Who's Who of coaches cited to take over for Moyes

• Guardian, Tuesday, April 22, 2014 4:46 PM

Well, perhaps David Moyes can take some solace from his firing by Manchester United in the list of candidates to replace him and those who have already turned down the job.  Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, Atlético Madrid's Diego Simeone and Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti are among those touted as the top choices to succeed Moyes, who since taking over from Alex Ferguson 10 months ago had endured a barrage of criticism not just for the team's relatively lowly place in the Premier League standings -- currently seventh -- but also for a brand of dull and dour play that enraged fans and former players.

For the past few weeks, as Moyes' status deteroriated, Jurgen Klopp of Borussia Dortmund and Pep Guardiola of Bayern Munich stated they weren't interested. In the short term, team legend Ryan Giggs will take over for the last four games of the season. The long-term is much more problematic, as concerns over the team’s direction off the field under stewardship of the American entrepreneur Malcolm Glazer and his vast business empire are as pressing as who takes over as manager.

“The club can only spend money that it has and, unfortunately, the club's owners have spent hundreds of millions of the club’s money on financial restructuring and debt payments and this has limited funds available for investment in the playing squad,” said Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of the Manchester United Supporters Trust. "The quicker the owners realise that the club's current problems are underpinned by the ownership model rather than just the identity of the manager, the better.”

A listless 2-0 defeat to Moyes’ former club Everton, which under Roberto Martinez has surged into contention for a Champions League place perhaps at the expense of United, turned out to be the Waterloo of Ferguson’s hand-picked replacement. For Fergie and the board, it’s back to square one.

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