My mother said this today, during the game. "He's looking like Moyesy isn't he nowadays". This job is too big for most managers, especially those without a big, well-earned ego and a rack of achievements. He is looking haggard and rightly so - things are sliding badly here and he showed, last season, to be incapable of stopping a slide.
I've been mulling this over. I'd always assumed/convinced myself that Ed sold Ole down the river because it made zero sense to me that a manager would hamstring himself so badly in the area most important on a football pitch - putting the ball in the opposition net.
Why would Ole do this? I can only think of one thing. Mandzukic and Llorente were mooted as stop-gap signings to provide depth, but I can only think Ole felt these signings were "too Mourinho". Old, hardened veterans coming for a final hurrah. And he'd spent time telling the fans we were moving in a different direction so possibly decided this might piss off some fans?
I honestly don't know but either way, he's made a big, naïve mistake and SEVEN games into the season, he's paying for it.
I love Ole the player and the man. But Ole the manager is showing nothing to make me love him or rate him.
This is not a team in transition. This is not a work in progress.
This is a team regressing. This is a visible decline.