DAVID MOYES accused Manchester United’s flops of hiding behind sacked boss Erik ten Hag.

The former Red Devils manager also slammed the players for refusing to accept responsibility for their poor form.

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Sporting Lisbon chief Ruben Amorim takes over on Monday following the end of Ten Hag’s two-and-a-half-year reign last week.

David Moyes was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet when he claimed the players were willing to let Ten Hag “take the hit.

He said: “I think the players are quite happy to hide behind managers at the moment — let the managers take the hit.

“I could do with some of them coming out and saying, ‘By the way, I know I’m not quite at it at the moment. I’m not playing well enough just now’.

“We’re not getting much of that and I actually think Manchester United have got really, really talented players.”

The Scot, who has not managed since leaving West Ham at the end of last season, feels Amorim is coming into a totally different club from when Moyes himself arrived at Old Trafford to succeed 13-time Prem title-winner Sir Alex Ferguson.

United are currently 13th in the Premier League ahead of hosting Leicester on Sunday.

And Moyes told the Stick to Football podcast: “He’s in a completely different situation.

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“I was really fortunate to take over the champions of England at the time — and probably coming into a dressing room which had great respect for Alex and what he’d done.

“At the moment, players might be looking now and saying, ‘Hey, by the way, if we don’t step up…’

“The manager might be coming from a stronger position because these players are going to have to actually step up.”

Moyes, 61, also felt United lost touch with the way they used to treat managers when he arrived.

He added: “They didn’t sack managers. When Alex wasn’t doing so well, they didn’t do it. They stood for something which was really admirable. 

“A bit of class and actually that dropped away, probably, at that time.”

Dricus Du Plessis wouldn’t shy away from standing with Alex Pereira if they fought.

Middleweight champion Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) hopes to get a crack at light heavyweight champion Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) down the line, and he likes his chances against him. Du Plessis insists strength would not be an issue, but acknowledges range likely would.

Du Plessis overcame that range in his most recent outing against Israel Adesanya, where he was able to hurt him on the feet then submit him to retain his title at UFC 305.

“If I’m talking about just the stand up exchanges, I’m not fighting a kickboxing fight,” Du Plessis told Submission Radio. “I’m fighting an MMA fight, and a kickboxing fight, you need to be able to land combos. You need to land massive punches the whole time. Get a guy rocked, you get an eight-count – you have all those variables. Where in MMA, I don’t care who you are: If I catch you clean with those small gloves, you’re going to go down, and I am going to catch you eventually.

“Now, I said it with Izzy. He said I’m too slow. I wouldn’t be able to catch him. Well, yeah. Like, I made a post yesterday saying maybe it’s not pretty, but damn, it’s effective because I will catch you eventually, and then it’s a whole different story because I’m not engaging in a kickboxing fight. I’m punching, and I’m kicking, but it’s not a kickboxing fight. It’s an MMA fight, and when I put those together, it’s a different fight.”

Du Plessis paid Pereira plenty of respect, and wouldn’t even fault him if he decided to retire before he gets a chance to fight him. But after watching Pereira’s most recent title defense against Khalil Rountree – a violent Round 4 TKO at UFC 307, the South African fighter thinks Pereira is hittable.

“I honestly believe that with a guy like Alex Pereira, he has power,” Du Plessis said. “I have a lot of power, too. Yes, he has crisp striking. His striking is incredible. That’s why he has the kickboxing resume he has. But we saw with the Khalil Rountree fight – we saw a lot of things. Khalil had  success in those first two rounds. He really did.”

The captain, who was also benched for the league win over St Mirren last month, came off on the 67th minute at Hampden and was then dropped for Thursday’s game in Greece.

It is impossible to say whether the result would have been different or not had Tavernier started, but what is clear is both Sterling and Kasanwirjo can be pleased with their defensive displays against a disappointing Olympiakos attack.

Clement hailed his “really solid” defence and heaped praise on his midfield for playing their parts in the draw, which meant Rangers are now unbeaten in their last five away Europa League matches – equalling their longest such run in the competition’s history.

