Manchester United football club spent more than 20 years at the top of the English Premier League. At the end of the 2012 - 2013 season long-term manager Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement. Without Fergie at the helm Man Utd has crumbled. The Manchester United football shirts have been less formidable and more laughing stock throughout 2013 - 2014.

Sir Alex Ferguson has remained at Manchester United in an advisory capacity, he handpicked his replacement, former Everton boss David Moyes. Moyes was branded 'The Chosen One' by club and fans. In recent weeks the fans sporting the Manchester United football shirts have turned their backs on Moyes, freely criticizing him, and now the club has too.

Moyes Sacked

On Tuesday morning, following a long bank holiday weekend, and much speculation, Manchester United rather controversially announced Moyes departure via Twitter. Sitting at 7th in the table, with no chance of retaining their Championship title or even European football next season, David Moyes sacking was inevitable. But who will step into his shoes next?

The team will next wear their Manchester United home jersey 2013 - 2014 on Saturday against Norwich. It has been announced that player coach Ryan Giggs will lead the team until a permanent replacement can be sought. Giggs has spent is entire professional career at Manchester United joining the team in 1987, he is a poplar player both with the team and fans but can he win games?

Whether you are were a fan of Moyes or pleased by his departure Manchester United need all their fans support to get through these tough times. Order your Manchester United home jersey 2013 - 2014 and other official merchandise from the Soccer Box store today, and show that you are a true Red Devil.

2013 - 2014 A Season to Forget

2013 - 2014 has been one of, if not the worst season in the history of Manchester United football club, it is certainly their worst ever Premier League season. Since the introduction of the Premier League in 1992 the teams lowest finish was 3rd. They finished 1st a staggering 13 times since 1992 with 20 topflight wins in the teams history.  The club was expecting some disruption with a new manager but not to the extent that has been seen throughout 2013 - 2014.

Under Moyes's leadership Manchester United has posted some startling loses, including several shocking home game defeats. West Brom posted a 2-1 win at Old Trafford, their 1st since 1978. They were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Swansea on home soil. With loses against Sunderland, Liverpool, Man City and Everton leaving the team in 7th it seems that Moyes's days were numbered.

Some commentators were shocked by the appointment of David Moyes last summer. He had been the Everton manager since 2002 and had kept the team mid-table with the occasional European placing.  With no major wins, and little European experience, many felt there were better candidates to take over from the well-loved and overtly successful Sir Alex Ferguson.

This season has seen much discontent from many of the players wearing the Manchester United 2013 - 2014 home jersey. Whereas under Ferguson there was little dispute and problems were resolved in-house this season has seen players publicly airing their dissatisfaction. It appears that many players were unhappy with his management style and being played out of their preferred positions.

The Future

Moyes was on a 6 year deal, it has been reported that releasing him from this deal will cost the club around £4.5 million. This is in addition to the costs incurred from this years poor performance such as lost Champions League earnings and of course the cost of hiring a new manager.

So who is in contention as next manager of the team that wears Manchester United football shirts? Louis van Gaal is the immediately obvious choice. He has already announced his plans to leave as Netherlands coach after the World Cup, and has stated that he will only continue as a manager if the opportunity of Premier League management becomes available. It was expected that he would become the new Spurs manager, but an opportunity at Manchester United is likely to be more tempting.

Other contenders are interim manager Ryan Giggs, PSG manager Laurent Blanc and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti. It has been reported that Pep Guardiola, Bayern Munich manager would be a favoured choice but he has ruled himself out, along with Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp. Whoever does become new manager will have a huge challenge to rebuild the team in the knowledge that nothing but instant success will be good enough.