Former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson has admitted that it was "a little bit of a surprise" to learn that David Moyes had been sacked.

The Scot was given a six-year contract last summer, but with United seventh in the Premier League following a campaign that has seen them defeated on 11 occasions, the board decided this morning that the time was right to part company with the 50-year-old.

Speaking about the decision with Sky Sports News, Robson said: "It comes as a little bit of a surprise. Everybody in the country knows that Manchester United give their managers a real chance to prove themselves. If anybody had give me the money to bet one way or the other, I'd have thought that they would have given David Moyes a little bit longer to prove his worth.

"It has been a poor season - the worst in the Premier League and expectations are big at Manchester United. David will understand that sort of side of it, but it does come as a little bit of a shock."

Louis van Gaal is the current favourite with the bookmakers to replace Moyes on a permanent basis.