposal and a real test of the Spaniards ability. Other European
heavyweights like Guus Hiddink, Louis van Gaal and current flavour of the month
Jurgen Klopp, will be in the mix but you sense that they would struggle to make
an impression on United fans.
Looking closer to home Ferguson’s former players are likely
to number on the likely shortlist. Mark Hughes continues to add to his CV, Roy
Keane would be a fan favourite, Steve Bruce will be looking to rebuild his
reputation and Giggs and Scholes may be close to a full managerial role in two
or three years.
However one young Scottish manager continues to impress in
the Premier League and Everton’s David Moyes must be edging to the front of an
experienced shortlist. Moyes is the third longest serving Premier League manager, after celebrating
ten years at Everton in 2012, and has done superbly to have Everton competing
for the last decade. Despite their limited budget, Everton continue to over
perform and were a game away for qualifying for the Champions League group
stages (losing out to Villerreal in a qualifier).
Much like Ferguson, Moyes has had to assemble several squads of players, including Duncan Ferguson,
David Weir and a young Wayne Rooney in his debut year before moving them on and
gradually building the foundations of the current 2012 team. Consistently
challenging in the Premier League is a huge challenge and the consistency shown
by Everton under Moyes, who operates frugally, are tantamount to his ability to
put together a determined squad.
Moyes has a proven record in the transfer market. Phil
Neville, Tim Howard, Leighton Baines, Joleon Lescott, Mikel Arteta and Tim
Cahill are just some of the recent Everton success stories. After a disappointing
start to this season, Moyes made some inspired signings this January that have
seen Everton bounce back up the table. Darren Gibson for £250,000, Steven Piennar on
loan and Nika Jelavic for £5 million revitalised the side and much like a Sir
Alex Ferguson team their form seems to become more relentless after Christmas.
Moyes is one of the few managers to be publicly praised by
Ferguson and the 48-year-old seems to be a favourite of Ferguson’s. Everton’s
comeback this weekend had all the hallmarks of the now infamous fight backs that we
associate with United over the last decade. We take it for granted that any
United side is going to mount a comeback and inevitably they end with an
injury-time winner or equaliser. That it happens so often for United is no coincidence
and Everton under Moyes are exhibiting the same hunger and desire. Sunday’s
game encapsulated this hunger and David Moyes is building a side that get
stronger and stronger as the season draws on. Sir Alex Ferguson is without
doubt the greatest manager of the Premier League era, and in David Moyes they
might be looking at his heir apparent.
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