An die SV » Dalembert (10.6 ppg), Vodanovich (10.3 ppg),

The jury is in. Manchester United Football Club finds David Moyes guilty of guiding them to their worst season in 25 years. Until now, none of us really knew what the clubs owners thought about the whole mess that has been the 2013/14 season. Make no mistake, despite his sacking, Moyes is far from the only reason for Uniteds dismal campaign, but his departure means he is the main culprit. In the end his final chapter, fittingly, took place at Goodison Park, a place of happiness for Moyes, his home as a football manager for 11 years, where he had been seen as the major architect for overachievement. On Sunday, marshaling a team in red, rather than blue, he was suddenly the architect of underachievement. Yes, the season had been poor and had exposed some players for what they were but, with less than a month remaining in the season, United were absolutely pathetic at Goodison Park, leaving many to ponder whether any signs of improvement would ever come under the first year manager. At Everton he was the big fish in the small pond, paid more money than any player and relied upon by owner Bill Kenwright to make average players good and good players, very good. His record against the leagues top clubs was poor but that was when the blame was placed on the players. They werent quite that good to topple the best of the rest, we were told. It was a resume that got the attention of others. Last April, Sir Alex Ferguson called his fellow Scotsman while he was out shopping with his wife and asked him to come to his house immediately. Moyes admitted later that he thought he wanted to speak to him about one of his Everton players. In the end, the only signing taking place was Moyes, handpicked by Ferguson to take over the monumental task that was Manchester United. A year on it is fair to say that Fergusons choice of Moyes can be put under the same category of many of his last few signings at the club. British, expensive and nowhere near a level that a club like United should strive for. Ferguson did many things right at Old Trafford but he is also made mistakes and the sacking of Moyes now means his hiring of him is one of the biggest he made. In Moyes he clearly saw traits he admired, traits he believed were similar to his own but the football club was at a much different stage than it was at when he took over in 1986. Uniteds first colossal error in a long-line of them in the past 12 months was not conducting a deep, thorough search for Fergusons successor. Within that search they needed to evaluate everything, including a look at their own results which showed, despite winning the Premier League last season, a decline in their status as a top club in European football, highlighted by how they performed against the big six clubs in England (Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham) and in European competitions. In the three seasons of 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, United played 70 of these big game matches. They won 45, drew 18 and lost 17 for a very impressive win percentage of 64 per cent. During this time they went to the Champions League final TWICE and lost in the quarter-finals on away goals to a team called Bayern Munich. Over the last three seasons (2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14) United have now played 70 of these big game matches. They have won 28, drew 16 and lost 26 for a very disappointing win percentage of 40 per cent. Their worst performance in the Champions League in the three previous seasons (QF) was now considered a success. Much of this was down to Ferguson. He ignored the warning signs when teams like Basel and Benfica humiliated them in the Champions League, sending them into the 2012 Europa League where they were given a tactical, technical masterclass in their own stadium by European lesser lights Ajax and Athletic Bilbao. During this era, Ferguson and his staff signed many average players, throwing the same 80 million pounds he received for Cristiano Ronaldo on Bebe, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Shinji Kagawa and Wilfried Zaha. Domestically United bullied their way past far inferior teams in the Premier League but across Europe the elite got further and further away. This is what Moyes inherited and that was exactly why he was the wrong man for the job. When United struggled, much of the blame went towards the players initially. Gradually the pendulum of blame swung towards the manager but it took much longer than it would at most clubs and thats because outsiders were not sure what some insiders were starting to find out. By hiring Moyes, an unproven manager in big games and with no experience with genuine world class players, United were able to shield their manager from the usual tirade of criticism because no one quite knew just how good he was. If Jose Mourinho, for example, had been given the job and they failed, then the players were completely at fault. By going down the Moyes route, United took longer to identify