Glazers impressed by Moyes' methods, "remain calm"

As the thunder follows the lightning, and as the morning after follows the night before, so it is known: any truly embarrassing defeat must lead, in the next couple of days, to a long approving story about all the good things that the manager is doing. (When it doesn't, he's definitely getting sacked.)

In today's Guardian, therefore, we are told that the Glazer family -- though naturally disappointed with most of the actual football -- are fully convinced that their man is the right man, and have been wowed by Moyes's wide-ranging reformation of United's scouting methods. Out has gone the old (Ferguson asking Jim Lawlor, basically), and in has come a

dedicated nerve-centre

featuring

computers

and

high-definition screens

and

whiteboards

And if there's one thing we know about the Glazers, it's that they're entirely qualified to be able to tell the difference between, on the one hand, a well-constructed super-modern bleeding-edge scouting system, and on the other, Steve Round playing Football Manager.

In fairness to Moyes, his methods have been lauded before and certainly do sound impressive. This extract from Michael Calvin's The Nowhere Men, his excellent book on scouting, provides more detail on how the whole system is supposed to work. While it's tricky to assess his purchasing record at Everton fairly -- he signed some good; he signed some dross; he was working under exceptionally straitened circumstances -- it's certainly good to see United moving away from the 'who has Jorge Mendes got knocking around' school of thought.

Not to mention that this isn't the first time that a Scottish manager has come under pressure to get results, only to receive the backing of the board because of all his good work behind the scenes. A spurious crumb of comfort for you to cling to, there, courtesy of TBB. You're welcome.