The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 134 The last straw?

"What breaks the camel's back may not necessarily be the heavy burden it was carrying, but the last straw. We need to be wary of who determines that the camel is about to die, and we need to be even more wary of who defines the last straw..."

--Inscription

The events of the match in which the Red Devils lost to Crystal Palace were shocking. After the fans made a scene at the Theatre of Dreams, more and more fans began to express various fierce opinions and began to "fancy" demand that Ferguson be sacked.

Since the beginning of the season, Manchester United's performance has been very disappointing. Ferguson has become increasingly disappointing. The fans' patience is limited. Their opinions are sometimes insignificant, but sometimes they can destroy everything. As Peter openly "showed off" with Ferguson at the Theatre of Dreams, more and more Red Devils fans began to join the defection. They began to clamor for "Ferguson to be fired" at home and away games. Some extreme fans even blocked the entrance of the club and cursed Ferguson.

English fans are known for their tradition of having no regrets about their clubs, and the only explanation for the fans' behavior now is that they are really fed up with Ferguson. Some media even broke the news that some fans have refused to come to the stadium to watch the game, even if they have season tickets that have been passed down for generations.

Fans vote with their feet, and the situation seems self-evident.

The media naturally took it for granted and even enjoyed adding insult to injury.

In addition to continuing to satirize Ferguson, they began to "summarize" Ferguson's various failures in coaching the Red Devils. No media remained impartial, and most media believed that Ferguson's years at the Red Devils were a failure. Some media started with various data, analyzed and commented on Ferguson's team in detail, and began to criticize from team building to tactics. They believed that Ferguson's buying of players was very brainless and the team's command was also at a low level. Especially this season, the Red Devils' offense could not open up a gap, the defense was distracted, the midfield could not control the rhythm, the front and back were out of touch, and they collapsed at the first blow. Ferguson's team can almost be said to be in disarray.

Captain Robson also found it difficult to accept the team's current situation. He said in an interview many years later, "I don't know why it is like this. The team's games are so difficult. We have lost a lot of strange goals and have many unimaginable defeats. Some players may not be confident. They are not adapted to a team like the Red Devils and are frightened by their own confusion and inferiority."

Robson called on the whole team to rediscover themselves, and he stressed that everyone needed to fight for themselves and must unite around Ferguson. Robson's call played an important role. No matter how Manchester United's performance was, no matter how hard the reporters outside the stadium tried to dig up news, the Manchester United dressing room was still very stable, without any infighting.

New signing Wallace has a vivid memory of this season. He said: "Ferguson was at his lowest point and the most difficult time. We didn't play well, the team suffered setbacks one after another, and Ferguson was struggling. At that time, all newspapers and reporters were against him. There were also many fans who didn't like him and hoped that he would be fired. I was very worried that he would be fired. It was not a good feeling."

New signing Pallister was the most upset because he had been criticized for being totally inadequate for the Red Devils and the main culprit for the team's constant losses. Pallister made many mistakes and was almost always rated as the worst player on the field. Many critics believed that Ferguson's introduction of him was a big failure and he would be the culprit for Ferguson's dismissal.

Pallister said, "We were under the greatest pressure, and many of the goals we conceded were unexpected. We conceded five goals against Manchester City and four goals against Nottingham Forest. I didn't know how the opponent did it. I was not in the best state and didn't know what I was doing. We were completely confused. At that time, we were like a group of headless flies, and Alex couldn't make us wake up at all."

Bruce also performed poorly in the 3-0 defeat by Villa, and he was also criticized. Bruce later said, "That was my most embarrassing game, no doubt about it. Before the game, we all knew that McGrath was standing on the opposite side, so we couldn't let him outshine us. The stupidest thing I did was to promise Pallister that I would definitely help him to hold his head high in front of the former Red Devils star. What happened in the end? Our offense was completely threatening, McGrath was a steel wall; and my defense was so poor that we conceded three goals in a row. Let alone overpowering the opponent, I didn't even meet the most ordinary standards."

After the game, the media also said, "Ferguson was really blind. He actually spent more than 300 million pounds to buy these two central defenders, and then let McGrath go for 25. As a result, the Red Devils' two central defenders are still worse than one of their opponents. This kind of purchase is a big problem."

Ince still remembers Ferguson's face in that game, which was as black as the bottom of a pot. "We were defeated cleanly by our opponents, and Ferguson's face was livid and he was very angry. He barely maintained his composure, shook hands with McGrath after the game, and congratulated him on his victory. I know that everyone was criticized, and no one can escape the sound of the coach's hair dryer."

The Red Devils' board of directors has not released any news for a long time. They have always firmly supported Ferguson, but now they seem to have fallen silent.

At the critical moment, Bobby Charlton publicly expressed his personal support for Ferguson, "The Red Devils are going to fire Ferguson? That's all made up by the media. It was the media that arranged for Ferguson to leave. If the board of directors succumbed, or Ferguson resigned voluntarily, they would appear to be very foresighted. They always instill in the fans the idea that if a head coach is unsuccessful, the club will definitely fire him. And this failure is often defined by them, and they have the final say."

