When David Moyes took Manchester United from Premier League champions to 7th-place also-rans, people suggested he was out of his depth.
When he struggled at Real Sociedad, it was put down to a man not yet recovered from his Old Trafford travails.
When he endured a horrible start to life at Sunderland, it was the sign of a finished manager rather than anything untoward.
But have you started to think that Moyes - rather than just being bad at his job - might actually be cursed?
How else could you explain his mere presence plunging the Stadium of Light into darkness. It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.
https://twitter.com/CraigHope_DM/status/800007927503396865
Suddenly we're starting to think a curse isn't just a possible explanation, but rather it's the *only* explanation.
Perhaps he smashed a mirror when leaving Everton, or perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson imbued
a Béla Guttman-like curse on all his successors at Manchester United.
That would certainly explain Louis van Gaal's forgettable spell at Old Trafford, or José Mourinho's failure to improve
the "unluckiest" team in the Premier League.
So, one question remains. What does Moyes need to do in order to reverse the curse? Whatever it is, it's probably not playing a 34-year-old Steven Pienaar in central midfield.
Victory at home to Hull City with a Pienaar-less midfield certainly seems to have helped, though turning light into darkness suggest there's still some way to go for the Scot.
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