Rene Meulensteen's shameless self-promotion after Moyes' sacking

None of you have experience managing a top flight football club (unless Premier League managers read this space, which, if it is the case, stop now), so none of you have any idea how you’d fare on the job.

Oh sure, you’ve played Football Manager 14 or whatever and moved your little power bars and set your formations and sat in one of their virtual press conferences, taking a few seconds to select one of the four boilerplate answers foisted on you by the software.  

The real work however involves a lot of talking to real human beings, in person, and telling them things like “You’re not playing today, sorry,” whilst somehow holding onto their respect, even when the results don’t go your way.

Which is why former Manchester United assistant manager’s Rene Meulensteen’s comments on David Moyes’ tenure at Man United, while informative, feel easy:

"He opted to put his own plans in place, which he was perfectly entitled to do, but I think it backfired on him. I always strongly believe the performances and the results are a reflection of what is actually happening behind the door and that wasn't good enough, as simple as that.

"Don't forget David was a respected manager in the Premier League who worked for 11 years at Everton in a very good way. But I did warn him: 'Do you realise, after everything at Everton, you're going from a yacht to a cruise liner? That's how big the difference will be.' It's not just necessarily the work on the pitch. It's everything that surrounds Manchester United, the players, the performances, the pressure, the style, the identity. And I think he underestimated that. It's always easy in hindsight but unfortunately it's cost him his position."

Yes, but what kind of respect would Moyes had commanded from his players and staff if he’d grovelled for advice on sporting matters from the club as a respected Premier League manager with over a decade’s worth of experience? Could it be there’s an alternate universe where Moyes’ advice seeking and deference to staff came off as a sign of inexperience and weakness, leading to a loss of respect in the dressing room?

Meulensteen incidentally added “I've been part of Manchester United's backroom staff for the last five years for Sir Alex Ferguson and the last five years have been proven to be the most successful in the history of Manchester United.” Well now we know why Moyes failed...