Step up, Mr. Moyes

There it is then. The unthinkable has actually happened and come July, 1 2013, Man United will have a new manager at the helm – a certain Glaswegian who has made a name for himself at Everton, who on a shoestring budget has wheeled and dealt his way to making a consistent side that, over the years, has steadily enhanced its reputation. Now, it is time for him to take a stage far bigger than any he has had and may ever have in the future. With the 6 year deal he has signed at OT, David Moyes has now obtained the chance to prove himself at a huge club. Let us look at five things he’ll have to do to show that he has stepped up to it:

SQUAD DEALINGS

The players, some like Giggs, are so used to SAF’s presence that it is as normal as having breakfast for them. Now, they have a new guy at the helm. A guy who they’ve only seen twice a year managing Everton. He’ll need to get the players on his side quickly. He’ll have to make them know that he is the man now and that they must be either with him or out the door. Players like Young, Nani and Anderson who are on the way out need to be sold quickly to remove dead weight. He’ll need to clear the squad and bring in players like Baines who can improve the squad. Managing egos of big stars like Rio, Wazza and RvP will be another thing he’ll have to be adroit at.

PRESS DEALINGS

Sir Alex kept the press at arm’s length so that the players never felt the outside rumblings inside the training ground. Moyes will have to be smart in this regard so that the press, who will smell a chance to get inside the hallowed portals of United, are kept on a leash. Keeping smart relations with the press is a part of the job at a massive club like United. He’ll have to be skilled at managing relations with the British Press who can be very vindictive as we’ve seen with guys like McClaren. Doing a good PR job will be part of his job requirement!

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

Everyone will have different expectations from the guy. There’ll be a section which would want immediate results; a section that would want him to have a season to bed-in and implement his plans and maybe get a trophy to go with it; and the last section would give him two years of honeymoon before casting him aside. It’s important that the guy stays fully focused. It’s a job like no other and he knows that it is a chance for him to show his value to the top echelons of club football. While previously, managers like Big Sam, Lambert, Pulis and Pardew were his peers, now he’ll stand alongside the likes of Ancelotti, Pep and Klopp in big European games. How he handles the expectations of the fans, the directors, the players and the media will determine how his legacy as the successor to the indomitable SAF turns out. SAF was astute in the sense that he managed things very well, from the media to the fans to the directors. His aura kept the club together and everyone pulled in the same direction.

Moyes now needs to step and be the unifying force that SAF was. He not only has to keep the trophies coming in, which in itself will be a far tougher task than before, what with the other clubs about to strengthen their staff with top notch players and managers. Bringing through young players is a forte for the guy and he’d have to keep it going. Also, a club like United is judged against the best in Europe and Moyes will have to come up with answers on how to counter BvB, Real, Juventus etc. European success will always be an expectation from the guy. Winning the BPL every year is an expectation as common as the sun rising every day.

David Moyes will have a big squad and even massive pressure on his shoulders now. He is the boss of Man United now. The euphoria will not take long to dissolve into gloom if things aren’t managed deftly. He’ll have all the advice he wants from the sages upstairs but at the end of the day, he is out there on his own now. It is his time to be THE man.