Manchester United manager David Moyes
has been sacked, only 10 months after
succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson.
He was dismissed at a meeting with executive
vice-chairman Ed Woodward at the club's
Carrington training ground shortly after 0800
BST.
Moyes, 50, was chosen by Ferguson as the man
to succeed him when he retired after 26 years
in charge last summer.
Player-coach Ryan Giggs is expected to take
charge of United's next game at home against
Norwich on Saturday.
The BBC understands coaches Steve Round and
Jimmy Lumsden have also left their posts, but
goalkeeping coach Chris Woods and first team
coach Phil Neville will remain with the club for
the rest of the season.
United had refused to comment on national
newspaper reports on Monday that Moyes –
who left Everton to sign a six-year deal with
the Premier League champions – would be
dismissed before the end of the season.
But in a statement on Tuesday the club said it
"would like to place on record its thanks for
the hard work, honesty and integrity he
brought to the role".
Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal, Borussia
Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp, Atletico Madrid's
manager Diego Simeone and Paris St-Germain's
Laurent Blanc have already been tipped as
possible successors to Moyes.
United, who lie seventh in the table with four
games remaining, are guaranteed to record
their lowest points tally in the Premier League
having struggled at Old Trafford in particular
this season.
Under Moyes, they have lost six league games
at home, been beaten in the FA Cup by
Swansea at Old Trafford and were unable to
prevent Sunderland knocking them out of the
Capital One Cup in the semi-finals.
In March, some supporters chartered a plane
to fly overhead during their Premier League
game against Aston Villa trailing a banner with
the words "Wrong One – Moyes Out" – a
reference to the banner at Old Trafford that
proclaimed Moyes to be the "Chosen One".
The Reds will miss out on Champions League
football for the first time since 1995 and are
in danger of missing out on European
competition altogether for the first time since
1990.
United did reach the last eight of the
Champions League before being knocked out
by Bayern Munich and Moyes argued that their
best displays had been in the competition.
But the Scot has been dogged by claims he has
fallen out with members of his squad.
When midfielder Anderson joined Fiorentina
on loan in January, he was quoted as saying
other United players "wanted out" although
he later denied it.
Rio Ferdinand and Robin van Persie also
made less than complimentary comments
about his management style, while Javier
Hernandez and Wilfried Zaha posted cryptic
quotes on Twitter.
At the weekend, Manchester-born striker
Danny Welbeck was reported to be considering
his future after becoming frustrated at
regularly being played out of his favoured
position.
Moyes left Everton after 11 seasons saying he
could not turn down the opportunity to move
to Old Trafford and began his job on 1 July.
However, United endured a difficult summer
transfer window and failed in reported bids for
Barcelona's Thiago Alcantara and Cesc
Fabregas.
A double bid for Marouane Fellaini and
Leighton Baines was dismissed as "derisory
and insulting" by Moyes's old club Everton,
although Fellaini finally joined on transfer
deadline day for £27.5m.
Moyes was unhappy United were given a
difficult start to the season, playing Chelsea,
Liverpool and Manchester City in their first
five games.
"I find it hard to believe that's the way the
balls came out of the bag, that's for sure," he
said.
But his reign began in style with a 2-0 victory
over Wigan Athletic in the Community Shield at
Wembley, followed by a 4-1 win away at
Swansea City in the first league game of the
season.
However, things quickly got worse with defeats
at Liverpool and Manchester City, setting the
tone for what would become United's worst
Premier League season.
With the exception of the additional 21 games
Matt Busby (manager from 1945-1969) had in
charge as emergency manager following Wilf
McGuinness's exit in 1970, and the 22 games
when Jimmy Murphy stood in for Busby after
the Munich air crash, Moyes's reign represents
the third shortest in United history.
It is also the first time since 6 November
1986 that Manchester United have sacked a
manager.
The Scot's 49 games in charge exceeds only
the 43 matches Walter Crickmer presided over
during the first of his two spells as manager,
while Lal Hilditch was in charge for the
shortest time, lasting just 33 games between
October 1926 and April 1927.
