The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 186 Important Assistant

"After Norris, his assistant who had always worked very well with, left, Ferguson chose former Red Devils player Brian Kidd as his new assistant, thus unveiling a tortuous but classic story."

--Inscription

Many Manchester United fans will remember that when Moyes took over the Manchester United after Ferguson retired, he made a shocking move, which was to directly purge the entire coaching team left by Ferguson. Moyes' performance as the Manchester United coach was simply a nightmare, and many fans believed that his biggest failure was abandoning Ferguson's coaching team.

That was a championship-level team consisting of Meulensteen, Phelan and others. Compared with Ferguson's assistants, the team brought by Moyes himself was not convincing at least in terms of results. The role of a coach's coaching team has long been beyond debate and explanation. The most vivid example is still from the Red Devils. Busby and Murphy's partnership was so outstanding that they jointly created the legendary story of the team's rebirth from the ashes.

Ferguson has always attached great importance to assistant coaches and coaching teams. When he was parachuted in from Aberdeen, he brought with him his most trusted assistant, Archie Norris. The two had worked together in Aberdeen and knew each other very well. Norris had strong tactical and management abilities and made great contributions to Ferguson's rise in Aberdeen. When Ferguson was about to leave, the chairman of Aberdeen once wanted to retain Norris and let him directly serve as the head coach. Norris rejected the invitation very straightforwardly. Although the price offered by Aberdeen was far higher than that of the Red Devils, he was still determined to act with Ferguson.

After arriving at Manchester United, Ferguson began the difficult road of reconstruction, and Norris devoted a lot of energy and sweat to this. As an assistant, Norris helped Ferguson establish a new youth training system, helped Ferguson formulate and implement detailed locker room management regulations, implemented strict management measures, and strictly cracked down on the alcoholism in the team. Norris also assisted in the introduction of McClair, helped Ferguson constantly try tactical play, stood firmly with Ferguson, and assisted Ferguson in leading the team to win the FA Cup... Ferguson's struggles and breakthroughs at Manchester United were all due to Norris' irreplaceable contributions.

Norris himself also achieved remarkable growth, and he also attracted the favor of the Scottish giants. Two weeks before the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final, the Scottish powerhouse Glasgow Rangers invited him to be the head coach.

Norris wanted to handle the new challenge alone this time, and Ferguson agreed to his departure.

In the summer of 1991 after Norris left, Ferguson appointed a new assistant, Brian Kidd, the former coach of the Red Devils youth team and the legend who helped the Red Devils win the European Cup.

Ferguson said, "One of my key considerations in selecting assistants is that they must be helpful to the management of the entire team and become an important bridge of communication. Kidd himself is a legendary star of the Red Devils and has also worked for the Red Devils. He knows the current Red Devils very well. He has many friends in Manchester and English football. He knows the club and the British football environment very well, and he also has many friends and relationships. So I gave him this position, which has proved to be a huge success."

It was Ferguson who decided that Kidd would be the coach of the Red Devils youth team in 1988. It was this appointment that made Ferguson familiar with Kidd. The promotion from the youth team to assistant coach was a new challenge and a new stage for Kidd's work.

As a meritorious player in the Red Devils' Champions League victory, Kidd has always been respected by the Red Devils club. He has worked for the Red Devils for a long time and is very familiar with the Red Devils' current main players, as well as the traditional training and management of the Red Devils. He is of great value to Ferguson's tactical thinking. Even though he is not familiar with Ferguson's command style and is not used to Ferguson's occasional temper, Kidd does not need to worry about these, because Ferguson's temper basically does not flare up on him, and his daily work has always been appreciated by Ferguson.

The combination of "Ferguson + Kidd" officially began. For a long time, they were called the model of cooperation between head coach and assistant coach. For the Red Devils fans in the 90s, the combination of "Ferguson + Kidd" was as extraordinary as the "Busby + Murphy" of the year.

Kidd became Ferguson's assistant, which was also an important node for the overall development of the Red Devils youth training. Kidd's advantage lies in his familiarity with the players, especially the young players. Many of the young players in the Red Devils youth team were discovered or invited by him personally. The most famous examples are Scholes, Butt, Gillespie and other players. The first coach these young players met at the Red Devils base was Kidd, and it was Kidd who agreed to their trials.

When he was in the youth team, Kidd was particularly attentive to the training of the Red Devils' echelon. Starting from his own experience, Kidd instilled the Red Devils' traditions into the young players. He also used himself as an example to personally demonstrate various footwork, the use of technology and the use of the body, and personally trained their physical fitness, footwork, cooperation and lineup, teaching them to pursue technical precision, improve their understanding of football and support for the team; he also taught them to judge and master the timing of shooting and assisting.

You know, a coach at the level of a Champions League champion is quite a luxury for little kids.

Kidd loves youth training and enjoys the sense of achievement of talent training. He is fully committed, always highly patient, and adheres to strict standards. He demonstrates every action and every position carefully and makes detailed requirements until every player completes it correctly. Compared with Ferguson's irritable "hair dryer" label, Kidd has a kind personality. He will not get angry suddenly, let alone yell at the young players. If there is anything he is not satisfied with, he will point it out and correct it directly. Kidd cares about the all-round growth of children. He is always good at understanding the difficulties of players and solving the inner anxiety of players. He is a very good listener. He can comfort the young players, make them feel stable, and grow up happily.

