OSG Prem: And Moyes Is Out...

((HT: Sky Sports))

The opinion of the Brits is interesting in this case...

The press and the fans think that the sacking of Manchester United manager David Moyes was more on what he couldn't do versus what he did. The club lost more games in a Premier League season than they have in a long time.

Now, the mess that is ManU is Ryan Giggs' for the remaining four games of the year- all very winnable...

Gary Neville thinks Moyes is a scapegoat for the inaction of the players, the roster, and the Glazers...


So, what happens when Giggs performs well without a history of being a prime manager...???
Does former ManU player Laurent Blanc, the head of Paris St. Germain, come in to be the savior...???

And that way, the idea of being the guy replacing the legend- instead of being the guy to be the guy to replace the legend- falls on the manager who comes in next to clean up the mess created by Sir Alex and compounded by Moyes and the front office...

Neville thinks he needed more time...

DEVELOPING: Moyes To Be Sacked At ManU...??? (UPDATED)

((HT: The Telegraph))

Only 11 months in, the Chosen One could be the Departed One...

David Moyes, hand-picked to be the successor for Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, seems to have lost the locker room and the executives. If Moyes is looking for any kind of assurance that he's going to be around after this season, he could be out the door before this week's game with Norwich.

It would be a cleaning house...

Moyes, Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen, Steve Round, Jimmy Lumsden and Phil Neville would all be gone with Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp the leader in the clubhouse to replace Moyes.

Here's what seems to be the last straw- the 2-0 loss to Everton over the weekend...


If Moyes is let go, Ryan Giggs would be expected to take charge of the team for the balance of the season. United is facing not being involved in European football for the first time since the 1981-82 season.

More when we know more...

NOON UPDATE: Looks like, according to Sky Sports, that the sack may happen in the next 24 hours...

OSG Prem: Looks Like It's Liverpool's To Lose...

((HT: NBCSN/BPL/BBC))

Just don't tell them that...

Norwich continues their gauntlet of all gauntlets to end the 2014 Premier League season- and, maybe, their Premier League lives...

First stop was a game against Liverpool who had the chance to extend their lead at the top of the table...
A 3-2 win will do exactly that... although the HQ will give the Canaries credit for sticking it out to the end this year and not giving up without a fight- even if it was their fifth loss in a row...


Elsewhere, it was a miserable return for David Moyes to Everton as boss of Manchester United...
He was booed at every turn and even had a guy dressed as the Grim Reaper standing behind him at Goodison Park- for 15 minutes- before someone asked the guy removed his outfit.

It was a not-even-close 2-0 loss where the Evertonians got their pound of flesh for his exodus and the raid of Marouane Fellaini and attempted raid of Leighton Baines. Not so surprisingly, Moyes sounded like this after the match:


Oh, and Arsenal won the Premier League pre-match version of the NIT- the FA Cup- with a 3-0 win over Hull City...

OSG UEFA: RvP Hat Trick Lifts ManU To Elite 8

((HT: Instagram via aboalifz))

David Moyes is still alive in one part of the Manchester United trophy case...

A Robin van Persie hat trick gave the Red Devils a 3-2 aggregate win over Olympiacos to advance to the next stage of the Champions League...

Here's the third, which was a masterstroke, with Wayne Rooney as a decoy...

OSG Prem: ManU Flaming Out In Champions League

((HT: Fox Sports/UEFA))

Let's face it... this is not a good team, and there are not a lot of folks who give a tinker's damn about how bad they are...

Opening Round of the Group of 16 in Champions League has ManU at Olympiakos...

And it went as well as expected for the Fergie-less Red Devils...

Evidence below...


Postgame on all elements social media have been aflame with rage by Manchester United fans...
And the HQ wonders just how much patience the fans will have with David Moyes- the guy saddled with all this stuff that is supposed to resemble a world-class roster...

The front office seems ready to spend for Moyes, but will pressure let him stay...???

Michael Carrick was a stand-up guy to answer questions afterwards...

OSG Prem: Get Bent- ManU Finds A Way To Draw

((HT: Sky Sports))

Just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder for Manchester United this season in the Premier League...

Surely, the match against Fulham would have been an easy three points. The folks from Crave Cottage were at the bottom of the table and hadn't won in almost a decade at Old Trafford...

But, after a Steve Sidwell goal, Fulham had the lead for most of the match only to see the lead collapse in a two-minute span and the visitors were down 2-1 heading into stoppage time.

They used to call it "Fergie Time"- that opportunity over the years where ManU pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat. But today, Darren Bent for Fulham gave the cellar dwellers a much needed point to salvage a draw only a week after Manchester United were forced to a draw with Stoke...

