Sir Alex Ferguson to retire as Man Utd manager at end of season

[Starvinho]

Great appointment and a long deal to show faith and long-term intentions. Really looking forward to next season now.

[Baddar]

Yeah, I like the fact that it's a long contract. I know they don't mean too much in football these days, but you'd think it will at United.

[Nerf]

This is stupidly surreal.

[therockbox]

He'll be gone in a couple of years having won nothing.

[EddieG]

Me and my roommate have a slap bet that he won't last 3 seasons.

[Hobo]

My main concern about him is that the Man United fans will turn on him very quickly if they're not top of the league by Christmas/lose to City or Liverpool or anyone.

But I also see Ferguson's main role in his directorial position as being to look after Moyes for a season or two.

[Dan]

Moyes will be fine.

[Ant]

This can either turn out to be a shrewd, brilliant appointment or a total fail.

Personally i think he will do well but if he does not win anything in his first season he will be gone.

[Jimmy]

This can either turn out to be a shrewd, brilliant appointment or a total fail.

Personally i think he will do well but if he does not win anything in his first season he will be gone.

I couldn't disagree more. As long he's not a complete and utter disaster I think he'll be fine and they'll stick with him. I don't think United are as desperate to see another FA Cup win as they are to see sustained success like they have done for the last however many years.

[Ant]

Surely the minimum aim though is to win silverware and make it a seemless transition?

[Jimmy]

I don't think that's a fair minimum aim for any manager. It should be the aim, but not one that should cost a manager his job if he doesn't succeed. Fergie's had a few trophyless seasons, but the team still looked strong and all that.

The same way an FA Cup wouldn't make it a good season if United finished 5th or something. There's an in-between point.

[Starvinho]

There's gonna be a period of transition, 2 or 3 seasons maybe. If he wins the league in his first season then he would've massively over-achieved in my opinion. As long as we're around the top of the table and going far in the cups then Moyes will be fine. I'd be very disappointed if we sacked him just because he didn't win silverware in his first few seasons.

[DavidMarrio]

I think as long as United are competitive in terms of the league and cup competitions and aren't performing crap and aren't in the title hunt then it shouldn't matter if he wins silverware in the first two/three years.

Its just gonna take a while to get used to seeing the manager of the blue shite now managing the manc shite. Gonna be weird not seeing Fergie chewing furiously and moaning on the sidelines whilst tapping on his watch.

[Jimmy]

I really hope Moyes starts copying Fergie's old mannerisms and starts chewing gum. Like it just becomes a United manager tradition.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Why people have this ridiculous idea that he'll be sacked if he doesn't win anything inside a year is fucking beyond me. Stop being silly.

Fantastic appointment, represents everything we are as a club and in a time where there's sheer amounts of madness in football with top clubs changing managers every couple of years. You can't guarantee anything, but I'm confident he'll be brilliant under us. In which case I then look forward to laughing at the moronic United fans going into meltdown and even the outsiders saying he'll fail miserably.

[Dynamite]

If Fergie thinks Moyes is good enough to lead United then so do I. I was pretty wary of a Mourinho-type manager coming in who'd try give us quick success but show little regard for planning for the future. Moyes is a less flashy option but the fact he's been given a 6 year contract, has the support of Fergie, Sir Bobby and the board, and has the benefit of the club's incredible resources and infrastructure gives me a lot of optimism that it's the best decision for the long term future of the club.

[Hobo]

Why people have this ridiculous idea that he'll be sacked if he doesn't win anything inside a year is fucking beyond me. Stop being silly.

Because that's how a lot of top football clubs are run, mostly.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Why people have this ridiculous idea that he'll be sacked if he doesn't win anything inside a year is fucking beyond me. Stop being silly.

Because that's how a lot of top football clubs are run, mostly.

Which isn't the way this clubs run. And even if it was, there's close to no chance he'd be sacked inside a year when he's got the backing of important people within the club.

[brenchill]

Why people have this ridiculous idea that he'll be sacked if he doesn't win anything inside a year is fucking beyond me. Stop being silly.

Because that's how a lot of top football clubs are run, mostly.

Which isn't the way this clubs run. And even if it was, there's close to no chance he'd be sacked inside a year when he's got the backing of important people within the club.

How do you know that's how the club will be run in future?

Fergie had a bank of credit with the fans and board that would've seen him survive 5 seasons without a trophy. Moyes, or any other manager, will not have that luxury. Man Utd use to chop and change managers before Fergie so who's to say they won't do it again?

Alex Ferguson was a one-off. Getting on a soap box and saying "that's not how my club is run!" is silly given the extraordinary circumstances.

[TCO]

I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest Moyes could be sacked fairly soon into his United reign. Ferguson was an anomaly in modern football, he had the glittering past success and reputation that made him bigger than any boardroom and rightfully untouchable. The club had one of the greatest ever managers in place during the sport's most lucrative time period.

You could argue that the stability under the reign was largely down to the club but I'd argue it was the perfect storm of Ferguson's presence, success and reputation that brought that stability. A new manager going into the club is a whole lot different now to 1986. Moyes not only has Ferguson's vast legacy to try to emulate but the board also has shareholders to please and owners who's patience with managers, is presently impossible to gauge because they, like everybody else at the club, find themselves in uncharted territory.

It's going to be an interesting time period but it's impossible to say whether Moyes will be afforded more time than any other new manager at big clubs in England. Moyes who's never won anything as a manager now finds himself in the biggest job in world football with the highest of expectations from his very first day Who knows how itchy the Glazers' trigger fingers are or how how much patience he'll be allowed with the players, fans and media.