The clearest sign on where Clement ranks Tavernier in his pecking order will now come on Sunday when Hearts visit Ibrox, but the Belgian insisted he wanted to see leadership coming from more than just one player.

“It’s never an easy decision, but I want more than one captain in the group,” the Rangers boss said of his call to bench Tavernier.

“If you [get to] a certain age you can’t play 60 games at the same level. We knew that before the season and we spoke about that.

“It’s about competition for spots. It’s about one team, winning together. That’s Rangers – one team, one family, going for one goal.”

An angry John Higgins lost to Chris Wakelin in the quarter-finals of the International Championship in Nanjing after the deciding frame was pushed back by several hours.

With the best-of-11 frame contest level at 5-5 the referee ruled the afternoon session had concluded, to the evident disgust of four-time world champion Higgins, who gestured and appeared to swear before leaving the table.

When the players finally resumed, after the evening session had taken place, 32-year-old Wakelin’s break of 62 secured a 6-5 victory – his third straight win over a former world champion in Nanjing, eastern China.

The defeat for Higgins, 49, means the Scotsman fails to qualify for the Champion of Champions event in Bolton next week.

Having defeated Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams in the previous two rounds, Wakelin will face China’s Xiao Guodong in the semi-finals after he beat Wales’ Jackson Page 6-4.

China’s Ding Junhui is also through to the last four, compiling breaks of 129 and 123 in a 6-4 win over Kyren Wilson.

Junhui will play compatriot Xu Si, after he beat Gary Wilson 6-5.

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has all the respect in the world for light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, but if the UFC were to book a matchup between the two titleholders, du Plessis can see a real world where he stops Pereira with strikes.

“If I’m talking about just the standup exchanges—I’m not fighting a kickboxing fight, I’m fighting an MMA fight,” du Plessis told Submission Radio. “And in a kickboxing fight, You need to be able to land combos, you need to land massive punches the whole time, get a guy rocked, you get an eight count, you have all those variables. Where in MMA, I don’t care who you are. If I catch you clean with those small gloves, you’re going to go down and I am going to catch you eventually.”

Du Plessis captured the middleweight title with a decision win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 this past January, and then stopped Israel Adesanya in his first title defense at UFC 305 the following August. At light heavyweight, Pereira has put together a Fighter of the Year campaign with knockout wins over Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree.

The South African champion understands he has his work cut out for him, but after watching Pereira’s win over Rountree, du Plessis saw some things he could capitalize on.

“Now, I said it with with Izzy—he said, I’m too slow, I wouldn’t be able to catch him. Well, yeah,” du Plessis said. “I made a post recently saying maybe it’s not pretty, but damn, it’s effective because I will catch you eventually. And then it’s then it’s a whole different story because I’m not engaging in a kickboxing fight. I’m punching and I’m kicking, but it’s not a kickboxing fight. It’s an MMA fight, and when I put those together, it’s a different fight.

“So I honestly believe that with a guy like Alex Pereira, he has power. I have a lot of power too. The man is… yeah [he has] crisp striking. His striking is incredible. That’s why he has the kickboxing résumé. … But we saw with [the] Khalil Rountree fight, we saw a lot of things that [Rountree had] a lot of success [with] in those first two rounds. He really did.”

Watch du Plessis’ interview with Submission Radio below.

MANCHESTER UNITED are finally up and running in the Europa League.

The Red Devils ran out 2-0 winners over Greek outfit PAOK to pick up their first win in Europe’s tertiary club competition.

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Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s troops huffed and puffed but couldn’t break the Greek outfit down in what proved to be a disappointing first half.

But they eventually breached the vistors’ defence in the 51st minute thanks to a looping header from Amad Diallo.

United were poor defensively throughout the match and should have been punished by Tarik Tissoudali in the 64th minute.

But the winger fired the tamest of shots straight at Andre Onana with acres of space around him in the 18-yard box.

And Diallo made them pay in the 78th minute with a deflected strike from just outside the penalty box.

Victory over PAOK has left United in 15th place in the Conference League table and on course to qualify for the playoffs.

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