Few of you will want to be reminded about this, but Manchester United announced David Moyes as the successor to Sir Alex Ferguson on this day in 2013.
Moyes agreed to leave Everton at the end of the 2012-13 season after signing a six-year deal at Old Trafford.
Ferguson, who had a say in picking his successor, hope Moyes would help retain the sense of stability that was evident at the club during his 26-years.
After all, Moyes had enjoyed a 11-year spell at Goodison Park, though he wasn’t able to win any trophies with the Toffees.
It was thought at the time that Moyes edged out Jose Mourinho for the job, which would later prove to be a poisoned chalice for both — with the Portuguese coach getting his chance to become United manager in 2016.
“I know how hard it will be to follow the best manager ever, but the opportunity to manage Manchester United isn’t something that comes around very often,” said Moyes at the time, as quoted by ITV.
“I am really looking forward to taking up the post next season.”
Despite winning his first game 4-1 against Swansea City, Moyes’ tenure at Old Trafford soon went downhill.
Moyes lasted 10 months in the job and was sacked leaving United seventh in the Premier League. This was a United side that won the league title in the previous season.
Speaking to The Athletic, Moyes recently spoke about his time at United, saying: “I was experienced at the time; I’d spent 11 years in the Premier League at a good level and built the club (Everton) up. But at Manchester United, I think maybe I needed a chance to grow into it.
“You talk about players coming into the Premier League and needing a bit of time. It wasn’t that I needed time in the Premier League, but I needed time at the club to find myself and to find how I was going.
“And the truth is, I wanted just to carry on what Sir Alex had done. I couldn’t be Sir Alex, but I wanted to continue the model they had, developing young players, putting young players in the team, trying to play in a fashion that suited them. That was the idea.
“I only look back at it with great fondness, honoured that I was offered a job of that magnitude. Unfortunately, I only got 10 months. I think if I’d been given a bit longer, I could have done better, but ultimately I can only blame myself because I needed to win more games.”
It didn’t work out for Moyes at United but was it ever going to?
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Thrusting a guy who has no trophy under his belt either as a player or best of all as a manager into a dressing room loaded with serial winners is a gamble that is doomed from the onset to be honest.