David Moyes & Brendan Rodgers: The ebb and flow of football
Marc Fox
Ten months can seem a long time in football.
David Moyes was being taunted by the travelling Liverpool supporters during their side's rousing 3-0 victory at Old Trafford.
"David Moyes is a Football Genius," read the tongue-in-cheek banner in the away end as Reds fans watched Liverpool dismantle arch rivals Manchester United in another embarrassment for Moyes.
A month later, Moyes was sacked from United, who went onto finish a lowly seventh in the Premier League, while Liverpool pushed eventual champions Manchester City all the way in a gripping title race.
Fast forward to the present day and some sections of the Liverpool support might be starting to wonder whether unfurling that banner at Old Trafford was such a smart move.
Last night, Moyes enjoyed his finest hour in his fledgling managerial career in Spain with Real Sociedad, a 1-0 win over Barcelona that prevented the Catalans from returning to the summit of La Liga.
Moyes compared the shock victory with “the early days at Everton", the club he left after a decade of service to start his ill-fated spell at Manchester United, when he regularly took on the challenge of an unfancied side facing – and beating – one of the league's powerhouses.
The Scot deserves his return to the spotlight for the right reasons after the cruel manner in which his career in the Premier League juddered to a temporary halt in 2014.
He has lost just once since joining Real Sociedad in November, small steps in repairing a reputation that was left in tatters after a disastrous 10-month stint in the Old Trafford hot seat.
Back in England, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers' reputation is now the one facing the stiffest of challenges.
While rival fans haven't yet dared to mock the strife of the Northern Irishman this season, with Liverpool languishing in eighth position in the EPL and knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage, the managerial mettle of Rodgers is certainly being tested.
Rodgers' team faces AFC Wimbledon in the third round of the FA Cup today, evoking memories of the famous 1988 Cup final when then league champions Liverpool were surprisingly humbled by the original Wimbledon FC.
The current Liverpool manager has had his share of humbling experiences so far this season, including a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford in December that echoed Moyes' lowest ebb, and must now mastermind the Reds' climb up the table towards the Champions League qualification places in addition to how the future side will progress without captain Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard will leave Liverpool in the summer to move to the MLS, a confidence-shattering decision for the club that is only barely managing to contend with the joint absences of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge this term.
Rodgers has been forced to face questions of a fall-out with Gerrard – vehemently denied by both parties – as well as considerable criticism for his summer transfer outlay.
But he found a somewhat unlikely ally in AFC Wimbledon manager Neil Ardley before the two clubs meet for the first time.
Ardley, who made more than 300 appearances for Wimbledon FC, admitted to being “in awe" of the new breed of technical coaches such as Rodgers and Roberto Martinez, the Everton manager, and angered by short-term criticism of them.
"I know Ryland Morgans, head of [Liverpool's] sport science, and Alex Inglethorpe, their academy manager, two great people," Ardley said on the eve of the third round tie.
"The feedback I get about Brendan Rodgers is that he's phenomenal, so when Liverpool did have had their sticky spell, and I hear some of the comments coming out, it really, really winds me up.
"I think, in the next four or five years, Liverpool could become a real force with the current set of management coaching staff they've got."
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