Sack tales: Man Utd remain silent on Moyes’ future

Manchester United on Tuesday said David Moyes has not been sacked but declined to comment when asked about the manager’s longer-term future.
National newspapers said the club would dispense with the Scot’s services today following a poor season.
However a United spokesperson would only confirm Moyes has not been sacked.
When pressed on whether the manager would leave before the end of the season, the spokesperson added, “we do not comment on speculation”.
Moyes was chosen by Sir Alex Ferguson to succeed him as United manager when he stepped down from the role after 26 years in charge last summer.
The 50 year-old was handed a six-year deal to leave Everton for the Premier League champions but his tenure could be nearing an end after just 10 months.
United, who currently lie in seventh place in the table with four games remaining, will record their lowest ever points tally in the Premier League having struggled at Old Trafford, especially.
Under Moyes, they have lost six league games at home, been beaten in the FA Cup by Swansea and were unable to prevent Sunderland knocking them out of the Capital One Cup in the semi-finals.
In March, supporters chartered a plane to fly overhead trailing a banner with the words, “Wrong One – Moyes Out” during the Premier League win over Aston Villa.
The Reds will also miss out Champions League football for the first time since 1995 and are in danger of missing out on European competition altogether for the first time since 1990.
United did reach the last eight of the Champions League before being knocked out by Bayern Munich and Moyes argued that their best displays had been in the competition.
But the Scot has been dogged by claims of fallouts with his squad.
When midfielder Anderson joined Fiorentina on loan in January, he was quoted as saying other United players “wanted out” although he later denied it.
Rio Ferdinand and Robin van Persie also made less than complimentary comments about his management style, while Javier Hernandez and Wilfried Zaha posted cryptic quotes on Twitter.
And this weekend, Manchester-born striker Danny Welbeck was reported to be considering his future after becoming frustrated at regularly being played out of his favoured position.
Moyes left Everton after 11 seasons saying he could not turn down the opportunity to move to Old Trafford and began his job on 1 July.
However, United endured a difficult summer transfer window and failed in reported bids for Barcelona’s Thiago Alcantara and Cesc Fabregas.
A double bid for Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines was dismissed as “derisory and insulting” by Moyes’ old club Everton, although Fellaini finally joined on transfer deadline day for £27.5m.
Moyes was unhappy with a difficult start to the season, during which his side played Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in their first five games.
“I find it hard to believe that’s the way the balls came out of the bag, that’s for sure,” he said.
But his reign began in style with a 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic in the Community Shield at Wembley, followed by a 4-1 win away at Swansea City in the first league game of the season.
However, things got worse quickly with defeats away at rivals Liverpool and City on the way to what will be United’s worst ever Premier League season.