David Moyes open to offers but 'not interested' in Swansea

David Moyes has become the first candidate to rule himself out of what looks, at first glance, an attractive job at Swansea City, hinting that it was the disparity between expectation and reality that put him off.

The Scot, who has been fired twice in less than two years, declared himself uninterested in being Swansea’s third manager in that same period following the sackings of Michael Laudrup and Garry Monk, adding that the latter should have been given more time.

This view was backed up by the manager facing Swansea this weekend, Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini, who said: “I don’t think the problem of Swansea was the manager. I am sure he is the same good manager who made a very good season last year.”

Moyes made clear he wanted to get back to management, but not at the Liberty Stadium. He said: “I’m not interested in the [Swansea] job.” Having added that he turned down jobs before and after his recent sacking by Real Sociedad, Moyes said: “I don’t need a rest or a break, but I want to make sure the job is the right one.

“I want to spend Christmas at home with the family if I can, but if the right job comes up that really excites me, I’m ready to go.”

Moyes, speaking to TalkSPORT, added: “Swansea have had a really good model. But if you ask people where you would expect Swansea to finish, I think most would say if they could even get close to the top half they’d be doing well.

“Garry is a young manager who had a good year. He was having a sticky patch, like Jose Mourinho, and should have been given the chance to put it right. But the job for managers is nearly impossible now and, because of that, I think we’ve lost the plot a wee bit.

“It’s difficult to have stability or vision at any club. I was fortunate to have my best years early on at Everton, but I had one good year, and then one bad year, until we sorted it out and got stable.”

Alan Curtis, the former Swansea and Wales striker, will take charge of the team at the Etihad. He said the players would do their best to win as they felt to blame for Monk’s exit.

“It’s been a difficult few days for everyone,” said Curtis. “We are all used to managers leaving because, sadly, that has always been part of the game, but Garry’s departure seemed a lot more personal to everyone because he has been at the club so long.

“We all feel – staff and players – that we have let him down and we want to go a small way to rectifying that.”

Monk, who may think it would have been rather more helpful if the players had decided to perform for him while he was still manager, is reportedly interesting Fulham who are still searching for a replacement for Kit Symons.