Reasons Not To Appoint David Moyes As Tottenham Manager

With the speculation that David Moyes is to be sacked by Manchester United, here are the reasons not to appoint him as manager at Tottenham in place of Tim Sherwood.

From mid-afternoon on Monday, the rumour and speculation have been rife that Manchester United have lost patience with David Moyes who was appointed last summer on the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

A tweet from the Daily Telegraph broke the news along with other media sources.

If it does happen, and it does appear highly likely that Moyes will be replaced either immediately, with Ryan Giggs expected to take over on a temporary basis, or at the end of the season, should Moyes be considered for the expected vacancy with Tottenham?

In 2012 when Andre Villas-Boas was appointed, it was thought that Moyes, the then Everton manager, was one of a number of possible candidates. Spurs opted for AVB to replace Harry Redknapp and twelve months later, Moyes took over at Old Trafford as the ‘Chosen One’ identified by Sir Alex Ferguson as his successor.

Now after just one season which has seen United slump from Champions to possibly finishing no higher than sixth and missing out on Champions League football, the decision to replace him appears to have been taken by the United owners with an announcement expected any time soon.

Not Moyes at Tottenham

Two years ago when Spurs were looking for a replacement for Harry Redknapp, I wasn’t convinced by suggestions that David Moyes was a candidate for the manager’s position at Tottenham. At the time, I wrote,

‘Moyes has done a very credible work at Goodison Park during his ten years as manager of Everton but could he do better at Tottenham than Harry Redknapp?

He has the experience of the Premier League and appears to have developed a good team spirit in his squad of players from limited resources at Everton. His ability to use transfer resources wisely may be a plus in the eyes of the Spurs chairman but how does his record and style of play compare with Harry Redknapp’s.  

Premier League 
In three complete seasons at White Hart Lane, Spurs have finished fourth, fifth and fourth. In ten seasons at Goodison Park, Everton have finished fourth once in 2005. Other top half finishes include 5th twice, sixth, seventh (x 3) and eighth. Last year, Everton’s season was the reverse of Tottenham’s – they started poorly but finished strongly to rise to seventh. In January after the clubs played their ‘opening day’ fixture who would have considered Moyes as manager ahead of Redknapp, Spurs were third and had 45 points while Everton were eleventh with 24 points. 

‘The Tottenham Way’
Spurs’ managers are expected to send out their teams to play in a certain way with stylish attacking football and Harry Redknapp achieved that more often than many recent managers. David Moyes’ teams come with a reputation for being well organised and hard working, able at times to grind out a result. Will that be enough for Spurs’ supporters?

FA Cup 
Spurs have failed in two FA Cup semi-finals under Harry Redknapp but Everton haven’t been much more successful under Moyes. They lost in the Final in 2009 and were losing semi-finalists this season. Having said that Everton finished the season strongly, they were still unable to overcome an unconvincing Liverpool at Wembley in April.

Champions League
Both clubs have qualified for the competition once although Everton were more fortunate than Spurs, as they were able to compete having finished fourth even though Liverpool won the competition having finished outside the top four in the Premier League. It was the change to the rules after this that denied Spurs their second opportunity to play against Europe’s elite next season. Everton’s sojourn in the competition was short lived as they failed to reach the group stages while Harry Redknapp took Spurs to the quarter finals in an exciting European journey.’

All of those reasons still hold good and since writing that in 2012, Moyes hasn’t done anything to bolster his standing, finishing 6th, 9 points behind Spurs last season and this season’s experience at Manchester United has hit his reputation badly.

A fan’s view of the possibility of Moyes taking over from Tim Sherwood at White Hart Lane. Zoe Natasha (@witzywoo) tweeted,

Don’t Make the Same Mistake Twice

In 2012, Daniel Levy took a chance with a manager who had failed at a top club, would it be wise to appoint David Moyes who has failed ever so spectacularly at Old Trafford?

Somehow, I don’t think so.

If Moyes is sacked, it may delay the appointment of a Tottenham manager until United find a replacement as two of the possible appointees linked with Spurs, Louis Van Gaal and Jurgen Klopp, would favour a move to Old Trafford. As Marty Hotspur (@wildy412) tweeted:

As Fourth Official (@FourthOfficial) tweeted, David Moyes has the backing of half of Manchester and the rest of the country.