By Andrew Warshaw
May 9 – As widely anticipated, David Moyes was appointment Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor today as manager of Manchester United and handed a six-year contract to take over on July 1. The highly respected Moyes, who leaves Everton after 11 years in charge, was the retiring Ferguson’s personal recommendation.
Moyes met his chairman Bill Kenwright in London Wednesday evening to say he wanted the United job and although he has never won silverware, he was the bookies’ favourite to take over from his fellow Scot having consistently steered Everton into the upper echelons of the Premier League on a limited budget.
He gave Wayne Rooney his Premier League debut before selling him to Manchester United for £20m and one of his first tasks will be trying to keep the England striker, who has apparently asked for a move away from Old Trafford.
“We unanimously agreed on David Moyes,” said Ferguson, who announced his retirement after 26 years as United boss on Wednesday. “David is a man of great integrity with a strong work ethic. I’ve admired his work for a long time and approached him as far back as 1998 to discuss the position of assistant manager here. There is no question he has all the qualities we expect of a manager at this club.”
Moyes, who has long coveted the United job in order to collect the trophies to go with his obvious managerial skills, said: “I am delighted that Sir Alex saw fit to recommend me for the job. I have great respect for everything he has done and for the football club.”
“I know how hard it will be to follow the best manager ever, but the opportunity to manage Manchester United isn’t something that comes around very often and I’m really looking forward to taking up the post next season.”
Moyes vowed to remain fully committed to his present club until the end of the season. “I have had a terrific job at Everton, with a tremendous chairman and board of directors, and a great set of players. Between now and the end of the season, I will do everything in my power to make sure we finish as high as possible in the table. “
Leading contenders for the Everton job include Wigan’s Roberto Martinez and Swansea’s Michael Laudrup.
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