Former Manchester United boss David Moyes back in football

Dumped unceremoniously by English soccer's most successful club Manchester United less than a season into his six-year deal, David Moyes is the new coach at Real Sociedad.

The Scot will take the reins at the Spanish club whose defeat of champions Atletico Madrid at the weekend moved it out of the relegation zone courtesy of goal difference.

It is Moyes' first job in football since being sacked by United in April. He was hand-picked to take over at Old Trafford by predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired after 27 years at the club.

Read: From Chosen One to Sacked One

Despite that backing from Ferguson -- who won 13 Premier League titles and two European Champions League crowns during a trophy-littered spell -- Moyes lasted barely 10 months.

Real confirmed the appointment on its official website. A statement read: "Real Sociedad have reached an agreement with David Moyes who has been appointed coach of the first team until June 30 2016.

"Details about the official presentation of Real Sociedad's new coach and who will form part of his technical team will be published [on Tuesday] morning."

The 51-year-old follows a pair of British managers to have coached Real Sociedad, based in the town of San Sebastian, 14 miles from the border with France on Spain's northern coast.

Former Liverpool striker John Toshack, from Wales, had three spells as manager of the club, winning the Copa del Rey in 1987, while Chris Coleman, now in charge of the Welsh national team, had a six-month spell in 2007.

While fans and commentators have reacted positively to Moyes' appointment, Spanish football expert Phil Ball thinks it does represent something of a gamble on both sides.

"The local newspaper here is pleased because Moyes has a certain cache but if you look at what he's done since 1993 when he signed as a player for Preston he's moved in the radius of about 60 kilometers," Ball, who is based in San Sebastian, told CNN.

"It's not exactly the profile of the international manager is it? I'm not suggesting he's incapable of adapting but there's going to be a period of adapting. The obvious challenge is learning Spanish and also adapting to a new league.

"It's not a gamble in the sense that he's an experienced manager, but it is in the sense that he's what I would call a slightly parochial sort of manager.

"To call a person parochial when they've been in the Premier League for so long is wrong but I just don't think he's ever contemplated going abroad.

"I think it is circumstances that have pushed him to suddenly become a person that who has decided to go abroad. At the age of 51, you're not exactly a young guy going abroad.

"To be fair to him, he's moving out of his comfort zone but he also needs to re-establish his name. Whether Sociedad is the right choice, I don't know."

Dubbed 'The Chosen One' by supporters after his anointing by Ferguson, Moyes moved to United after an 11-year spell with Everton in which he consolidated them as a top-eight Premier League club.

He won his first competitive match in charge of United, beating Wigan 2-0 in the Charity Shield that pits the Premier League winners against the FA Cup winners as the traditional curtain raiser to the season.

But United were quickly off the pace in the title race and suffered a string of home defeats to mid-table clubs, as well as a derby thumping by Manchester City.

After going out of both domestic cup competitions in January, United were dumped out of the Champions League at the quarterfinals stage by then-holders Bayern Munich.

Ironically, after a defeat to Everton on his first return as United manager, Moyes was sacked in April, just 10 months after taking charge, with the club lying in seventh place.

Ball thinks Moyes' stint at Everton will help his reign at Sociedad, who place a big emphasis on developing local talent through their 'cantera' -- or youth academy.

"Sociedad are sixth in the European league of providing professional players to themselves and any other teams, above Athletic Bilbao and only two places behind Barcelona, which is astonishing," he explained.

"Moyes was successful, not on a shoestring -- Everton weren't a poor club but they weren't rich either -- and he was clever in making those medium-guy signings and making them good.

"He's been quite shrewd in the transfer market but I don't think he's drawn particularly from European knowledge. He doesn't really know the market, the league, or the style of play that well.

"A manager of his knowledge and experience obviously knows the basics of what goes on here but it still might be a bit of a shock for him."

One thing Moyes does seem to have grasped is the club's distinct identity.

Located in the Basque country, Ball says some associated with Real Sociedad don't even like for it to be known as a Spanish club.

It espouses similar values to Athletic Bilbao, located 100km west of San Sebastian, who only select players from the Basque region to represent the club.

Though financial constraints prevent Sociedad from adopting a similar policy, according to Ball, in many ways it is more Basque in its approach than Athletic.

And, crucially, Moyes seems to have grasped this idea of identity in his dealings with Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay.

"Apparently, Moyes was incredibly detailed in his interview and was interrogating Aperribay, who is more used to interviewing the manager," Ball said.

"The president was impressed by that and by the homework Moyes had done.

"Aperribay laid it down and told Moyes he was coming to a very special club with a special identity. He told him it wasn't Spain, it was the Basque country which is different culturally and politically, and a club that doesn't even like to known as Spanish.

"He was impressed by the fact Moyes had realised this, from what I can gather."

Former Manchester United boss David Moyes back in football

original source from www.cnn.com