Stoke...??? Fulham...???
Who is this bunch...??? And just how much patience are the fans, front office, and owners going to allow this (what, to them, anyway) is an abject and unacceptable failure for a season...

Profit models are not being met... and that, never, speaks well for the manager...
Regardless of whether or not Sir Alex left the squad in this shape in the first place...

Here's the stoppage time equalizer from Bent


Here's David Moyes post-match...


And Fulham's Rene Meulensteen...


With some analysis thrown in...


And Carragher looked beside himself...

OSG Prem: Don't Call 911 If Your Team Sucks...

((HT: ProSoccerTalk/Mendola))

Because the operator can't help you...

It all started because of this...
((HT: beInSports))


And the HQ is sure that this didn't help...
((HT: SkySports))


So, one enterprising lad decided to call the British version of 9-1-1...
((HT: Manchester Evening News))


Still doesn't help...
And for those of you who think this is a work... the Manchester Police responded on their Facebook page...

So, if you think United is in trouble... whaddya think they think over there...???

OSG Prem: ManU Problems Continue In Cap One Semi

By losing to Sunderland in penalty kicks...

How is that going to sit with the Red Devil faithful...???

Here's the evidence from the shootout...
((HT: beInSports))


In a dreadful start to the season, the Black Cats have now made it to a cup final to play Manchester City...

"My feelings are for them (the Sunderland fans)," Poyet told Sky Sports after the game.

"It's been a difficult season, nothing to enjoy. They deserve that, so let's see if we can go one better and win the final as well.

"This match was immense. What we need(ed) to do to win this game! This is the good thing with cups, you never know what is going to happen."

Here's David Moyes- still confident he has a job, but refusing to answer questions about obtaining Juan Mata in a very expensive transfer...


In a note purely based on capitalism, Manchester United have dropped to fourth place for the first time in a list of the world's highest earning clubs.

United's total revenue has increased from £323.7m to £346.5m in the last season, but Bayern Munich passed them with a revenue increase by 17 percent to £352.5m

And United's books are based on trophy success... which they're not having this year at all...

OSG Prem: Man United Is Mortal...And It Showed At Chelsea

((HT: NBC Sports/BPL))

Let's face it...

This year's Premier League is a log jam and a half...

11 teams are in the relegation talk. There's a group at the top that will be fighting over each other for the Europa League and Champions League spots...

And, then, there's Man United...

Who really just seem to be adrift of everything and everyone right now...
In the middle with everything happening around them and, seemingly, no way to get out of their own way......

Today's match at Chelsea was another example of that as, without van Persie and Rooney, they're only "okay..."

Losing 3-1 to a Samuel Eto'o hat trick... and how does that ever happen, really...???

Here's the highlights...


As to that whole relegation stuff...

West Ham, Sunderland, and Cardiff, each have 18 points...

Villa (24), Hull (23), Norwich (23), and Stoke (22) are right there...
West Brom (21), Swansea (21), Crystal Palace (20) and Fulham (19) are within three points of the drop.

This will go for a while...

OSG FA: The Chosen One Loses At Old Trafford

Financial projections for Manchester United are always meant with a top-4 finish in the Premier League and semi-finals appearances in the competition cups in mind...

That, now, has to change as Swansea beat 10-man United in the 3rd round of the FA Cup earlier today at Old Trafford...

Wayne Routledge has a pretty goal early on for the 1-0 lead...
((HT: BT Sport))


But, Fabio issued a vicious challenge that led to a red card offense and put United down a man as they tried to come from behind...


It didn't come to pass, so Swansea gets their first win ever at Old Trafford and United has four home losses in their last six matches as Wilfired Bony got the game-winner late in regulation...

Not what the home fans expect as the Swans now join Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, and Liverpool in the next round.

OSG Prem: Chelsea, Arsenal Save Spots, Liverpool Climbs

((HT: Sky Sports))

The Winners on the end of the very busy holiday period were Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table.

The biggest surprise was from Spurs as they beat Man United at Old Trafford to continue the fan's consternation at David Moyes and the wonder of Tim Sherwood's run as new manager. Moyes was still hot over a non-PK call against Tottenham for their 6th loss of the season.

Chelsea went 3-0 over Southampton- who look tired now. Manager Jose Mourinho also said that Juan Mata and Michael Essien can look for new homes in the January transfer window. Man City outscored Swansea 3-2 countering Wilfried Bony's double. It now appears that Michu is out for six weeks with his ankle injury and surgery.

