M Salut: two credits to SAFC, Jermain and Rob Hutchison’s daughter Olivia, star of the parachute jump for Bradley …
Rob Hutchison is not always restricted to one-word, one-mark ratings after games he’s (mostly) seen us lose. Scenes at Stamford Bridge after Sunday’s thrashing caught his eye …
“David, David!” said the boy. He was around 18 years old, I think. Most of the players had come out and posed for brief photos with my nipper Olivia and a couple of other bairns who were waiting near the Sunderland coach.
Preferable to watching the John Terry love-in inside Stamford Bridge at full time that’s for sure.
Nick Barnes was waiting to conduct a couple of interviews but was kept waiting for en eternity; he didn’t look too happy either.
The kit was being loaded up, Darron Gibson paused and looked around but nobody really gave a toss, Jermain Defoe gave his tie to the coach driver as a final memento.
David Moyes had come out and stepped straight on to the steps of the team coach, He’d obviously not heard the shout.
“DAVID!” the lad called louder. This time Moyes heard him and came back down to see him before taking his seat. Just a few inches between them I’m guessing he was expecting to maybe sign an autograph.
“Leave, just leave” said the boy calmly.
Moyes paused for a second half, smiled to himself, shook his head and swiftly climbed back aboard the coach. He must have been thinking why on earth had he fallen for that cheap stunt. Should have known better. Mugged, or rolled over, call it what you will.
I was disgusted. It made me feel physically sick. I felt dismayed on a number of levels. I felt it was a despicable cheap shot, completely unnecessary and no way to treat the manager of our club.
But ….
As I walked back to the station taking it in, it also dawned on me this is what the man has done to our club. Worn down and divided the fanbase; fading by a thousand cuts of lethargy and apathy, sucked the very soul out of the place and left it an empty shell not deliberately, but nevertheless he got it as badly wrong as one could ever imagine.
A wretched tenure which unravelled and left the himself and fans like a couple who hate each other but stay together for the sake of the kids.
Except this time they don’t do they? 24 hours later and he was gone.
Maybe the lad’s words were the final straw? Maybe it was just the latest of dozens of similar incidents. If that’s the case then I can’t blame him for chucking it in, irrespective of transfer budgets, or blueprint plans, but one things for sure, it was time.
Thanks for nothing David Moyes. You never got it, did you?
4 thoughts on “Hutch’s Patch: the despair of one boy’s plea to Moyes after Chelsea”
I agree with William. This is an excellent assessment from Malcolm. I am surprised only that in his executive role as deputy editor, he chose to publish it as a comment and not an article.
I thought Rob’s article was excellent and my comment is merely a response to his observation of the abuse that Moyes suffered and his reaction to it. I shall be doing an end of season review and will touch on it again then.
Maybe it’s time to cut Moyes a bit of slack and try and empathise. Here is a man who was a success when he was appointed to arguably the most difficult job in football – following Ferguson at Manchester United.
Not only was he appointed but he was lauded as “the man to take United forward” and pretty soon into his tenure the fans and the media were on his back. Subsequent managers have done little better than he did in Salford, the truth being that he arrived at the end of a dynasty with a squad that needed a huge overhaul and despite huge amounts of cash thrown at the club, even the “chosen one” hasn’t got them into a European qualifying spot. Failure to win tonight and he will have done no more than Moyes did.
Then there was the Spanish sojourn. Less than a year he lasted, with apparently no attempt to learn the language, players complaining about his demeanour and body language (sound familiar) and an inability to sign players of the required quality, either through his own poor judgement or a lack of resources he thought would be forthcoming. Did the fans get on his back out there? I don’t know but the press did.
Then he comes to Wearside with supposedly the owner’s blessing and the promise of funds to build the team. Did he simply prefer Ndong to M’Vila or were there budgetary restraints? Was he lured by false expectations?
Again, whatever the cause, the players he brought in generally did little to strengthen the squad he had inherited and while we can point to an horrendous injury list, many of those he did sign had poor fitness records and the fact we have been without so many players long term may suggest a problem with the training regime.
Then a large section of the fan base gets on his back and as at Real Sociedad, players are openly seen to disapprove of him (which is totally unprofessional in my view).
Despite the fact he is on stupid money, the like of which most of us cannot comprehend, he is after all a human being with emotions and the same propensity to illness as the rest of us. He may just be “fed up” but there is also the possibility that his dour demeanour and downbeat press conferences indicate a more serious condition.
It seems to my ageing mind that people seem less inhibited, less restrained and find it easier to dish out personal abuse than a few years ago. The reported verbal attack on Moyes in the Hilton Garden and this young lad’s comments are shameful, though no doubt the perpetrators will be bragging about it.
Allardyce has had what can be classed as another successful season but looks like he can take no more either. Maybe it’s time everyone got off Moyes’s case and allow him the time and space to recharge his batteries and deal with any potential demons that his recent experiences may have unleashed.
