It was a potentially very good side with some truly excellent players in it. There was a problem with "attitudes", no question about it, and we all know that one of Fergie's first big tasks was to address this. Big Ron had let things slide (he wasn't the only manager in the English top flight to do this, feck knows - things were very different back then) and he'd also allowed a "favourite" culture develop at the club which was anything but productive in the long run.
This is historically interesting - perhaps even significant - but it isn't something to bring up here and now, as people will regard anything and everything in a Moyes light, so to speak. The two cases can't be compared like for like and nobody in his right mind would do so either.
For the second time tonight I'll do something I'd never do sober. Fecking bullet points.
- Moyes inherited a squad that was no doubt better than the one Fergie inherited.
- Fergie didn't inherit a pub team. There were plenty of very good footballers in Big Ron's side and the team as such was obviously MUCH better than the table position suggested at the time of the take-over.
- What most reasonable people mean when they refer to Fergie's first seasons as an apt comparison is simply that even the best of 'em don't get everything right straight away. It's an analogy of sorts. It isn't a formula: "Every manager, no matter who he is, should be given at least five years, and then he WILL win the league and everything else in sight..." er, yes, this is NOT what most so-called Moyes apologists mean when they point to Fergie and his first years as a United manager. It ain't a formula - it's just an analogy, meant to illustrate that being patient may indeed get you somewhere. The key word being MAY.
- If you have already decided that Moyes is shite such analogies will probably do nothing but vex you and possibly make your head hurt. In which case you should probably ignore 'em.
- Regardless of what your head is like you should realize one thing (which is pretty fecking obvious, really): Fergie didn't take over from Fergie having been in charge for a quarter of a century. Nobody has done that. Except for Moyes. His task is unprecedented in that respect. Might be worth keeping in mind.
Oh, and I do apologize for the bullet points. I can't defend it, really - but I am drunk. Strange how good bullet points look to the intoxicated eye. I normally hate 'em with a vengeance.
Peace, mothers.