It was an episode of farce on Bondi Beach, days into
David Moyes’s reign as
Manchester United manager, when it became evident that the Scot had misjudged the magnitude of the job he had walked into.
Having left behind the frenzy of Bangkok on the first-leg of United’s summer tour, Moyes had decided to take his squad on an impromptu trip to Bondi – a stroll around the beach to stretch the players’ legs after training.
On a similar summer trip to Sydney with
Everton, Moyes had taken players on the same bonding session and it passed without incident.
But this was United, and while an Everton squad containing Australia international Tim Cahill went unnoticed in their club tracksuits among the surfers and sandcastles,
Moyes’s new team were mobbed and besieged by supporters to the extent that the manager had to hide his players in the rooftop bar of a nightclub until security arrived to restore order.
It was akin to a supply teacher taking a group of unruly sixth formers on a day out, with the leader’s authority undermined from the outset