The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 124: The Hippopotamus Trapped in the Bathtub

"I am the hippopotamus trapped in the bathtub. They have deprived me of the right to play football. I have to find free air and a comfortable place. My goal is Manchester, Old Trafford."

——Ince

The Red Devils won a big victory over Arsenal in the opening game, but this did not stop Ferguson from stepping up his pursuit of midfield targets. They have been working hard to buy West Ham United's main player Paul Ince as soon as possible.

Paul Ince's transfer was a sensation in English football this season, not only because of the amount of money, but more importantly because of the conflicts and contradictions between the parties involved in the transfer. The Red Devils wanted to buy him, but West Ham United refused. However, Ince insisted on leaving, and in the end, the player and the club completely tore apart the veil of gratitude to the parent club, making Manchester United an even more hated enemy of West Ham United fans.

Why did a transfer that should have been a win-win for both parties, a business deal that at most failed to go through but was still a friendship, end up like this?

Paul Ince was born in Ilford, England on October 1967, 10. He joined the West Ham United youth training system since he was a child. Ince was very famous when he was a teenager. Whether it was physical fitness indicators or performance on the court, he was the best in the youth training of the same age group. Ince grew rapidly in the West Ham United youth team and has always been a rising star that has attracted much attention. Ince got the opportunity to play in the first team in the 21-1985 season when he was only 86 years old. In that game, Ince was very calm and stable, not like a young man at all. After winning the opportunity to debut, Ince continued to work hard to improve and won the favor of the coach. In just two seasons, Ince has grown into the main midfielder of West Ham United. He has a tough and brave personality, excellent physical condition, fast speed, and excellent running. He can easily cover the two penalty areas in the game. He is a new generation of B18B players emerging in English football.

Ins was very eye-catching in the English League One. Even ordinary fans could see his talent. He was very calm and steady in the midfield, and he completed his tasks very well. He also had a rare temperament of calmness and bravery. Not only that, Ins's physical advantage was also excellent. In the 1987-88 season, he was 178cm tall and weighed 77kg. His physical condition given by his black ancestry far exceeded his peers, and his jumping, strength, and speed were all very good. Ins was good at running, had a strong ability to intercept and confront, and had excellent ball control skills. He dared to fight and was not afraid of injuries and bleeding. His fighting will was very strong. What was even more memorable was his super physical strength. In every game, he kept running, brushing out shocking running data, and always had endless energy.

Ins has a tough personality and is good at stealing and intercepting. He is a young and brave man who is not afraid of tigers. He doesn't care who his opponent is. He will not give his opponent any polite treatment, nor will he be afraid of his opponent's ferocity. In addition to his fierce interception and sweeping ability, Ins also has a strong ability to shoot and intercept. His powerful long-range shots often become the secret weapon for scoring goals, and he is one of the team's heavy gunners.

Ince grew rapidly, his football skills became better and better, his vision and reading ability improved by leaps and bounds, his organizational ability became stronger and stronger, and he became the absolute core of the team's midfield. From 1985 to 1989, he played 93 times for West Ham United and scored 12 goals, becoming a rising star in the midfield that attracted much attention in English football. Many media have regarded him as the successor of Robson in the national team, calling him "Robusson II".

In the 1988-89 season, Ince was not satisfied with the contract extension offered by West Ham United, and the negotiations between the two sides reached a deadlock. When he learned that Liverpool, Manchester United and other teams were interested in buying him, Ince refused to stay with the team.

Ince said: "I hope to win the championship, but everyone knows it is difficult here. My ideal is to achieve new honors and strive for new success. I am very grateful for the club's training, but now I need to make a new decision."

Ins was interested in a transfer, and the Red Devils immediately extended an olive branch. Ferguson publicly announced his desire to buy Ins before the end of the season, and directly offered a price of 100 million pounds. In order to ensure the success of the transfer, Ferguson also sent someone to contact Ins privately, offering a starting salary and a salary far higher than that of West Ham United.

Ins formally applied for a transfer to the team, but was rejected by West Ham United. West Ham United was not interested in the Red Devils' acquisition and announced that Ins was worth 300 million pounds. Later, they announced that Ins was not for sale. Ins was still very young and would only be sold when he was at his most valuable.

As a tough black man, Ince would never allow his career to stop at West Ham United. Since the two sides had fallen out, Ince was naturally unceremonious. Ince accepted a separate media interview and complained, "I am a hippo trapped in a bathtub. West Ham United is trying to trap me to death. I don't want to play for West Ham United anymore, but I can't leave. I hope the two clubs can resolve this matter, but they don't. I understand that the Red Devils are willing to negotiate, but West Ham United never shows up."

In order to leave, Ince appealed to the media, creating an image that he was forcibly obstructed by the club and was not allowed to pursue his ideals. But West Ham United was not a pushover. They publicly condemned Ince for violating team rules and publicly scolded the Red Devils for privately contacting players, promising players high salaries, forcing players to backstab and other "despicable" means, and complained to the English Football Association that the Red Devils and Ferguson violated the rules.

Although West Ham United complained, they could not provide any evidence to prove that the Red Devils had done anything wrong. Their complaint was just a verbal attack. The Red Devils had avoided any possible mistakes and did not lose moral points. The FA had no way to accuse them. Ferguson was not to be outdone and instructed the Red Devils to complain to the FA that West Ham United had damaged their reputation and accused them of stifling the freedom of players and undermining the rules of football and transfers.

The media commented: "Ince's joining the Red Devils is full of lies and betrayal, hypocrisy and cunning, which is rare in football history. We have never seen a player ask to leave the team through strikes and threats."

