MANCHESTER, England — Exactly four years ago, David Moyes received the phone call that would change his life.

It was from Alex Ferguson, who was about to announce his retirement as Manchester United manager after nearly 27 years at England's biggest club. He wanted to speak face to face with Moyes, then in charge of Everton, and would ask him to be his successor at Old Trafford.

For Moyes, it was the undoubted high point of a coaching career that only seemed headed in one direction. He would soon be christened "The Chosen One" by United's fans.

Things have gone badly wrong ever since.

Fired by United after just 10 months.

Fired by Real Sociedad one day before completing a year in charge of the Spanish team.

Now, at the helm of a beleaguered Sunderland side that has just been relegated from the English Premier League with barely a whimper.

"We want Moyes out" was the chant that rang around the Stadium of Light on Saturday after Bournemouth's 88th-minute goal in a 1-0 win over Sunderland sealed the fate of the league's last-place club with four matches still to play. Fans had been singing the same thing during the past few games.

Moyes' coaching reputation is at rock bottom. His feats at Everton from 2002-13 - when he managed one fourth-place finish and two fifth-places with a team that had no star players - are now largely forgotten or viewed as no longer relevant.

Away from the field, he is even facing a Football Association charge for telling a female reporter that she "might get a slap" for the questions she asked during a BBC interview.

His one season at Sunderland has been such an unmitigated failure that he might not be trusted to head up the club's attempt to bounce back into England's lucrative top division.

"It's a question for two or three weeks' time," Moyes said, a resigned look across his face.

The Black Cats — as Sunderland is nicknamed — finally ran out of lives. They have narrowly avoided relegation for the past four years, doing so by the same formula: Change manager midway through the season and embark on a late run to safety in the final few months.

Martin O'Neill, Paolo Di Canio, Gus Poyet, Dick Advocaat and Sam Allardyce all kept Sunderland in the Premier League, but Moyes has fallen short.

A look at what went wrong:

___

WRONG RHETORIC

Soccer fans crave openness and honesty from players and managers, but Moyes took it too far.

Just nine days into the season and on the back of two straight losses, Moyes was asked whether it will be another relegation battle for Sunderland this season."I think it will be," he said, "I don't think you can hide the facts."

Admirable honesty, yes, but hardly what a Sunderland fans would want to hear so early into what proved to be a joyless campaign. The negativity has spread throughout a club that has spent the last 190 weeks in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Moyes acknowledges that, these days, he says it as he sees it. It may not be the wisest of policies.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the relegation battle, Swansea and Hull brought in young, dynamic managers in Paul Clement and Marco Silva, respectively, midway through the season. They both gave their teams a lift, expressing positivity and hope.

Results have improved, and Swansea and Hull are still in with a chance of survival with four games left.

___

TRANSFER POLICY

Moyes was hired three weeks before the start of the season, giving him little time to assess the squad before the season and set his transfer targets.

As such, he ended up making last-ditch signings. They weren't exactly inspiring, either — injury-prone pair Steven Pienaar and Victor Anichebe were players Moyes managed at Everton while Donald Love and Adnan Januzaj were Moyes' former players at Man United — and have proved disappointing.

It was clear from the start that Sunderland's squad was lacking quality, especially with centre back Younes Kaboul leaving for Watford for family reasons. And with injuries ruling out Fabio Borini, Jordan Pickford and Lee Cattermole for long periods, Moyes has been short on players.

Beyond 34-year-old striker Jermain Defoe, who has scored 14 goals despite being isolated up front, and young goalkeeper Pickford, no player has stood out.

Defoe and Pickford are likely to be the Sunderland players who are most sought-after in the forthcoming off-season.

If Moyes does go, the decision needs to be made early so the new manager has longer to plan for a season than Moyes did.

___

SHORT-HANDED

Moyes wasn't handed much money to spend by Sunderland's American owner, Ellis Short, intensifying the belief that Short was looking to get out of a club he has owned since 2009.

Sunderland recorded a loss of 33 million pounds ($43 million) in the last financial year, with a debt of 110 million pounds ($142 million).

Yet, in a statement released soon after Sunderland's relegation was confirmed, Short hinted that he'd be hanging around, saying: "There is a strong determination to do so throughout the club. There is significant work to be done over the summer."

Sunderland, though, has been mismanaged in recent years, with seven managers since 2011 and a poor transfer strategy that has seen players come and go with alarming regularity.

Many will say that Sunderland is finally getting what it deserves.

___

Steve Douglas is at www.twitter.com/sdouglas80