Was Moyes really our first choice to replace Ferguson? - Mourinho confirms he was offered the job

If we sign Kroos in 13/14 with Mourinho as manager, we would probably win the league. Then we will be in transition period in 14/15 as the likes of Rio, Vidic, and Giggs would probably be leaving, RVP will be declined, and we will be shit as we couldn't replace them and Mourinho will start moaning and would have been sacked in 15/16 season.
 
I honestly think that if we had gone from Ferguson to Mourinho, we would have continued to win things and do really well for at least a few more years.
 
For what it's worth, Duncan Castles had already talked about this in 2014 and has been proven correct. His explanation:

"A close friend of Ferguson's, Mourinho had actually spent much of the 2012/13 season discussing and preparing for the appointment. During the course of that final campaign, he and United held detailed discussions as to how he could combine moving his young family back to London and coaching in Manchester. Plans were even put in place for them to have use of a helicopter for trips between the two cities, enabling Mourinho's daughter and son to study in the capital.

Then an intervention from owner Roman Abramovich—who'd originally sought to bring Pep Guardiola to Stamford Bridge—changed everything.

Mourinho's affection for Chelsea, the feeling that he had unfinished business there, plus the opportunity to be with his family in London trumped the more accomplished squad, grander budget and greater security on offer at United. His change of direction forced England's champions-elect into a rapid switch of strategy"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...wn-manchester-united-job-to-return-to-chelsea

I actually think Mourinho would have been successful, though he would have probably been either fired or would have walked within three years or so of becoming manager. Considering the antics that would have probably occurred, I could actually see the club wanting a manager closer to what Sir Alex Ferguson represented and making a push for Klopp before he joined that other team.
 
KStandBarmyArmy1993 said:
There's a lot of rewriting of history of that time.

In 2013, Moyes was well thought of within football. He was a good manager and had been linked with the Chelsea job between the two Mourinho spells. Think Spurs looked at him pre and post Redknapp. A lot of people (not just Fergie) genuinely thought he could make the step up.
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Yet nobody had actually appointed him. He was a good manager but not good enough. He was never anywhere close to being the outstanding candidate for the Man United job. It needed a proven winner. It got a yet to be proven loser.
 
Nothing would have been different. United might have won the league in 2014, or gone close, but Mourinho was still on the rebound from Real Madrid where - to put it bluntly but correctly - he failed. He was a failure at Madrid and he knew it and he ran home to Chelsea and imploded. He would have imploded at United too.
 
Absolutely mental decision from him to go to Chelsea if that's true.
 
manutddjw said:
If you look at it from Sir Alex’s perspective, he genuinely believed he successfully rebuilt the team and was leaving a squad that would challenge for years without having to make radical changes.

Goalkeeper was sorted with De Gea. He brought through Evans, Jones, Smalling and Rafael. He had Shinji, Welbeck and Chicharito in attack. He bought Nick Powell, who if you read Sir Alex’s book was absolutely convinced was going to be a top player and Zaha. All these players were under 25 and that was to complement Carrick, RVP, Vidic, Valencia, Nani, Rio, Evra and Giggs.

In hindsight you may disagree with his thinking and assessment of the players but he just won the league with them by a wide margin.
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He also hadn't spent much in recent seasons and had the Thiago signing sorted. The new manager should have had a prime RVP, Carrick and Thiago and a warchest to spend.

Evra also said that Fergie had Cristiano agreeing to come back and was trying for Bale but that all changed when Fergie retired.
 
It explains our bizarre transfer window. We planned for Jose, imagine we discussed transfer plans and squad development. Then had to switch to Moyes which set everything back to square one.
 
Not surprised by this news at all - I never believed that Moyes was first choice, it was just bad timing that the likes of Pep, Ancelloti, Jose had already committed elsewhere

I guess Moyes was the best of the rest and ticked a few boxes - I never wanted him but also didn't expect it to go as badly as it did, although a lot of that was on Woodward and not just Moyes
 
Rood said:
Not surprised by this news at all - I never believed that Moyes was first choice, it was just bad timing that the likes of Pep, Ancelloti, Jose had already committed elsewhere

I guess Moyes was the best of the rest and ticked a few boxes - I never wanted him but also didn't expect it to go as badly as it did, although a lot of that was on Woodward and not just Moyes
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Sounds like Mourinho had agreed to go to United before Chelsea came calling.
 
I can believe this. Ferguson has mentioned that he told Mouriniho months in advance that it would be his final year, whereas I think Moyes was only told when he was being offered the job. It's also been mentioned before that Mou told Fergie he was going to Chelsea, which was obviously bigger news than we thought - basically him changing his mind on the United job.
 
Rood said:
Not surprised by this news at all - I never believed that Moyes was first choice, it was just bad timing that the likes of Pep, Ancelloti, Jose had already committed elsewhere

I guess Moyes was the best of the rest and ticked a few boxes - I never wanted him but also didn't expect it to go as badly as it did, although a lot of that was on Woodward and not just Moyes
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Giving it to Moyes who gutted our whole staff was a terrible decision, it would have gone much smoother with an interim choice.
 
