BREAKING NEWS: Manchester United Boss David Moyes is SACKED after being driven to club's training ground for showdown with chief executive

  50-year-old Scot arrived at United training ground at 5am to clear his desk

  Club thank Moyes for 'honesty and integrity' as they announced sacking

  He earned £5m a year plus bonuses and had 5 years left on contract

  Hand-picked by Sir Alex Ferguson but tenure marred by atrocious results

  Dutchman Louis van Gaal is an early favourite to be his replacement

  Ryan Giggs to take charge of the club for the rest of the season

David Moyes has today been sacked as Manchester United manager and will receive a payoff of up to £10million.

After 10 disastrous months in charge the 50-year-old, who was hand-picked for the job by Sir Alex Ferguson, was axed by the club’s American owners, who lost patience with his poor performance.

The Scot was seen entering United's Carrington training ground this morning at 5am so he could clear his desk and chief executive Ed Woodward arrived at 8am to inform him face-to-face.

United will end the season with their lowest points total in Premier League history, they have not qualified for the Champions League for the first time in almost two decades and their home record this season is the worst since 1978.

The final straw was Sunday's 2-0 defeat at his former club Everton, which left the title-holders 7th in the league and 13 points off the Champions League places.

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 Exit: Manager David Moyes, pictured with his wife Pamela, has been sacked as Manchester United manager this morning

 Message: Unites tweeted the news of his sacking after 24 hours of intense speculation that Moyes would lose his job

Writing on the wall: A grim reaper stands behind Manchester United manager David Moyes during Sunday's game at Everton - his final match in charge

In a short statement the club said: 'Manchester United has announced that David Moyes has left the Club.

'The Club would like to place on record its thanks for the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role'.

Ryan Giggs will take over for the rest of the season.

Moyes was on £5million a year, including bonuses, with another five years left to run on his contract. His payout could be as high as £10million.

 Moyes SACKED! Chief Woodward delivers news to failed Man United boss in early morning Carrington meeting with Giggs to take charge until end of season

• MARTIN SAMUEL: Manchester United could have had Jose Mourinho but instead they ended up with David Moyes

He was handpicked for the job by his predecessor, Alex Ferguson, whose success made United one of the biggest brands in world sport and secured a stock market listing in New York.

But that status has been put at threat by atrocious results under Moyes and social networking sites were quickly ablaze with rumours of his likely departure yesterday.

No official comment was made on the situation yesterday, leaving shocked fans and investors in the dark. The club’s share price dipped by 1.2 per cent.

It is possible that an official statement was delayed because stock market rules strictly govern announcements that can affect share prices

Saying goodbye: United's owners, the Glazer family, lost patience with Moyes after a string of bad results

Arrival: Ryan Giggs, who will take temporary charge until the end of the season, arrives at Carrington on Tuesday morning

Reacting to developments, United fan and broadcaster Eamonn Holmes said on Twitter: ‘I’m sure David Moyes is a nice man, but he just didn’t understand our team and our players didn’t understand him. This is the right thing.’

Writer Toby Young joked: ‘Maybe David Moyes can get a job with Ukip. He’s proved himself very good at staying out of Europe.’

And broadcaster Jeremy Vine added: ‘Please Manchester United, in the name of good sense and decency, do not sack David Moyes. Signed fans of Chelsea, ManCity and Liverpool.’

Rare support came from tycoon Lord Sugar who said: ‘He needs another season.’

It is thought Moyes was called in for talks with chief executive Ed Woodward and the Glazers, the US family that controls the club.

Fans dubbed Moyes 'The Chosen One' as Sir Alex implored them to get behind him, citing his excellent record

Last night, the share price for Manchester United dipped by 1.2 per cent as his future hung precariously

 

Speculation that Sir Alex could return to the helm is believed to be misplaced, with Dutchman Louis van Gaal an early favourite. The son of a football scout and pattern maker, Moyes grew up in the working-class Thornwood district of Glasgow.

After playing football in the lower leagues, he started his managerial career at unfashionable

Preston, on a salary of about £50,000 a year.

He had broad success in 11 seasons at top-flight Everton before signing for United last May and starting work on July 1.

Because of his backing from Sir Alex, fans dubbed Moyes ‘The Chosen One’ but disillusion soon set in on the Old Trafford terraces.

An alarming decline has seen United collapse from champions to seventh in the Premier League table. They will end the season with their lowest points total since the Premier League was established in 1992.

Moyes, who is a practising Christian and Labour Party supporter, may be able to keep his United salary until he finds a new position.

It is possible however that the club has written an under-performance clause into his contract that would allow for a quick pay-off.

The length of Moyes’s contract was approved by Sir Alex who, having suffered a torrid start at United himself, wanted his successor to have extended job security.

Moyes and his wife Pamela live in a secluded house in Lancashire with their son David Jnr, who is a football agent, and daughter Lauren, who has been in the spotlight after falsely being accused of having an affair with a United player.

Moyes’s father and his mother-in-law also live in the grounds of the family home.

Moyes has told how he was out shopping with his wife when Sir Alex called to offer him his job.

He said: ‘I had my jeans on and my T-shirt. I had to drop my wife at the shopping centre and I’m saying to myself I’d never ever go to a meeting with Sir Alex with a pair of jeans on.’

Moyes and his wife met at a Scottish hotel two decades ago.

Of that first encounter, he has said: ‘She saw me once, and, well, that was it.’

 

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