Manchester United 2013/14: Half-Term Report

By Wayne Barton

Following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United faced seismic changes in the summer of 2013. This is the story of the first half of the 2013/14 season and follows David Moyes fluctuating fortunes as he tackles the biggest job in professional sport.
With expert analysis from United insiders whose careers span the last 6 decades: Harry Gregg, Tommy Docherty, Gordon Hill, Mike Duxbury and Mikael Silvestre - author Wayne Barton analyses Moyes first 5 months in charge.
Sitting somewhere between a Sunday newspaper and a monthly fanzine, 'Half-Term Report' is required reading for United fans worldwide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Empire Publications
• Release date: Dec 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909360228

Book preview

MANCHESTER UNITED 2013/2014 - HALF-TERM REPORT

Written by Wayne Barton & Daniel Burdett

With Gordon Hill, Mikael Silvestre & Mike Duxbury

Featuring Tommy Docherty, Harry Gregg, Kevin Pilkington

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First published in 2013 by Empire Publications

Smashwords Edition

© Wayne Barton 2011

ISBN: 978-1-909360-22-8

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Published by Empire Publications at Smashwords

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PRE-SEASON

Nobody really needs an introduction to the story, do they? As manager of Aberdeen, Alex Ferguson won three Scottish Premier Division Championships, 4 Scottish Cups, a League Cup and a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, a remarkable level of success by anyone’s standards. Yet one can’t help but wonder if it was the symbolism of breaking the dominance and stranglehold on the title by the two Glaswegian powerhouses (before Aberdeen in 1980, nobody other than Rangers or Celtic had won the title since Kilmarnock in 1965) which persuaded Martin Edwards and co that Ferguson was the right man to transform Ron Atkinson’s Cup winning inconsistent team to one that could wrestle the Division One Championship away from Merseyside.

An incredible twenty six and a half years later Sir Alex, as he was now known, retired from his post at Old Trafford after winning 28 major trophies and having well and truly re-established United as the dominant force in British football. He could scarcely have left the club in any more of an ideal state for a successor - with a team that had just won the title, but one that had one or two areas in clear need of improvement. The two main candidates for the biggest role in world football were David Moyes and Jose Mourinho. Supporters likened it to the post-Busby dilemma that United faced, conveniently glossing over the McGuinness/O’Farrell days and analysing the style and substance of both team and manager under the reigns of Tommy Docherty and Dave Sexton. Docherty’s team were (after promotion) exciting and looked set to take on the world; Sexton’s version of United were perceived by many as dour and lacking the X Factor. In the unavoidable, inevitable trend and necessity to compare and contrast, Mourinho assumed the role of Docherty; brash, charismatic, media savvy, with a mixed track record - yet with so much success, he stood out as perhaps the only man with the cojones to feel he had enough personality to succeed Ferguson. Unfortunately - and most definitely unfairly - that meant that Moyes was Sexton by mere process of elimination. That’s not to say that the Everton manager didn’t have his fans. Many were in favour of the lack of controversy that follows Moyes, as well as his passion and good history of giving young, home-grown players an opportunity.

Opinion was divided among supporters and it was, too, among those who had worked for the club in the past. Given the nature of the comparisons maybe there was no better place to start than with Tommy Docherty himself, who perhaps surprisingly identified Moyes as the person he would like to succeed Ferguson as early as June 2012. David would be the man I would choose, admitted Docherty. People will say he hasn’t won anything, that he hasn’t got great experience in Europe, but he has many qualities that would be befitting the manager of Manchester United. Those views were repeated in February 2013 yet followed with caution. Whoever gets the job after Fergie retires, you almost feel sorry for them in a way. No matter what they achieve or how well they do, it’ll always be, ‘Well you did a great job, son, but you weren’t quite Fergie’.

One who agreed with the opinion of his former manager - which again might raise a few eyebrows - was Gordon Hill, the former United winger. There’s only one way to get the experience that people are saying David lacks! People are talking about what he doesn’t have, but what he does have is a desire to win. He’s worked on a shoestring at Everton and kept them competing with clubs who have been bankrolled... in fact, I would say clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have missed a trick by not trying to get David before now, explained Gordon. One man who wasn’t quite so sure was the late United legend Brian Greenhoff, who was initially due to take part in the entirety of this book and chronicle before his untimely and tragic passing in May 2013. I’ve always thought the job would go to Mourinho as he has the character and record of winning, said Brian.

The appointment was made rather swiftly, and it was indeed Moyes and not Mourinho who was given the huge task of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson. It was a long time from early May until July 1st, when Moyes officially began work. There were rumours of incomings and outgoings both on the playing and back-room staff side of things but the only concrete information prior to July 1st was that Mike Phelan, Eric Steele and Rene Meulensteen had left, and young Uruguayan defender Guillermo Valera had signed from Penarol. The departure of Steele and Meulensteen in particular upset some supporters; the former’s work with David De Gea, in particular helping him to integrate into the English game, was hailed as a huge reason for his second season development and the championship success. Meanwhile the latter’s conveyance of the Coerver methods of training were just bearing fruit in the first team through the talented feet of Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck. Gordon Hill opined that while change should be expected, some consistency would have been nice. It would have been great to have kept Rene on as he had such a rapport but you have to give full backing to the manager and his decision. He will definitely bring in his assistant Steve Round and Chris Woods and anything after that, you have to get behind David, said Gordon.

There were many other issues Moyes would have to contend with, the most prominent being the future of Wayne Rooney. Ferguson had claimed that Rooney had made a transfer request after being left out of the team for big games and played out of position when he was selected, yet the player himself had kept his own counsel and not publicly confirmed or denied the allegation, leading to speculation on both sides; some claiming he desperately wanted to stay, some saying he had his heart set on a move to Chelsea, some saying he just wanted to leave United full stop. Whatever the truth off the pitch, the truth on it was that Rooney had been inconsistent for much of the 2012/13 season; a very sloppy performance in the pre-Christmas draw at Swansea City had led to some concerns after he had reportedly been dropped the previous Christmas for over indulgence. A footballer’s position in the team is influenced just as much by others as by himself and if you aren’t doing enough to justify selection, at a club like Manchester United, someone is always ready to take your place. Though people were surprised at the fact Rooney was named as a substitute for the second leg with Real Madrid (inevitably prompting the comparison with David Beckham’s future after a similar incident in the teams’ last meeting in 2003)