Sir Alex Ferguson had thousands of Manchester United fans inside Old Trafford waiting on his every word back in May 2013.
The Glaswegian was addressing the Old Trafford faithful at the end of his final home game in charge of the Red Devils before handing the reins to David Moyes, a 2-1 Premier League win over Swansea with Rio Ferdinand scoring the decisive goal.
Ferguson – who won 38 trophies in total – delivered one simple instruction in his parting message at Manchester United during his time holding the microphone, which received rapturous applause.
However, the demand Sir Alex Ferguson made was very quickly ignored.
Manchester United fans – and those in the boardroom – ignored Sir Alex Ferguson’s plea to support David Moyes
As he prepared to bow out of football management, the Scot said: “When we had bad times here, the club stood by me. All my staff stood by me, players stood by me. Your job now is to stand by our new manager.”
That message was initially responded to, as Manchester United fans welcomed Moyes with a banner at Old Trafford which read ‘The Chosen One’ – which remained despite just two wins from the first six games of that 2013/14 Premier League campaign.
However, Ferguson’s message was quickly forgotten.
By March, less than a year after the change of management, Manchester United fans had flown a banner reading ‘The Wrong One’ over Old Trafford, directly going against what Ferguson asked.
Those in the boardroom also swiftly ignored his message, opting to sack Moyes in April after just ten months in charge.
David Moyes could well have been The Right One for Manchester United
The fact very few managers have succeeded at Manchester United since Ferguson – who once subbed himself on – left suggests Moyes was not solely responsible for doing a poor job.
In fact, the 61-year-old’s impressive work since leaving Old Trafford makes us feel he could well have figured it out at Manchester United, had he been given time.
Moyes took a while to bounce back after his nightmarish stint with the Red Devils, holding unsuccessful positions at Real Sociedad and Sunderland, but after some time out of football, he returned with new energy, even guiding West Ham to their first European trophy in June 2023.
The Glaswegian has also rejuvenated Everton – one of the Premier League’s worst sides earlier this season with Sean Dyche at the helm – losing just one of his ten games in charge to steer the Toffees well clear of the relegation zone.