There is an example that can illustrate the great significance of Kidd to the Class of 92. When Kidd insisted on signing Scholes, he faced a lot of doubts and pressure. The Manchester Evening News criticized, "Which club can accommodate Scholes at the age of 16? He can't run, he is small, and he has asthma. He has no strength, no athletic talent, no speed, and no endurance. The Red Devils are crazy about talents, and Scholes can't even gain a foothold in the lowest level clubs."

Ferguson also had some doubts, "Kidd, can this kid do it?!"

At that time, Scholes's weak physique and asthma history were so eye-catching that almost no club would be willing to accept such a young man. Kidd was very determined and quickly convinced Ferguson.

Kidd certainly knew Scholes' weakness, and his solution for Scholes was to "retreat ten meters and reduce the time with the ball". This sentence is the true insight of his experience and personal wisdom accumulated in his career. Retreat ten meters - reduce the difficult situation of falling into the opponent's close defense when holding the ball with your back, and try to stay away from the muscular man in the penalty area; reduce the time with the ball - try to reduce the probability of direct physical confrontation. Although Scholes can't dribble and break through like Xavi and Zidane, considering Scholes' own physical condition, reducing dribbling and breaking through will reduce the probability of injury to the greatest extent, and Scholes' unparalleled awareness and absolutely excellent forward penetration and goal-scoring ability have allowed him to find light and hope in the Red Devils.

It was thanks to Kidd's careful training that Scholes grew up quickly. He became an outstanding striker in the Red Devils youth team and later became a legendary midfielder in the Red Devils Class of 92.

Not only Scholes, Kidd will give the right advice based on the characteristics of each young player, inspire them to think independently about their own strengths and weaknesses, and help them choose the right path. Gary Neville is also grateful for Kidd's help, "Kidd's leadership of the youth team is the best news for us. His being Ferguson's assistant is even more gratifying for us. We admire him very much because he was the hero of the Red Devils' winning of the Champions League in 1968, a Champions League champion, what a glorious halo! He has superb technical ability, rich experience, and super patience. The most valuable thing about him is that he can make you relax. From the beginning he became your buddy, he put his hand on your shoulder, talked to you as an equal, and gave you respect. Not only that, he can always solve your problems and take good care of you. I like that he is always optimistic and cheerful, making people feel like spring breeze."

Ferguson chose Kidd as his assistant and gave him a lot of trust and sufficient authority from the beginning. Kidd assisted Ferguson conscientiously, taking charge of the training of the Red Devils' first team and reserve team, the tactical training of the Red Devils and the daily management of the team, coordinating the relationship between the first team, reserve team and other echelon teams, and solving many details.

Kidd gained Ferguson's trust and soon became Ferguson's right-hand man. Kidd's relatively mild personality was also the glue between Ferguson and the big names in the team. When Ferguson was furious, Kidd always remained silent, effectively easing the atmosphere in the locker room; with his full support, Ferguson was relieved a lot, and his professional ability also made Ferguson's instructions more effectively executed.

Kidd became the lubricant between Ferguson and the players, and also became a guide for many players in their growth. Every player has a deep memory of his help. When Keane was about to leave the Red Devils, he was grateful to Kidd. He said, "I must thank Kidd. There are not many people who have excellent tactical knowledge and can use their humor to keep everyone calm. I think under his training, all of us in the team are very happy. We are always full of positive thoughts, without complaining about everything, without the groaning and complaining that I often heard in the Forest team's locker room that affected morale, and not as rigid as those Red Devils assistant coaches later."

Kidd's wholehearted efforts soon paid off, and a group of promising talents quickly emerged in the Red Devils youth team. Kidd and Harrison worked together to study tactics, arrange training plans, provide one-on-one guidance to the talents, and actively strive for opportunities for the young talents in the youth team. Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, and the Neville brothers all learned a lot of football knowledge from Kidd and grew up healthily under Kidd's comprehensive and meticulous guidance.

In the Red Devils' youth training system, Harrison personally led the team to win the 92 FA Youth Cup, but Kidd's role should not be ignored. Harrison was the biggest contributor to the Red Devils' 92 golden generation, and Kidd, who put in a lot of effort, also made a huge contribution.

Kidd assisted Ferguson in coaching the team in an all-round way. He would give bold suggestions at critical moments and prepare various contingency plans in a timely manner. In the 1992-93 season, the Red Devils faced Sheffield Wednesday and fell behind 0-1. Kidd suggested early on that Bruce should rush to the front court to play as a striker. After the whole team besieged for 60 minutes without any results, Ferguson waved the flag and Bruce rushed to the opponent's penalty area. As a result, the Red Devils defender headed the ball to equalize the score, and also headed the ball in the 96th minute to help the Red Devils reverse the score 2-1!

With this victory, the Red Devils won the Premier League championship in the first year ahead of schedule. At the end of the game, Kidd was as excited as Ferguson. He rushed into the middle of the stadium to celebrate frantically, jumped three feet high, raised his hands and waved them fiercely, knelt on the grass on his knees, looked up to the sky, and roared loudly!

Kidd, who has always been calm and reserved, had a big burst of passion. This was the greatest success he had gained from assisting Ferguson for many years, and it was also his greatest contribution to helping the team he once played for win the championship again and start the road to revival. For Kidd, who was taught by Busby and inherited the Red Devils spirit, and for such a Red Devils hero who won the Champions League, seeing the team rise again and get on the right path, all the efforts were worth it!

Even though Kidd later fell out with Ferguson, even though Kidd later left the Red Devils to play for Manchester City, even though he later helped Manchester City successfully win the Premier League title and still had many criticisms and dissatisfaction with the Red Devils, the Red Devils fans will never forget his contributions to the team, and will not forget his great contribution to the Red Devils' revival.