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Rio: Moyes offers continuity
Report by Ben Hibbs

Rio Ferdinand says he is “delighted” with the appointment of David Moyes as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at Manchester United and believes the new man offers continuity of managerial style and an acknowledgement of the club’s well-established history and traditions.

Moyes will officially take up his new post on 1 July on a six-year contract, and he arrives at Old Trafford with the full blessing and backing of Sir Alex, as well as the players.

“We are all delighted,” Ferdinand told MUTV. “I think it was important that the club made a decision quickly and it all got sorted out. I think the club have acted impeccably in that sense. The manager, I’m sure, thought long and hard about his own decision, he made it and then the club acted swiftly and it’s great to see the new manager coming in."

Picking the right man to replace Sir Alex after 26 trophy-laden years at the helm at Old Trafford was always going to be an important decision, but Ferdinand feels that Moyes’ appointment provides continuity.

“Another reason I think it’s a good appointment is that David Moyes will be very, very open and sympathetic to the traditions of the club and he’ll try to continue that and not come in and make changes in terms of the whole characteristics of the club. “That’s important for a club of this size and important from what’s gone on before. The manager that we’ve got now has implemented a fantastic system, a working system, and we’ve been successful this year and hopefully we can continue that and this guy I’m sure is the right man to do that and take us forward.

“He’s a very honest man it seems, and from what you hear from other players that you speak to and he’s done a fantastic job at his previous club, Everton. They’ve always been a solid team always hard to play against and what he’s always demanded from his players, from what we see, is a great work ethic and I think there are a lot of similarities with the manager that we’ve got at the moment. That’s a big thing that he continues that tradition.”

Carrick: Moyes' fine reputation

Michael Carrick says he has only heard good things about David Moyes from fellow professionals who have worked under the Scot.

The United midfielder is looking forward to working with the current Everton boss from July onwards and told MUTV that he is used to dealing with managerial changes following his time at West Ham and Tottenham.

"I think he [Moyes] has obviously done a terrific job at Everton," Carrick stated on the official club TV channel. "He's been there for a long time now with great success for the resources that he's had and he's well respected with everyone I spoke to.

"All the players who have played for him all enjoy playing with him and say good things about him, obviously enough for him to get the chance to be the manager of this great club. It is an opportunity for him and opportunity for everyone else to maybe do things slightly differently but keep the success rolling on."

Clearly the first change in manager for over 26 years at Old Trafford is bound to attract plenty of attention in the media but the England international expects the new man to maintain the high standards demanded by Sir Alex.

"It's obviously a big change because this club's been run for so long under the same person," added Carrick. "I've worked under a few different managers in my past in my career, so I'm sort of used to a little bit of change, but yes, I'm really looking forward to it, to meeting him and getting good training pre-season and hopefully a good future.

"I think he's honest and he's fair to his players as far as I'm aware and I'm sure that's the case. He'll set high standards just as we expect high standards of ourselves and I'm looking forward to working with him."