David Moyes is on the verge of the sack as Real Sociedad manager as the Spanish club consider their options after a 2-0 defeat at second-bottom Las Palmas that left the side level on points with the final relegation place, but the decision has not yet been confirmed as the flight bringing the former Manchester United manager back to Spain was cancelled.
Moyes is now expected to travel early on Monday morning from the UK, where he had spent the weekend since the defeat on Friday night, and will meet the club’s president, Jokin Aperribay, on his return. The favourite to replace him is Eusebio Sacristán.
Moyes had offers to return to the Premier League in the summer, and there had been interest from England more recently too, but he was determined to continue at Anoeta where his contract runs until the end of the season.
When Moyes took over last November, Real Sociedad were 16th, having won only twice in 11 games last season. Three days short of a year later the team in is virtually the same position, the improvement of the second half of last season long forgotten. They finished last season 12th, on 46 points, but now they are 16th again and have won twice in 10 games. Those victories have been away to the bottom two, Levante and Granada, and they are yet to win at home.
Although Moyes would not agree, the belief in San Sebastián is that this is a squad that should be competing for Europe but the final European place is 10 points off and defeat provoked fears that la Real could be dragged into a relegation battle instead, despite spending €16m on Asier Illarramendi and €7.6m on the striker Jonathas in the summer.
Although victory at Levante a fortnight ago had appeared to bring some tranquillity, the pressure has grown again and with Sevilla, Barcelona, Villarreal and Real Madrid still to play before the turn of the year there is little optimism that results will improve quickly.
The visit to Las Palmas was seen not only as a game that they must win to distance themselves from the relegation zone before those fixtures but also a test of the strength of the recent recovery and a gauge of the players’ support for their manager. One local newspaper described the performance as a “total disaster”.
Moyes has been in charge for la Real for 38 games, the equivalent of a full league season, during which time they have picked up 46 points, with 11 wins, 13 draws and 13 defeats. Last season they finished 12th, 11 points clear of the relegation zone. Now only goal difference separates them from the bottom three.
