Fergie Got Moyes The Everton Job

David Moyes, speaking with the Daily Mail, has revealed how he could easily have been lost to Everton if he had ignored advice from Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in 2000 when a Premier League club came knocking for the then Preston manager.

"I called Sir Alex and he told me to pop down to Carrington to have a chat, I can’t say I really knew him that well. You’d bump into him at games and reserve games and we’d had some dealings, initially when David Beckham came on loan to Preston and I was assistant to Gary Peters. We then went on to sign the likes of Colin Murdoch, Jon Macken and Michael Appleton so there’d been quite a bit of contact. But it was still good of him to give up his time and let me come to see him. We sat there and went through the squad — he knew every one of them — and he advised me not to take it and, instead, stay at Preston. Which is obviously what I did."

Oddly enough, Fergie had already interviewed David Moyes for the vacant assistant managers job at Old Trafford and turned him down, choosing instead to hire Steve McLaren.

"He did tell me someone else was in the frame, and the guy he gave it to went on to manage England, which shows that he gets those decisions right because we’ve both gone on to do OK. But I remember sitting there, jaw open just wanting to get there and start learning. He was telling me what the job would be, and what was expected, and an opportunity to work with him would have been hard for anyone to turn down.

"Even now, I’ll take any opportunity to learn from him. The Scottish Premier League invite Scottish coaches to a dinner every year and Sir Alex comes up and lets the coaches fire questions at him. And I’ll be among those asking him how he’s done things and why. He’s a source of inspiration for us."

Here's wishing David Moyes good luck for the future, but not on Sunday of course !!

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Sir Alex Set To Make Wholesale Changes For Everton

Alex Ferguson is expected to make wholesale changes to the team that beat FC Porto on Wednesday night saying "anyone believing I could play the same side that defeated FC Porto is “off their heads”. I remember last year as he sent a weakened team to Barcelona with the sole intent of coming home with a draw, and remarkably, almost coming home with a win. That was a stroke of genious as far as I am concerned, but on a certain Manchester United forum I was on at the time, they were whining and whinging about Fergie's decision to do that. These same people were there at the end though basking in the glory of another Champions League win.

Despite the enormity of their meeting with Everton, Manchester United will be virtually unrecognisable from the team that started in Portugal. Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick are all expected to stand down, with Edwin van der Sar and Dimitar Berbatov possibly joining them, although some will be on the bench in case of emergency.

The move may not sit well with traditionalists, however Ferguson insists he has no other choice.

“When I pick my team, no matter what it is there will be critics voicing a concern about me not playing my strongest team, not everyone agrees with changes. There are some supporters who want me to play my best team every game. That is impossible. If you look at Wednesday’s game you are off your head to think I could play the same team again."

The sheer energy expended in United reaching the last four of Europe’s number one club competition for the third season in a row means the men asked to do the bulk of the running will not be asked to put their bodies on the line again. It means Rooney is set to miss out on an emotional last four meeting with his former club, with Ronaldo due to sit the game out as well having toiled on his own up front for the last half hour.

“I am in a difficult position because we have got so many hard games coming up, Somewhere along the line I have to make changes. The speed of the game has changed. Look at how fast the Premier Division is. The intensity of the matches is the reason English teams have a head start in Europe.”

Yet Ferguson also denies he is devaluing the FA Cup. Replacements such as Park Ji-sung, Darren Fletcher and Carlos Tevez are all senior internationals who have been integral figures in United’s pursuit of an unprecedented quintuple this term. It is easy therefore for Ferguson to reject the theory he is playing a weakened team.

“Hand on heart, the FA Cup is important, we don’t want to have a defeat at this time of year. No matter what the defeat is, we have to answer for that.”

There is also the little matter of Ferguson’s impeccable record in semi-finals, which dates back to 1990 and currently stands at eight. Nevertheless, United will not start quite the red-hot favourites they were expected to be, with their manager placing his trust in a defence which, with Rio Ferdinand back alongside Nemanja Vidic, kept its first clean sheet in six matches on Wednesday night.

“Defensively we did really well on Wednesday, we were back to something like our best which is what we need now. We can take encouragement from it but we can also take the understanding of what that partnership at the back means. ”

As individuals, Ferdinand and Vidic are outstanding, both on the six-man short-list for the PFA player of the year award. However, as a pair they are even better, standing alongside Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister as the best partnership of Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford.

“Experience is important at this time of year, it allows you to be composed under pressure and gives you a presence. But it is more than that. It is the partnership. I keep on about Bruce and Pallister, who were together for seven years and hardly missed a game. Through that they got a consistency and an understanding and knowledge of each other’s capabilities. Now it is the same with Ferdinand and Vidic.”

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Ex Manchester United And Celtic Striker Could Be Everton Bound

Everton to sign Henrik Larsson? Sounds ridiculous I know. I thought Henrik had his swansong with Manchester United back in 2006-07 but apparently he is now seeking a position in a professional capacity with a club and has welcomed enquiries.

