Sunderland boss David Moyes says relegation hasn't affected his reputation
David Moyes has suffered relegation from the Premier League in his first season in charge at Sunderland
David Moyes insists his reputation remains intact, despite overseeing Sunderland's relegation from the Premier League.
The 54-year-old has accepted his share of the blame for Sunderland's disastrous campaign, but has refused to tender his resignation and confirmed his intention to remain at the Stadium of Light following talks with owner Ellis Short and chief executive Martin Bain.
Sunderland have won only six times and will register their third lowest points total in Premier League history this season, but Moyes is confident his standing in the game remains undamaged.
"I came here knowing exactly what the task was going to be. I didn't know exactly what was going to happen behind the scenes," Moyes said ahead of Sunderland's trip to Arsenal on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD.
"In football, sometimes you win games. I have said it, I'm saying it to defend myself - I have a great win record at nearly all the clubs I have been at. This is the only anomaly where it hasn't happened.
"But I have got to say, it hasn't happened for quite a few managers and it has been that way for quite a while."
Moyes replaced Sam Allardyce at Sunderland last summer following testing spells at Manchester United and Real Sociedad, and admitted just two games into the season that his side were in trouble.
His summer rebuilding work was conducted hurriedly and, with Short attempting to offload the club, he found himself shopping in the bargain basement, bringing in the likes of Victor Anichebe, Steven Pienaar and Joleon Lescott on free transfers.
Asked if it had been a horrible season, Moyes said: "Of course it has because of the outcome, and we have said we have been really disappointed by it. It's not been great.
"We made everybody well aware that our squad was short from the start. We also would have liked to have added in January.
"We knew we were experienced enough to understand what it would take to stay up and from the start, we were always playing catch-up, really.
"You always look back and I would always look first at myself to see what I could have done differently. There are some bits along the journey where you would say, 'Maybe I shouldn't have done that or done this', but ultimately they're not the reasons why we are in the position we are in."