There's been a lot of Talk about the 'Moyes Out' Banner ...

but let's just say that the fly past has backfired as Moyes ended up getting support from fans inside Old Trafford. It MAY be that many fans have misgivings about Moyes, but they're not demonstrating their frustration yet for whatever reason - loyalty to SAF, Man Utd's 'tradition' of giving their managers time, not wishing to lose the moral high ground to the likes of Chelsea where changing managers is as common as Elizabeth Taylor changing husbands, whatever.

As for me, I remain convinced that David Moyes is out of his depth. I only hope that the Glazers will not give him too much time to wreak havoc on the playing squad. I mean, the guy's a good manager for a mid-table team, but he's not Manchester United quality. There have been lots of articles and insights about what's gone wrong for Moyes at United. I won't regurgitate them - some have been reasonable, some have been idealistic, some have not recognized Moyes' good qualities, lots of them have been about his tactics (whether stone age, rigid, muddled, or blitzkrieg air bombardment).

It's this observation from Tim Howard, who kept goal under Moyes and SAF that I found interesting. He wasn't talking about Man United. He was talking about Everton under Roberto Martinez.

There's been talk that the United players are short on confidence. A bit more than talk, actually - Evans has admitted it explicitly. Except for the occasional Barcelona game, SAF has always tried to impose United's style on their opponents. There may be a little tactical tweak here and there but attack was the overarching theme. Under Moyes, it would appear that not losing is the raison d'etre, defence is the default team setting. You can't win the league by avoiding defeat ...

Howard's quote is revealing and suggests that Moyes' is setting this United team to avoid defeat rather than going for the win. Moyes has made a few quotes that suggest as much (Freudian slip, perhaps ?). And in talking up the opponent's strengths, he is forgetting that his own team is chockful of good players as well. Not that his squad would believe it after the way he's trampled them with 'they're aging and don't have enough quality' quotes spread out over several press conferences. Does he imagine that his players wouldn't notice his comments ?

SAF was well known as a great motivator. From where I'm standing, it sure looks like David Moyes is a great demotivator. And I can't see how this works out well for Man United. The 'Wrong One - Moyes Out" banner may well have been ill conceived, but there are many who agree with the sentiment. Count me among them.