their issues. In truth, they still may not know them all, completely. What Moyes has done for them is show them just how poor some of their players can be for long stretches of a season. This can never be solely blamed on a manager and United would be best served to use this season as evidence to move aside a number of players at the club. Some will say those players have let Moyes down but, ultimately, the game is about what they believe, not what fans or media believe and it was clear from a very early stage that they had very little faith in their manager to turn it all around. Once he lost the players, he lost his job. He departs a club at a crossroads in their journey towards success at the highest level. This past season they have lost too many football games. They lost their ruthless, attacking identity. They lost a spot in next years Champions League. In the process they were perilously close to losing their status as a genuine big club on the pitch. Instead, they chose to lose their manager. It is time for United to aim higher and grab world class talent when shopping for new players and, now, a new manager. Their naivety in those areas has led to this point and for a club like Manchester United there should be no lower point than what has happened this season. Patriots Jerseys 2019 . -- The Minnesota Twins have granted relief pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release, making the 35-year-old right-hander a free agent. Stitched Patriots Jerseys . With the union re-formed, negotiations with owners will resume Friday on the remaining issues that would be in the collective bargaining agreement, according to a person familiar with the plans. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/ . New York City FC introduced Frank Lampard in Brooklyn on Thursday after signing the 36-year-old former Chelsea midfielder to a two-year contract. Cheap Patriots Jerseys . Canada was placed in one of the easiest groups during Saturdays live televised draw in Montreal. New England Patriots Store . -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir.Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - The 16th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will try to close out a season-opening five-game homestand unbeaten on Friday afternoon when they welcome the James Madison Dukes to Value City Arena. JMU had a tough task on opening night against nationally-ranked Virginia, losing 79-51, but since then it has righted the ship with four consecutive victories. The Dukes most recently closed out a five-game homestand on Wednesday with a 79-72 victory over Sacred Heart. Ohio State has barely broken a sweat this season, winning all four of its games by double-digit margins, including its latest contest against Campbell on Wednesday, 91-64. The Buckeyes are 113-6 all-time at Value City Arena against non-conference opponents, which includes wins in 97 of the last 98. The all-time series between the Dukes and the Buckeyes is knotted up at 1-1. Ohio State won the last meeting in November of 2009, 72-44. The Dukes held a lead as large as 20 in the first half of their most recent game, and while they allowed Sacred Heart to cut its deficit to just five in the final 20 minutes, they avoided a collapse and held on for the seven-point win. They shot 50 percent from the floor and had an active, effective night at the free-throw line (27-of-33). Paulius Satkus was nearly perfect en route to 21 points, shooting 5-of-5 from the floor and 10-of-11 at the line. Jackson Kent netted 15 points, Tom Vodanovich came off the bench to scoore 12 and Ron Curry tallied 11 points and seven assists.dddddddddddd On the season, JMU has been great in close games, piling up a 4-1 record despite a slim +2.0 scoring margin. Kent is the top scoring option with 15.2 ppg and has been outstanding from 3-point range, making 13-of-24 (.542). Curry (11.0 ppg) hands out 5.0 apg. Yohanny Dalembert (10.6 ppg), Vodanovich (10.3 ppg), Winston Grays (9.8 ppg) and Satkus (9.4 ppg) round out a balanced attack. The Buckeyes played very well on both ends of the floor in their 27-point win earlier in the week, as they outshot Campbell from the field, 60.7 percent to 37.7 percent, and won the turnover battle, 17-10. All five starters finished in double figures, led by 22 points out of DAngelo Russell, who also handed out seven assists. Marc Loving poured in 18 points, Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott netted 11 points apiece and Amir Williams scored 10. Ohio States dominance on both ends of the court has become a theme on the season, as the team shoots a lofty 60.8 percent from the field for 90.8 ppg while allowing just 57.5 ppg on 36.9 percent shooting. The squad also lives comfortably in terms of its rebounding (+6.8) and turnover (+7.3) margins. Russell puts up a team-best 19.0 ppg and has been great from 3-point range (12-of-23). Loving (13.0 ppg) and Sam Thompson (11.8 ppg) are strong complimentary options, and Scott (9.8 ppg) leads the nation in assists per game with 11.5. ' ' '