Buckfast in the Park said:
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Not really. None of the people I know who are United supporters thought Moyes was a good option at the time.
I knew he would be an absolute disaster from day one, I never thought we would finish 7th though, didn’t expect it to be that bad,

There were very very few people around who could’ve come in and do a solid job replacing the greatest manager of all time who spent 26(!) years at the club, and became essentially bigger than the club.
I know his mantra was “no one is bigger than the club”, SAF kind of was though.
David Moyes was not one of these people.

In hindsight though, I think we should’ve stuck with Moyes, his best attribute as manager was probably his work in the transfer market, he’s had an eye for good players with the budget he’s had available, as Everton manager.
Kroos was all but set to join, he would’ve been a great addition.
I think Moyes would’ve spent the Van Gaal money far more wisely and would’ve left a far better team for the next manager to take it to the next level.
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The fans were singing Moyes name before the 12/13 season had ended. Most matchgoing reds weren't sold on Mourinho and Moyes seemed a sensible option at the time.

I think people underestimated the work that needed doing off the pitch. Gill had done no succession planning and Fergie was essentially our Director of Football as well as a manager.

Even with everything though, if you'd given Moyes a left back (even Baines) and a couple of actual decent midfielders (even if one was Herrera), we'd have done a lot better.

I also think a few of our bigger players let the club down that season. That tends to get forgotten about. For all the issues with Moyes, some of them were well off it.

I think you're correct about the Moyes - Van Gaal move though.

What should have happened in the summer of 2014 is proper investment in our coaching and scouting alongside a Director of Football being hired. Instead, we went all out for superstars.
 
UnitedSofa said:
Sounds like Mourinho had agreed to go to United before Chelsea came calling.
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I think it's the other way around - he'd agreed to return to Chelsea, then Fergie called him and the lure of Man United was big but not big enough to convince him to change his mind
 
SuperiorXI said:
Giving it to Moyes who gutted our whole staff was a terrible decision, it would have gone much smoother with an interim choice.
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Clearly he made big mistakes - Jose or whoever would still have had to work with an inept Woodward so who knows if it would have been that much difference
 
It really should’ve been Pep.
From what I understand SAF was going to retire in 2012 had we won the league that year.
Pep left Barcelona and took a sabbatical in the summer of 2012, he should’ve been hounded out by the club during that period, we had a lot of money to spend, and we spent a lot of it between Van Gaal and ETH, a billion, plus or minus?

I don’t know if Pep was always going to end up at City eventually, you would think he would prefer to go to United.
Regardless, the process should have been a lot more diligent than a random meal in a restaurant in New York, and it really wasn’t SAF’s duty to pursue him, in many ways he was actually the “special one”.
He should’ve been offered whatever he wanted after his Barca made us look like a Sunday league team in a CL final in 2011 and even in 2009, he wasn’t just another top class manager.


KStandBarmyArmy1993 said:
The fans were singing Moyes name before the 12/13 season had ended. Most matchgoing reds weren't sold on Mourinho and Moyes seemed a sensible option at the time.
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They were singing his name because he was deemed to be chosen by SAF himself, if SAF chose Pulis or Big Sam, the hardcore fans would be singing their names too.
It was all a bit goofy, but part of what makes United great, and why we all were drawn to the club is the romanticism and the naivety around it.
David Moyes, hand picked by the great man himself, potentially the third Scot to lead Manchester United to European and domestic glory, it was all a bit silly, I didn’t buy into the Moyes thing at all.
He’s had a dreadful record against the top 4 at the time as Everton manager, he was never going to be the man to replace SAF, who took Aberdeen to domestic and European glory against all odds.

Having said all of that, I will always have soft spot for the Moyes season.
As someone who started supporting Man United in 1995, and only knew the club under SAF, it was a very compelling experience to see club having to fight for every win, for the first time, and where losing or drawing at home wasn’t the end of the world anymore.
I’m sure many similar United fans felt the same.
It was a brand new experience, for many.
No one believed it would be our last league title for 13 years, and counting though.
 
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Is that documentary out or is it just being serialised in the papers for promotion?
 
I maintain the opinion Jose immediately after Fergie would have been a success. The players were of the right calibre and the right mindset. It's a shame it didn't happen.
 
Buckfast in the Park said:
It really should’ve been Pep.
From what I understand SAF was going to retire in 2012 had we won the league that year.
Pep left Barcelona and took a sabbatical in the summer of 2012, he should’ve been hounded out by the club during that period, we had a lot of money to spend, and we spent a lot of it between Van Gaal and ETH, a billion, plus or minus?

