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David Moyes's problems at Manchester United have intensified after it emerged some of the club's supporters are planning to send a plane over Old Trafford during their game against Aston Villa on Saturday with a banner calling for him to be sacked.

Arrangements are being made for a flypast with the message "Wrong One – Moyes Out" as a response to the "Chosen One" banner that has hung from the Stretford End since the former Everton manager was appointed as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor. If it goes ahead, the stunt will be the first concerted effort by supporters to remove Moyes from his position in a season that has seen the champions slump to seventh, 18 points off the top and guaranteed their worst return in the Premier League era.

The 3-0 derby defeat at home to Manchester City on Tuesday was the 10th time United have lost in the league this season and it finished with isolated shouts for Moyes to go. Stewards were positioned in front of the Chosen One banner to prevent anyone pulling it down and one fan had to be ushered from the dugout area after venting his feelings to Moyes. Ferguson, sitting in the directors' box, was also subjected to the anger of supporters, having been the man who identified Moyes for the job.

Supporters on the Red Issue website have clubbed together to raise almost £1,000 for the flypast and insist they are going ahead with the protest, approximately five to 10 minutes before kick-off, despite a mixed reaction from other fans.

"This isn't a reaction because we aren't getting our own way in terms of winning games," read a statement released by the group on Thursday night. "We cannot have a manager who thinks it is acceptable to call our major rivals 'favourites' when they play us at Old Trafford. It is a betrayal of the club's ethos, a betrayal of the players and a betrayal of the fans' support. We want a manager who understands and embraces our attacking traditions and has a vision of confidence for the future, not a manager who seems to be completely disassociated and visibly uncomfortable with the fact that he is the manager of Manchester United."

United's position is that they remain fully supportive of Moyes, despite Sir Bobby Charlton's admission earlier in the week that they had played "really badly". Moyes's first season in charge has been so ignominious that the usually supportive Manchester Evening News has taken to lampooning him, running an "excuses  gallery".

However, the idea of hiring a plane – Burnley's fans did something similar when they played Blackburn Rovers earlier in the month – has polarised opinion among the club's supporters. Pete Molyneux, who raised the infamous "Ta-ra Fergie" banner when Ferguson was in danger of losing his job in December 1989, believes Moyes should be given another season. "Since Sir Matt Busby retired I've seen seven men take up the mantle, and only Ron Atkinson got United playing winning, attractive football in his first season," he said. "Wilf McGuinness, Frank O'Farrell and Dave Sexton never managed it and Tommy Docherty took us into Division Two before finding the magic formula. Now trust me, it was as bad under Fergie as it is today – and for much longer.

"All were given the courtesy of time and money before judgment was passed. That's the United way. Moyes deserves another season before we start tearing down the citadel."

Quote (Pozer @ Mar 28 2014 06:15am)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2591411/Does-video-moment-Marouane-Fellaini-SPAT-Pablo-Zabaleta-City-defender-lay-hurt-floor-elbowed.html

Quote (Chilean @ Mar 28 2014 03:21pm)

Fellaini said that Zabaleta bounced his chin into his elbow too, that made me

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David Moyes has claimed that even Sir Alex Ferguson would have struggled to arrest Manchester United’s decline this season after pointing to the “ageing” squad he inherited as a key factor in the club’s fall from grace.

Moyes is facing the first public display of opposition to his appointment as Ferguson’s successor on Saturday with a group of supporters raising £840 to fly a plane over Old Trafford trailing a banner emblazoned with the words “Wrong One – Moyes Out” during the game against Aston Villa.

The Scot insists that support inside the stadium remains in his favour, despite fans verbally attacking Ferguson for selecting Moyes following Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.

But with Moyes overseeing a disastrous defence of the Premier League title, with United seventh and facing a battle to secure qualification for the Europa League, the former Everton manager believes that even his predecessor would have encountered severe turbulence this season.

“I would say United supporters this year have probably been as good as people have seen them for many a year,” Moyes said. “They understand there is a change, that there has been a change from a great manager and, not just a great manager but a manager who was here for 25 years, and to make that change is always going to be difficult.

“People are aware there is a squad that is a bit more ageing, so I think it would have been a tough season for whoever was in charge of Manchester United this year.

“And I actually think if Sir Alex was here this year it would be difficult for Sir Alex as well and I’m sure he would be aware of it.

“It could have been the case no matter what this season, but it has been so un-Man United, which is why we have to look to continue a policy of building, improving, getting better and that’s what we’ll try and do.”

Despite an acceptance within Old Trafford that Moyes faced a rebuilding job when he succeeded Ferguson last summer, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho – regarded by many Ferguson’s obvious successor – yesterday defended his record and legacy.

“He [Ferguson] can only be blamed for one thing,” Mourinho said. “That United are the club they are. He’s retired, let him retire in peace.”

A growing number of supporters now identify Moyes as the central figure in United’s slump, however, and the hiring of the plane to fly the protest banner is a reflection of the mood among some sections.