Spare a thought for poor Andy Burnham, who looked up to David Moyes as “a wonderful role model.” Apparently he saw the sacked Manchester United coach as some sort of lode star, telling the New Statesman that the “Moyes textbook would be on my desk as leader.” His gushing did not stop there, he went as far as to compare himself to the ousted coach by listing his qualities:

“* Loyalty — he sticks by people who are loyal to him. That’s one of my traits.
* He’s brought stability — that’s a great strength in a leader.
* He doesn’t flip about in the wind and do one thing one day and one the other.
* He doesn’t do some of the things other Premiership managers did, like grabbing a microphone on the pitch and lecturing players. He doesn’t go in for showiness. That’s another great Moyes trait.”

The leadership wannabe concluded Moyes has “great leadership skills, actually. As I say, I would follow the Moyes textbook. Was “the Moyes textbook” to blame for Burnham’s Mid-Staffs shame?