I don’t know if Pep was always going to end up at City eventually, you would think he would prefer to go to United.
Regardless, the process should have been a lot more diligent than a random meal in a restaurant in New York, and it really wasn’t SAF’s duty to pursue him, in many ways he was actually the “special one”.
He should’ve been offered whatever he wanted after his Barca made us look like a Sunday league team in a CL final in 2011 and even in 2009, he wasn’t just another top class manager.



They were singing his name because he was deemed to be chosen by SAF himself, if SAF chose Pulis or Big Sam, the hardcore fans would be singing their names too.
It was all a bit goofy, but part of what makes United great, and why we all were drawn to the club is the romanticism and the naivety around it.
David Moyes, hand picked by the great man himself, potentially the third Scot to lead Manchester United to European and domestic glory, it was all a bit silly, I didn’t buy into the Moyes thing at all.
He’s had a dreadful record against the top 4 at the time as Everton manager, he was never going to be the man to replace SAF, who took Aberdeen to domestic and European glory against all odds.

Having said all of that, I will always have soft spot for the Moyes season.
As someone who started supporting Man United in 1995, and only knew the club under SAF, it was a very compelling experience to see club having to fight for every win, for the first time, and where losing or drawing at home wasn’t the end of the world anymore.
I’m sure many similar United fans felt the same.
It was a brand new experience, for many.
No one believed it would be our last league title for 13 years, and counting though.
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Again. I think people genuinely thought more of Moyes than you say.

He had them regularly in the top 6 and playing in Europe. He was the best Premier League manager outside the traditional big 4 and city. It made sense for footballing reasons at the time. It quickly unravelled but in the immediate moment, very few people were vocally against it.

But as I say, the bigger issues were off the pitch. He was set up to fail after that awful transfer window.
 
they were offering the job to literally anyone other than moyes. i made a post on here that was tacticfully insightful and an intermediary reached out to offer me the role, but i was too busy pounding snizz to make it work.
 
rimaldo said:
they were offering the job to literally anyone other than moyes. i made a post on here that was tacticfully insightful and an intermediary reached out to offer me the role, but i was too busy pounding snizz to make it work.
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Fake news.

You've never pounded snizz in your life.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
It would have ended the same to be honest.
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Not really. Jose in 2013 would not have made that United side finish outside top 4. In fact the players we had then were experienced which would have suited Jose more. Jose knew how to work with big egos back then and would have made sure we didn't fall the way we fell under Moyes. Eventually, yes it would have been a meltdown but first 2 seasons we would have won something, even maybe a PL.
 
AshRK said:
Not really. Jose in 2013 would not have made that United side finish outside top 4. In fact the players we had then were experienced which would have suited Jose more. Jose knew how to work with big egos back then and would have made sure we didn't fall the way we fell under Moyes. Eventually, yes it would have been a meltdown but first 2 seasons we would have won something, even maybe a PL.
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Our squad was on its last legs though.

We probably finish 2nd again before the meltdown.
 
Jose for the three years you typically get out of him before it goes sour, would have been great in 2013.

Probably would have had us finish 3rd/4th in 2013/14 (maybe win a domestic cup) and probably win the league the following season once he saw what we needed.

Moyes the chosen one my ass. Always thought we offered it to Jose or Ancelotti first and foremost.
 
Von Mistelroum said:
I honestly think that if we had gone from Ferguson to Mourinho, we would have continued to win things and do really well for at least a few more years.
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Agree with you. Moyes was so out of his depth and then instead of having a year just weighing up the big mans chair and keeping the status quo with the staff, he decides to rip it all out!
He was the catalyst for the decline as the leeches were still up for spending big at the time, but he hadn't the big name to attract the best.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
Our squad was on its last legs though.

We probably finish 2nd again before the meltdown.
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The league was seriously weak for the following 3 or 4 seasons. Messing up that period was the club's biggest mistake in the post-Fergie years. The league was in a transition period, and with a few right moves, the team wouldn't have been such a failure. I think Mourinho would've bought some top players to help him get at least 1 league title. He also wouldn't have gutted the squad like Woodward and LVG did. Players like Welbeck, Evans, Evra, and Nani would've had a role under him.
 
ayushreddevil9 said:
We would have been great under him at that time. We had many players with warrior mentality, something Jose wants in every player.

We had Vidic, Ferdinand, Carrick, Rooney, RvP as our spine. He would have loved that squad.

Shame that we got him when Woodward’s clown show was in full effect. The squad had too many average players and the players with winning mentality were already shipped out.
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Yup!
 
Aretak said:
I think it'd have still all ended in tears. Mourinho was already broken by that point. His Madrid stint turned him into a bitter, angry man. His Chelsea return was hardly an unqualified success, even if he did manage to squeeze out one more title (with a much better squad than he'd have had at United, including Hazard at his absolute peak). And then everyone got to see what happened with him at United anyway, which was largely misery on both sides and everyone being glad when he fecked off.
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He would definitely have had United challenging, perhaps won a title as well. The club was already fecked when Mourinho came in 2016 - and in hindsight he probably over performed.
 
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