Malcolm
Thanks for about the most sensible [ and humane ] comment I’ve heard on the Moyes situation.
I confess that, a bit like our owner, I felt that he was the perfect fit for Sunderland. This is a view that I have held, again like Mr Short, for several years.
In the event, and for all the reasons that have been put forward, it simply did not work. I have thought about it quite a bit, and my conclusion is that his record suggests that he is a team builder [ like, for instance, Eddie Howe ] rather than an organiser/fire fighter [ like, say, Allardyce and Pulis ]
The job he did at Everton was achieved over a period of years, and his team improved year on year. He never had a huge budget, and he spent it very wisely. I can think of very few of his transfers that went wrong.
In conclusion, I think, in different circumstances he could have been the right manager for Sunderland. Sadly, as at Man U, those circumstances did not apply, and in the final analysis, he realised this, and has made the right decision, for himself as well as for the club.
Who do we turn to now? I have no idea. I have been wrong on both O’Neill and now David Moyes [ I was not in favour of Keane, Poyet, PDC or Advocaat ]
I think we need to look around for a young ambitious guy, who has the energy and enthusiasm to build a new side, hopefully comprising mostly young British players, and using the academy intelligently.
I agree with William. This is an excellent assessment from Malcolm. I am surprised only that in his executive role as deputy editor, he chose to publish it as a comment and not an article.
I thought Rob’s article was excellent and my comment is merely a response to his observation of the abuse that Moyes suffered and his reaction to it. I shall be doing an end of season review and will touch on it again then.
Maybe it’s time to cut Moyes a bit of slack and try and empathise. Here is a man who was a success when he was appointed to arguably the most difficult job in football – following Ferguson at Manchester United.
Not only was he appointed but he was lauded as “the man to take United forward” and pretty soon into his tenure the fans and the media were on his back. Subsequent managers have done little better than he did in Salford, the truth being that he arrived at the end of a dynasty with a squad that needed a huge overhaul and despite huge amounts of cash thrown at the club, even the “chosen one” hasn’t got them into a European qualifying spot. Failure to win tonight and he will have done no more than Moyes did.
Then there was the Spanish sojourn. Less than a year he lasted, with apparently no attempt to learn the language, players complaining about his demeanour and body language (sound familiar) and an inability to sign players of the required quality, either through his own poor judgement or a lack of resources he thought would be forthcoming. Did the fans get on his back out there? I don’t know but the press did.
Then he comes to Wearside with supposedly the owner’s blessing and the promise of funds to build the team. Did he simply prefer Ndong to M’Vila or were there budgetary restraints? Was he lured by false expectations?
Again, whatever the cause, the players he brought in generally did little to strengthen the squad he had inherited and while we can point to an horrendous injury list, many of those he did sign had poor fitness records and the fact we have been without so many players long term may suggest a problem with the training regime.
Then a large section of the fan base gets on his back and as at Real Sociedad, players are openly seen to disapprove of him (which is totally unprofessional in my view).
Despite the fact he is on stupid money, the like of which most of us cannot comprehend, he is after all a human being with emotions and the same propensity to illness as the rest of us. He may just be “fed up” but there is also the possibility that his dour demeanour and downbeat press conferences indicate a more serious condition.
It seems to my ageing mind that people seem less inhibited, less restrained and find it easier to dish out personal abuse than a few years ago. The reported verbal attack on Moyes in the Hilton Garden and this young lad’s comments are shameful, though no doubt the perpetrators will be bragging about it.
Allardyce has had what can be classed as another successful season but looks like he can take no more either. Maybe it’s time everyone got off Moyes’s case and allow him the time and space to recharge his batteries and deal with any potential demons that his recent experiences may have unleashed.
Malcolm
Thanks for about the most sensible [ and humane ] comment I’ve heard on the Moyes situation.
I confess that, a bit like our owner, I felt that he was the perfect fit for Sunderland. This is a view that I have held, again like Mr Short, for several years.
In the event, and for all the reasons that have been put forward, it simply did not work. I have thought about it quite a bit, and my conclusion is that his record suggests that he is a team builder [ like, for instance, Eddie Howe ] rather than an organiser/fire fighter [ like, say, Allardyce and Pulis ]
The job he did at Everton was achieved over a period of years, and his team improved year on year. He never had a huge budget, and he spent it very wisely. I can think of very few of his transfers that went wrong.
In conclusion, I think, in different circumstances he could have been the right manager for Sunderland. Sadly, as at Man U, those circumstances did not apply, and in the final analysis, he realised this, and has made the right decision, for himself as well as for the club.
Who do we turn to now? I have no idea. I have been wrong on both O’Neill and now David Moyes [ I was not in favour of Keane, Poyet, PDC or Advocaat ]
I think we need to look around for a young ambitious guy, who has the energy and enthusiasm to build a new side, hopefully comprising mostly young British players, and using the academy intelligently.
Oh for a young Brian Clough!