Arsenal scored two late to beat Cardiff. And it appears Nicklas Bendtner is out for "weeks" after getting an ankle injury. Liverpool needed a late goal from Luis Suarez to distance themselves over a tired Hull City squad by the same margin.

Here's the wrap through the eyes of the guys at Sky Sports...


The surprise on the day has to be the Fulham 2-1 win over West Ham- with Hammers manager Sam Allardyce wondering aloud where his captain, Kevin Nolan's, head has been recently after getting another red card. It forced a squad fighting for relegation to play a man down in a game they couldn't afford to lose.

Everton and Stoke drew as did Palace and Norwich. Also at the bottom, Villa beat Sunderland and West Brom knocked off Newcastle on a Berahino PK...

OSG Prem: Manchester Is Not A Happy Town...

((HT: NBCSN/BPL))

It was one of those days in the Premier League...

If you thought you knew what was going to happen, you were proven very, very wrong...

Kinda like this event happening...


Manchester United lost to West Brom for the first time in the history of the League (in its current form) at Old Trafford and caused manager David Moyes a great deal of consternation- not to mention the fan base...

"Disappointing performance, disappointing result. We never really got up to speed," Moyes said postgame. "We had a few chances, but West Brom held their shape and defended well. They always looked a threat on the break, in the first half especially and even more so in the second half. We missed that spark and West Brom deserved it no question. I can't argue with that."

Here's your proof...


And on the other side of town... Man City, at times looking either uninspired, unmotivated, or both... had a 1-0 lead at Villa Park, and then the world seemed to implode around them in their LOSS to Aston Villa...

Manager Manuel Pellegrini was, naturally, disappointed and the loss was hard to take:

"Yes, very hard because I think today we played very well - not the way we played against Cardiff, or against Stoke. I think today we play well. We deserved another goal, but the score says something different. In general, I was very happy with how my team played today.

"Twice we had the advantage in the score, but in five minutes we did two things that threw away all we did in the rest of the game. But football is like that and you must concentrate for 90 minutes."

That... here's your evidence...

OSG Prem: Moyes To ManU Taking Over For Sir Alex

Not bad when the old boss recommends you for his job...

The job that he turned into the most successful soccer coach of ALL TIME!!!

Sir Alex told the folks at Manchester United that Everton boss David Moyes needed to be the man, so he's the man...
Once the season is over, Moyes accepts a six-year deal to move to Old Trafford and now speculation is that Wigan's miracle worker, Roberto Martinez, would move over to Goodison Park after the Latics season concludes- relegation or not.

"It’s a great honour to be asked to be the next manager of Manchester United," Moyes, the current Everton manager, said in a statement. "I am delighted that Sir Alex saw fit to recommend me for the job. I have great respect for everything he has done and for the football club."

"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 and I’m really looking forward to taking up the post next season."

"When we discussed the candidates that we felt had the right attributes we unanimously agreed on David Moyes," Ferguson said in the same statement. "David is a man of great integrity with a strong work ethic.

"I’ve admired his work for a long time and approached him as far back as 1998 to discuss the position of assistant manager here."

This, probably, means that Jose Mourinho moves to Chelsea to take over for caretaker manager Rafa Benitez- as Rafa himself has intimated...

And don't be surprised that, when Ryan Giggs officially retires, he'll move to a seat next to Moyes.
Here's Sky Sports coverage...

OSG Prem: Everton Denied Win By Lack Of Goal Line Technology

((HT: FoxSports))

On a day where the Merseyside united as one, a lack of goal line technology screwed Everton out of an easy win against Newcastle.

The Magpies, surprisingly, sat Demba Ba from their starting 11, but he would come back to pay for that decision over and over again.

But more on that later...

The night started with a fitting tribute for the 96 Liverpool supporters who lost their lives at Hillsborough. This past week, it was determined by an independent inquiry that the South Yorkshire Police were at fault on multiple levels for the overcrowding and lack of personal care for victims whose lives could have been saved.

Everton made a point to have a tribute involving a ball boy and girl and a video presentation involving the song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother."

That was the only part of the evening where everyone agreed with sentiment. Goals by Fellaini and Anichebe were disallowed- one on a questionable offsides call and one because the side official failed to see the other the cross the goal line- which it clearly did.

Here's the highlights...


Toffees boss David Moyes was blunt: "I think it's a difficult call for them but if you're the linesman you're on the line and you'd hope you'd see if the ball went over the line.

"That's their job. He's looking right along so you'd hope he would see it."

So, where's that goal line technology again...???