David Moyes' payoff revealed

David Moyes' failure to qualify for the Champions League this season means that Manchester United only need give the Scot a one-year payoff if he is sacked, according to Ian Herbert in the Independent. He writes:

The mathematical impossibility of United finishing in the top four this season, following their 11th Premier League defeat of the season at Goodison Park on Sunday, means that United need only give Moyes a one-year pay-off under the terms of his five-year deal, rather than honour the full four years left on that contract.

There's nothing really too surprising about this news, as United were never likely to hand Moyes such a lengthy deal without some kind of performance-based clause through which they could escape if things went disastrously wrong.

However, it's interesting to note that qualifying for the Champions League was always seen as the minimum requirement from the start, and how that appears to have remained the case throughout a rather disappointing season.