Monsieur Salut presented a brief argument in favour of sticking with David Moyes at this link. Rob Hutchison has already made the case more strongly here
We both knew our views would be controversial. And so it has proved. Some good, robust replies point legitimately to shortcomings in Moyes’s brief reign.
Paul Summerside also chipped in, at Salut! Sunderland‘s Facebook pages. This is what he had to say:
While I admire your loyalty and understand the argument for stability, I cannot agree.
Loyalty should be given only to those who have earned it, and stability can be assured only if results and a safe league position are established. Neither of these apply to David Moyes.
Your four points* for removing him far outweigh the four points* for keeping him, the Jones/Khazri substitution being the clincher for me. Genuinely clueless.
David Moyes WILL take us down unless this situation is changed.
We don’t have the natural championship squad of Norwich, or the £90 million through sale of players to buy one like Newcastle. I don’t see us being able to bounce back in one season.
We must therefore survive again at all costs, and ensure the next appointment is based on quality, as well as availability.
Based on this the inevitable will happen, with only wins v Southampton, Arsenal and Hull able to save David Moyes.
..David Moyes is a great manager and a fine man .. it would be Sunderland's loss .. https://t.co/5xx7Cqiwg8
— Mike Parry (@mikeparry8) October 26, 2016
* These were the 4 vs 4 pros and cons set out in the earlier piece by M Salut:
The questions we all feel entitled to raise about Moyes’s brief time at Sunderland are serious ones:
* how can any Premier League manager go nine games without a win and expect to keep his job?
* why did Moyes start talking down our season’s prospects as early as the second game (1-2 at home to Boro)?
* was the purchase of McNair and Love for a total of £5m really more sensible, on any level, than bringing back Yann M’Vila in spite of Rubin Kazan’s reportedly outrageous financial demands for a player who will be out of contract in January?
* Where was the sense in sending on Billy Jones for Wahbi Khazri with just minutes left at West Ham with the home side looking only marginally more likely than the visitors to snatch victory?
At a guess, Moyes’s replies would not require the assistance of Victor Anichebe’s social media manager. How about …
* I was at a disadvantage from the start, my appointment scandalously delayed by the FA’s dithering over Allardyce. All other Premier clubs had a good start on me in terms of acquiring new players* I was being realistic and probably saying no more, and perhaps a lot less, than the man in the Sunderland pub
* I do not hold the purse strings. Ask the chairman or CEO
* Ask any manager of a struggling side what he would do in the same circumstances and needing to try to take something from the game
The debate is still open to all …
Remember how we used to complain about Steve Bruce? From this distance, he no longer looks quite as dire…
I wish we’d never lost Sam and don’t actually think his obvious greed matters that much in a greedy society, however regrettable it may be. But I just feel we need not so much stability (which for us means an annual relegation scare) but continuity. Bringing in troubleshooters for a miracle cure when the cause looks lost has worked only in delivering the immediate fix. All but one – Keane, O’Neill, Di Canio, Poyet, Advocaat and Sam – have done the rescue bit only to be unable to develop or even sustain. Bruce is the odd one out but also showed in the end, alarming signs of not being up to the task (after having the best season since Reid, 10th top). Without the least enthusiasm, I feel Moyes – having proved himself in his main managerial job – must be given two years to see if that rare concept, time, can at last break this grim cycle of wretched football, grim results and a flash of survival excitement.