Charlton said: "Ferguson and the Red Devils board are under pressure, but everything is calm behind the scenes. I believe Alex (Ferguson) has always been on the right track and we recognize him. He will continue to lead the team and we have never considered Ferguson's future."

Charlton has always been a supporter of Ferguson on the board. The hero of the Red Devils' first European Cup in 1968 stressed that he did not need to play the emotional card with anyone or guarantee anything with his own credibility. "I don't need to say anything, they know it." Sir Bobby said, "When you are in the club environment, you will naturally have the right feeling and know whether the situation is good or bad. Alex has the respect of the players. No one in the dressing room or the board will say bad things to him. We can all see the changes in the team. Other teams will sack such a coach? We will not make that mistake."

Even with Charlton's support, Ferguson's position as coach was not secure.

The opposition from the media and fans is growing, and the fans are becoming more and more resentful, which will gradually shake Edwards's mind. The Red Devils started well and ended badly under Ferguson's tenure. Last season ended dismally, and this season is even worse. Naturally, someone needs to take responsibility. Fans have powerful channels to influence the board of directors, because in addition to Charlton and Busby, the Red Devils have many famous players and many shareholders. The club has spent a huge amount of transfer funds, and the coach has lost consecutive games but has no way to do anything. If the club does not fire Ferguson, then it is the club's inaction.

In the 19th round of the league, the Red Devils lost 0-3 to Aston Villa. This three-goal defeat made Ferguson feel ashamed. After the game, he said, "We did not play well. We were too aggressive in the frontcourt and the defense in the backcourt was too loose. The opponent's counterattack easily broke through our defense line."

The Manchester Evening News said, "This big defeat shows that Ferguson's team is really weak. They can neither attack nor defend. Their condition is really too bad. What's worse is their coach's stubborn offensive tactics."

The season was just halfway through this game and the Red Devils had only won 19 of 6 games. This result... Ferguson's record is even worse than Atkinson's.

The media came to question the team, but the Red Devils' board of directors acted like a coward. They always responded to media inquiries by saying "there is no new information to provide" and to fans' questions by asking them to be patient and saying "there will be no more changes for the time being."

The league continued, and the Red Devils continued their embarrassing winless streak in the 20th and 21st rounds. The emotions of the fans and the media reached the critical point of explosion.

Ferguson persisted, but he was also full of self-doubt. He later said: "I always remember everything during that period. We seemed to be doing fine, but everything was out of control. We couldn't win against anyone, we couldn't score, but we easily lost the ball. More and more people criticized me, more and more people opposed me, although I still had the support of the dressing room and the board, but even I knew that if I continued to lose like this, even God couldn't save me."

Ferguson could only endure the criticism in despair and wait for his chance in silence. Even though he was covered with scars from all kinds of extreme remarks, Ferguson never took the initiative to apply for resignation, leaving behind a last bit of hope.

A Manchester Evening News reporter who followed the team said, "Ferguson has completely messed up this season. It's like a pilot flying a plane that has completely run out of fuel. He is in danger, and the challenge now is to land this behemoth safely on the dark sea without ground guidance."

Sky Sports' commentator was not so kind. "Ferguson failed. He was like a country bumpkin who broke into a super auction. He thought he represented a wealthy family. But when he flipped through those faded antiques, he found that his things were not up to standard at all."

The situation of Ferguson being fired was getting closer and closer to reality. The media even claimed that the Red Devils board of directors did not want to fire him directly because they did not want to lose more money, and began to fabricate the news that Ferguson was ready to "resign voluntarily."

Ferguson never intended to resign. The pride of a Scotsman made him never admit defeat and never succumb to the blows of fate. Ferguson believed that he had not been defeated, his team had not completely failed, and there was still a chance at the end of the road. Even if the league championship was impossible, even if the League Cup had been eliminated, even if there were no European wars, the team still had a chance to compete for a championship, the FA Cup.

The FA Cup - and this is the key to the media's agenda. The situation has now become that Ferguson can only stay in office if he wins the FA Cup, and he must be sacked if he fails in the FA Cup.

The media played a huge role in creating topics and fanning the flames. Ferguson was pushed to the final judgment seat without knowing it, and it seemed that he only had one more game left.

The fans' demands, media hype and performance orientation pushed Ferguson onto the wheel of fate.

The FA Cup has a special meaning for English football. Atkinson's team won the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985, which is the best result of the Red Devils in the past 10 years. Ferguson has been compared with his predecessor Atkinson many times. Fans who hate Ferguson think that this Scotsman can't catch up with Atkinson at all. Atkinson at least has two FA Cup titles in his hands, while Ferguson has nothing now.

Now everyone's attention and focus is on the FA Cup match, which is the final test of Ferguson's fate. If he fails to beat Nottingham Forest, all will be lost, and Ferguson will have no choice but to be fired.

Ferguson later recalled, "I was frustrated everywhere that season, and I was unable to refute the statement that the FA Cup was my last battlefield. I didn't need to argue anything. What I needed to do was to prove it to everyone in the FA Cup."

Ferguson now puts all his energy into studying his opponent. He must win this game and put everything into it to keep his position as coach.

Is the Nottingham Forest team, led by the famous coach Clough, a life-saving straw or the one that breaks the camel's back?