Standing on the shoulders of a giant

Trawl back through any of the profiles of David Moyes written over the last five years or so and, sooner or later, you’ll come across some variation of the phrase: “widely tipped to one day succeed Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United”.

So if there’s any element of surprise left at all in the confirmation that Moyes is finally to fill the hot seat at Old Trafford, it’s probably got less to do with his actual appointment than the fact that, even 48 hours after his imminent departure was announced, the mere idea of the end of the Alex Ferguson era still takes some getting used to.

And therein lies both the logic of Moyes’ appointment and the extent of the challenge he now faces. Having experienced the benefits of stable management for more than a quarter of a century, United have opted for a sense of continuity over the temptation to replace Ferguson with another managerial titan.