With the modern game so saturated by money it would be remiss of us to suggest that the last two years in the life of David Moyes has been wretched.
But his stock has undeniably fallen ever since he accepted what many thought of as the poisoned chalice of replacing Manchester United’s true Golden Balls, Sir Alex Ferguson.
And now he has been sacked by Real Sociedad, after just a year in charge, we wonder what the future holds for the Scot.
He spoke publicly this week, for the first time since his Sociedad sacking, about the disappointment he felt in being relieved of his duties.
The Daily Mail quotes:
‘I am disappointed to have left Real Sociedad. When I accepted the job as manager of La Real last November, my remit was to avoid relegation and retain the club’s La Liga status.
‘We succeeded in attaining that target and finished 12th in the table. I feel that we made significant progress last season; beating Barcelona in front of our home fans was a memorable highlight.
..and there is clear annoyance on his part about the timing of the p45:
‘I made a firm promise to Real Sociedad to honour my contract and it is disappointing not to be able to fulfil this commitment especially when I have turned down a number of job opportunities in recent months.
Already there have been rumours that he will return to England with The BBC suggesting that Swansea, Newcastle, Celtic and even Chelsea could be suitable next destinations.
And he was strongly linked to the Aston Villa vacancy before Remi Garde took the job.
But we worry for the ex-Manchester United boss. Sociedad was supposed to be the club where he rebuilt his career. But we think that it has further exposed his weaknesses as a manager.
He failed to learn the language and one Spanish reporter gave a damning verdict on the tenure of Moyes by saying recently that he:
“still bears the impression of someone who has only just arrived and doesn’t understand the club, the players, the league, the city, the opponents, the referees, the languages, the stadia, the timetables…”
Moyes is clearly a meticulous man but the Manchester United job quickly appeared too big for him – his effort levels arguably weren’t accompanied by the inspiration and innovation required for elite level football management – and the foreign move didn’t work either.
This is a man who can never be faulted for his work ethic. But perhaps his skill set is more suited to the job of Assistant Manager at the very top level of modern football.
Either way, his time at Everton may ultimately be remembered as the apex of Moyes’s managerial career.