Moyes 'given less time due to debt'

Manchester United’s mountainous debt pile and wage bill meant its owners could ill afford to give David Moyes the same amount of time to succeed as his predecessor Alex Ferguson, it was claimed today.

The costly failure to qualify for the Champions League and potential longer-term impact on the value of sponsorship deals added to pressure on the bottom line of a business that has recorded growing pre-tax losses for the last two years.