Larsson is still registered with Helsingborg and at the age of 36 everyone thought that would be his final club.

With this news that Larsson is seeking another club, David Moyes of Everton has been quick to check out the possibility of signing him, after he lost Yakubu for the rest of the season.

Manchester United shocked the football world when they announced that Larsson would be on loan from 1 January until 12 March 2007, coinciding with the Swedish league's off season.

His debut was against Aston Villa in the FA Cup Third Round on 7 January 2007 at Old Trafford, a game in which he scored. Larsson scored his first ever Premier League goal on January 31 in a 4-0 win over Watford, he then scored on his last appearance at Old Trafford in a Manchester United shirt in a 1-0 UEFA Champions League win over Lille on 7 March 2007 to give United a 2-0 win on aggregate.

Whilst Sir Alex Ferguson tried his best to extend the loan period, Larsson stated that he had made a promise to his family and his club to return on 12 March. This was confirmed on 20 February, when Larsson announced that he would not be extending his loan period. Despite this, Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for the striker, who scored 3 goals in 13 matches in all competitions during his 3 month stay, saying, "He's been fantastic for us, we tried everything we could to get him to stay longer, but he made a promise and you have to respect that."

Larsson made his final appearance for United on Saturday 10 March in a 6th Round FA Cup tie away to Middlesboro, ending in a 2-2 draw.

Manchester United won the Premier League two months after Larsson had left the club, and although he had not played the required quota of 10 league games to qualify for a Premier League winners medal, he, alongside Alan Smith, was granted special dispensation by the Premier League after the club requested for extra medals for the two.....Back To Home Page...

Wayne Rooney May Face FA Probe After Badge Kissing Incident

Wayne Rooney faces the threat of a Football Association charge for inciting fans of former club Everton by kissing his Manchester United badge during yesterday's stormy 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. Let's also remember shall we that when called off the bench at Sunderland to warm up, Joey Barton did EXACTLY the same thing to the Sunderland fans who were heckling him, he kissed his Newcastle United badge.

Let's hope the FA, who, let's face it, are a bunch of geriatric wannabes who have never actually achived anything in the game, let's hope they keep things fair and on a level playing field and charge both, or neither of them !!

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he had immediately substituted Rooney because he feared the England striker would be sent off, but that prompt action may not be enough to save the player from disciplinary action. After enduring an afternoon of abuse from the supporters who once idolised him, Rooney's suspect temperament erupted again in the 69th minute after he was booked by referee Alan Wiley for a foul on Mikel Arteta. When the Everton fans responded with their loudest barracking yet, Rooney responded by kissing the United badge on his shirt. Wiley immediately ran over to speak to Rooney, but Ferguson had seen enough and replaced him with Nani two minutes later. Ferguson said: 'I didn't know why he was booked and I had a fear about the way the referee was behaving. I just didn't think the referee was giving our players proper protection, I saw some bad tackles and it is the referee's job to protect players. The crowd were reacting and I thought he might get sent off, so I had to take him off.'

Everton boss David Moyes remained coy by saying: "I didn't see the incident and it's not my business." But the FA may well take a different attitude when they see footage of the game.....

David Moyes' Gaffes

DAVID MOYES' battles with Manchester United have been notorious for some almighty gaffes that have cost his Everton team. Here are three of the worst:

1. Steven Pienaar (United 2 - 1 Everton 07-08): Moyes called it a "moment of madness" as Steven Pineaar inexplicably stuck out his foot to trip Ryan Giggs, even though he was heading away from goal. Cristiano Ronaldo slotted in the winning penalty three minutes from time to end Everton's 13-game unbeaten run.

2. Phil Neville (Everton 2 - 4 United 06-07): Nevlille sent United on their way to another Premier League title - only this time he was playing for Everton so he didn't get a medal. He probably got a pat on his back from his brother though after he lashed the ball into his own net to complete United's comeback from 2-0 down.

3. Joseph Yobo (Everton 0 - 2 United 05-06):

The red shirt should have given Yobo the clue he needed that Wayne Rooney wasn't on his side any more. But that didn't stop him squaring the ball across his own box for the former Everton protege to tap in for an opening day victory.

OTHER CLOSE CALLS:

United 3 Everton 0 (Oct 02): Everton held United at Old Trafford until five minutes from time before being blown away.

Everton 1 United 2 (May 03): Ruud van Nistelrooy's late penalty denies Everton European football.

Everton 3 United 4 (Feb 04): Van Nistelrooy again, heading home in the last minute after Everton had fought back from 3-0 down at half-time.

Everton 0 United 1 (Sep 07): Nemanja Vidic flicks in a near-post corner minutes from the end to deny Everton again.

MOYES' PL RECORD v UNITED: P12 W1 D2 L9 F11 A25 Pts5 (out of 36).

For the gamblers out there you can get 16/1 for a Rooney hat trick same price for him to be sent off Hmmmm !! .....Back To Home Page