West Ham United still refused to give in and ordered Ings to return to the team for training after the player's vacation. Ings was naturally not a pushover. He refused to return to the team and refused to participate in the team's pre-season training, publicly declaring that he would not go except to the Red Devils.

West Ham United was furious and fined Ings and announced a ban from the team. Ings also escalated his tactics and refused to play for West Ham United again. At that time, the English First Division had already started, and Ings only played one round and never played for the team again.

Ins deliberately wore the Red Devils jersey to declare his "child devil dream" and put pressure on West Ham United. Ins's move angered West Ham United fans, who thought he was a complete "traitor" and an ungrateful villain. There are many football hooligans among West Ham United fans. They not only cursed Ins for such a betrayal, but also smashed Ins' car, burned the jersey with his name on it, and even attacked Ins's residence, forcing Ins to flee.

London police quickly arrived at the scene and warned West Ham United to restrain their fans. Ins was unruly and still refused to give in, so he hired bodyguards to protect him.

What happened next was even more unexpected. Ings was directly excluded from the first-team list by West Ham United, but during the pre-match warm-up training, he deliberately wore casual clothes, leather shoes, and his hands in his pockets, standing at the gate of West Ham United Stadium in a "arrogant" demonstration.

This was not the end. Ince even chatted with his teammates while they were training, disrupting the team's training. This was a naked declaration of war, and West Ham United immediately sent security personnel to arrest Ince and carry him out of the stadium. Many fans at the time cursed and wanted to rush into the stadium to beat up this arrogant guy. Ince still ignored the anger of the whole stadium and paraded around in a chic manner before being driven out of the stadium by security personnel.

Ings was so desperate that West Ham fined him two months' salary and banned him from the stadium.

News broke out that Ings was beaten up in the West Ham United locker room, but when Ings showed up the next day, he was fine and had no signs of injury.

West Ham fans hated this guy so much and wanted to beat him up, but they just couldn't provoke him successfully, let alone stop him alone.

Ince continued to strike training and games... This farce has been going on. He is still young and has enough time to afford it. Now West Ham United finds that they can no longer afford it. Ince's contract will expire in one season at most. By then, they will really let him go for nothing. They finally gave up and marked Ince with a sky-high price of 240 million pounds. After many negotiations, 150 million pounds became the price agreed by both parties. This is also the record of West Ham United's selling players. At that time, it was already a sky-high price in English football. At that time, superstar Lineker transferred to Tottenham, and the transfer price of England's best shooter was only 120 million pounds. A year earlier, Gascoigne, who was more famous at the time and was known as England's best talent since 1966, transferred to Tottenham for 200 million pounds.

The Red Devils were not robbers who took advantage of the situation, but more like big fools who paid money to take over. But for Ferguson at that time, the Red Devils were in urgent need of replenishing the core strength of the midfield, and Ince's 150 million pounds was worth the money.

The farce of Ince's transfer finally came to an end. This rising midfielder was an extremely self-centered and eccentric player. On his first day at the Red Devils, he shocked everyone with his strange behavior. On his first day at the Red Devils' Cliffe base, Ince shamelessly said to the base security, "You should all call me Governor from now on and respect me more than ordinary people. I am the most powerful person in this team and the most prestigious person. You must realize this."

Even in the locker room, Ince was very proud and arrogant. "I think I should be the boss in this team, the strongest one. I don't want to talk to you about qualifications, nor do I want to compare with you whether I have Red Devils bloodline. I don't care about these. You need to respect me because I will bring something really different to the team."

Ince told Bruce that he was much better than Robson. He felt that Robson was an old man and should not occupy the captaincy. It would be better for him to give up the armband to him. Bruce rolled his eyes and thought that this guy must have drunk too much or was mentally ill. He was so arrogant on his first day.

Ferguson specifically talked to Ince, "Paul, welcome to the Red Devils. We need to concentrate on playing well now, and everything should be based on games and training. I value your ability very much and look forward to your performance, but I also want to emphasize that in the Red Devils club we will never allow reckless behavior or misconduct, I hope you can understand this."

Ferguson did not criticize Ings' previous behavior too much, but he also reiterated the Red Devils' requirements and discipline, and would never allow Ings to do anything ridiculous again.

Unlike McClair and Hughes, Ince did not have a sense of identity or a special sense of belonging to the Red Devils club or coach Ferguson. He was born strong and tough, and only followed those who had real talents and could bring him more benefits. Not long after he joined the Red Devils, he found that the club was full of talented people. Although Ince did not have much respect for the team and Ferguson, the facts would soon teach him a lesson. He was looking for a new and higher-level platform to achieve his own leap, and the Red Devils soon gave him the opportunity to fight for it.

The farce of Ince's transfer fully reveals the conflict of interests between the club and the player. Not many players succeed after such a fuss, and Ince is an exception. Since the implementation of the "Bosman Act", players have more initiative in transfer matters, and the clubs that originally trained the youth players have been hit harder. For players like Ince who do not intend to renew their contracts, many teams will let the players waste their time until the end.

Ince forced the club to agree to the transfer. The media's comments at the time were sharp, "This is crazy! Ince tore off the veil of tenderness between the players and the club. Everything is naked profit. This is a signal that will put the club into a vortex, and everyone will have distrust."

Ince succeeded in his transfer by refusing to train and play, and West Ham United finally sold him for a high price. A dozen years later, French player Gallas was even more powerful. He wanted to transfer from Chelsea to Arsenal. After being blocked by the club, he threatened, "If you send me to play, I can't guarantee that I won't kick the ball into my own goal." In the end, the club had no choice but to let him go.