'Game over' for Moyes, school strike concern and farewell to Peaches in the papers By Alex Kleiderman

BBC News Published duration 22 April 2014

There's been no official confirmation from Manchester United but Tuesday's papers all conclude that David Moyes' time as manager is all but over after nine months in charge.

According to the Times, Manchester United's 2-0 defeat at Moyes' old club Everton - and with it probably any chance of qualifying for the lucrative Champions League - was the "final straw". The club's US owners, the Glazer family, finally lost patience with him after a "calamitous" first season, it says.

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The final curtain looked to be coming down on the David Moyes "horror show", says the Daily Mirror.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Jim White says Moyes' Manchester United career began with a fanfare as Sir Alex Ferguson's chosen successor at the start of the season but ended in an "unedifying swirl of rumour".

Moyes "seemed overwhelmed by the scale of his new workplace" and money "speaks loudest", he adds. As United faltered. the Glazers, faced with an alarming slump in the club's commercial prowess, decided to take action.

The Daily Express is among the papers to note that Old Trafford - the "Theatre of Dreams" - has been "nothing short of a nightmare" for Moyes. But he "made a tough job harder with a series of decisions that alienated players and fans," it says.

It turns its attention to Moyes' potential successor, reporting that the bookies' favourite, Netherlands manager Louis Van Gaal, has indicated he would be up for the job. But the Sun reckons Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone, Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp and Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti are other possibilities.

Player-coach Ryan Giggs is expected to be given temporary charge for the last four games of the season, it adds.

UPDATE: It was confirmed at about 08:30 BST on Tuesday that David Moyes had indeed been sacked, with Ryan Giggs taking over as interim manager.

Prize for all?

The announcement that teachers are to hold a national strike in England and Wales in June over pay and workload issues attracts comment.

In an editorial, the Telegraph says "there is a wearisome predictability to the annual round of teachers' union conferences". It suggests grievances with education policy "should be a matter for the electorate, not the NUT".

Another apparent change in educational thinking concerns the Independent and Daily Mail - a survey indicating that two out of three children dislike competitive sport at school.

The survey was carried out for Marylebone Cricket Club, which is launching an initiative to teach pupils to play sport in a competitive but sporting manner.

The Independent appears to be disappointed by the survey's findings. "Not all competition need be aggressive and unpleasant and losing does not have to be seen as shameful," it says. "It is fun to win but it can also be fun to lose and fun simply to take part. We should celebrate the competitive spirit, not condemn it."

'Held to ransom'

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Britain is to lead an international effort to stop Russia from using its vast natural energy supplies to hold the world to ransom, says the paper in its front page story.

Speaking before a summit next month, Energy Secretary Ed Davey says that while the UK does not receive any gas directly from Russia, disruption to supplies in Europe would push up prices domestically.

The move - set to be announced in the Queen's Speech in June - would see trespass laws amended. It is said to be an attempt to kickstart the fledging shale fracking industry in the UK and aimed at addressing the problem of landowners refusing permission for drilling under their land.

But the FT says it is likely to provoke a backlash from environmentalists opposed to fracking, as well as some MPs.

'Heartbreaking portrait'

The funeral of TV presenter Peaches Geldof attracts headlines - with the Guardian, Independent, Metro, Sun, Daily Mirror and Daily Star all featuring a photograph of her coffin on their front pages.

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The venue for the service, St Mary Magdalene and St Lawrence Church in Davington, near Faversham, Kent, has "special significance" for the family, says the Times.

The Daily Mirror also reminds its readers that the scene of "final sad farewell" for the 25-year-old, who died in unexplained circumstances on 7 April, was the same church where her parents married, and where she was christened.

And, says the paper, it was where she, too, tied the knot less than two years ago and wept at the funeral of her mother Paula Yates in 2000.

D-Day form filling

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British D-Day veterans are said to have faced a battle against time to fill in the paperwork needed to ensure they can attend the 70th anniversary commemorations of the World War Two landing in Normandy.

About 900 members of the British Normandy Veterans' Association are due to attend the events. And the Daily Telegraph notes that it will be the last big anniversary gathering to be officially marked by the association , whose youngest member is 89 and which is to disband in November.

However, the Daily Express says it is still unclear who will be approved to attend the services and functions following a last minute security decision by the French authorities to only admit people who applied for an official pass.

The Ministry of Defence told the Daily Mail it "worked closely" with the association to supply all the required information for the forms but veterans who miss the deadline can still apply directly to the French government for permission to attend.

Making people click

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