Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/299616
23 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 APRIL 2014 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Rather cloudy with the possibility of some isolated showers at first becoming partly cloudy VISIBILITY: Generally good WIND: Northwest force 5 to 6 locally force 6 to 7 becoming Northwest force 6 to 7 Sea: Rough Swell: Low Northeasterly becoming low confused A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. PARTLY CLOUDY 20 º C / 15 º C UV INDEX: 6 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits dxc6 d5 f6 Kd8 Qxd5+ Kc7 Qd7+ Kb6 b4 bxc4 Qb7# OPINION Across 3. Communicating corridors (8) 9. Harass (5) 10. Electrically charged atom (3) 11. Toward the stern (3) 12. Woman who herds sheep (11) 14. Resembling suds (5) 16. Club-like weapon (4) 17. Past tense of stand (5) 19. Gibberish (6) 20. Belonging to him (3) 22. Little job (6) 23. Planet (5) 25. Ruffian (4) 26. Wash (5) 28. Tenant under a lease (11) 30. 21st letter of the Greek alphabet (3) 31. Period of human life (3) 32. Tugs (5) 33. Direct light of the sun (8) Down 1. Sailors (4) 2. Underwater missile (7) 4. To come nearer to (8) 5. Plot (6) 6. Articles of glass (9) 7. Located (5) 8. Take pleasure in (5) 13. Emotional outburst (8) 15. Deficiency in quantity (8) 18. Weed plant (9) 21. Cooking pan (8) 24. Clap (7) 25. Roof covering (6) 26. Sheep cry (5) 27. Ribbons (5) 29. Coarse file (4) THERE is bittersweet feeling about the latest Premier League sacking as David Moyes departs Old Trafford after just 10 months in charge of the departing Champions. In one season many claim he ruined all of Sir Alex's hard work, having lost 15 games out of his 51 in charge. Many records have been broken un- der David Moyes and he even broke one on his departure day, becom- ing the first manager to be sacked by Manchester United in 28 years. That final statistic to me speaks volumes. Sir Alex Ferguson had been in charge since 1986 and there was a consistency with him. A terrible start saw him go within one game of the sack, and traditionally Manchester United stick to their managers. What went so wrong for Moyes to have only lasted 10 months at the club was not just about what hap- pened on the pitch. Ten months to many may be a short time, too short to sack a manager at the start of a six- year contract. The fact that the Glaz- ers and him signed such a long con- tract shows that United aimed to be patient, yet 10 months later and they are seeking a new manager to pick the fallen giant up. Taking over the poisoned chalice left by Sir Alex – poisoned due to his incredibly successful era – was never going to be an easy task, and many compare Moyes' start to that made by Sir Alex in 1986. Sir Alex had indeed lost more games that Moyes at this stage of the season, but you always felt Sir Alex had a master plan. He raved on about the up and com- ing youngsters, with one of his famous babes now taking over as interim manager. Under Sir Alex they com- pletely renovated the youth system and training grounds and the founda- tions were being set. People also keep harping on about a "weak" squad inherited by David Moyes, but I can hardly label the Pre- mier League champions weak. He has blamed his failure on his poor squad, however it is the exact same squad that won the league with Sir Alex, with the addition of the ridiculous flop of a signing Fellaini at £27.5 mil- lion and the decent acquisition of Juan Mata at £40 million. His blame on the squad for any United fan is an insult. Watching eve- ry game under Moyes I felt the team had no tactical knowledge of what was expected of them, they had no style, no hunger and no motivation. Moyes' mentality was never to go out and win games, but to go out and avoid defeat and at no stage of this season did I feel there was even a hint of improvement, even in the rather lucky 1-1 home draw to Bayern Munich. Moyes' Manchester United only managed to beat one team from the six above them, a decent 1-0 win over Arsenal, decent only in terms of Unit- ed's defensive tactics. What we must keep in mind is that David Moyes never wanted the job, never applied for it and probably in a million years would have never gotten it. He was the chosen one, selected by his pal Sir Alex, who would have seen his 11-year stint at Everton as a positive one, which is was. Stepping up however is a different league. His Goodison era merits respect, how- ever many Everton fans now feels he was the one holding them back and you only need to look at their current league position – yes, a full two places above Manchester United – to get their point. David Moyes might be good man, however I do feel his negativity forced a plague to spread around Old Traf- ford, and removing the source of the problem is a fine way to start. It would have been a bigger gamble to keep him, especially if you believe the figures being thrown around about a possi- ble transfer fund for the summer. His previous transfer dealings for both Everton and Manchester United were never superb and I am still shocked at how so much money was spent on a useless Fellaini. As Moyes departs the question raises, is 10 months too soon? We will never know the true answer to this but if I had my way one thing is for sure, Manchester United would have never been in this situation in the first place, especially since Jose Mourinho was purring at the Glazers and Sir Alex having freed himself up from the Real Madrid reigns last season. David Moyes was never a winner as a personality and the size of the club won't help however all thanks to this buffer zone created by Moyes the next person in line has his work cut out for him. Mark Strijbosch Moyes put out of his misery