EPL: Online petitions call for manager's head
PUBLISHED ONMarch 19, 2014 10:00 PMByGregory Loo
The official line from Manchester United is that his job is safe for now.
But David Moyes had better be hoping that his employers are not as impatient as their fans.
United supporters are starting to turn on The Chosen One following United's 3-0 loss to arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
An online plea on Change.org, calling for Moyes' head, which was started by a Shawn Teo from Singapore about two months ago, saw a significant jump in numbers in the aftermath of Sunday's defeat.
The petition started the day with around 250 signatures before doubling to 500 by 9.30pm on Monday.
In the petition's introduction, Teo, disappointed at how far United had fallen under the Scot, hoped that Sir Alex Ferguson would come out of retirement or United appoint a better candidate in place of Moyes.
With signees from Singapore to Swaziland, the forum started by Teo has the most signatures out of the eight separate anti-Moyes petitions on Change.org, including one from India calling for Borussia Dortmund's Juergen Klopp to be appointed as United boss.
There was also little support for Moyes on popular websites and forums frequented by United supporters.
In a poll started after the Liverpool loss on leading United forum RedCafe.net, 341 users felt that Moyes should go at the end of the season with only 31 insisting that he should stay.
The ex-Everton boss was also not spared in the comments section of a post on popular blog The Republik of Manucnia (RoM), where talk about Wayne Rooney's interview after the Liverpool game quickly turned into a discussion on Moyes and his role in the defeat.
RoM reader Mark Haslam feels that Moyes is "embarrassing the club" and that his appointment was "the biggest mistake" made by Ferguson.
United fans might have endured the rocky start to the season on Ferguson's departing instructions to stand by their new manager.
However, the loss to their hated rivals has clearly made Moyes a marked man by the club's online faithful.
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