The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 23 A Higher Goal

"Ferguson was not satisfied with just one league title, or even a few subsequent cup titles. He had higher goals and the ambition to shock Europe."

--Inscription

Ferguson was not satisfied with winning the league title.

But Ferguson's ambition was challenged first. After winning the championship, the players who made a name for themselves in the team were often poached by other giants. This is also an effective way for the hegemons to suppress emerging opponents. In this way, the team will soon be "dismembered" and the threat will disappear without a trace.

Before the start of the 1980-1981 season, several key players of Aberdeen were spotted by other big clubs, including Celtic and Rangers, as well as other league rivals. Eventually, the core striker Steve Archibald was bought by Tottenham Hotspur of England for a record £80.

Ferguson is not too worried about this, because the core competitiveness of his team is not a superstar. Ferguson has been prepared for this, and his countermeasure is to continue to tap internal potential and actively promote young talents.

Ferguson's obsession with youth training paid off hugely.

Under his efforts, a large number of young football players have emerged. Neil Simpson is a typical example. He was selected by Ferguson at the age of 16 and was directly selected from the youth training camp to the first team. The former Scottish midfielder said, "At that time, we played a game against Stirling University. I completed a perfect hat trick, scoring one goal with my left foot, one with my right foot, and one with my head. I often scored goals and didn't know what it meant, but the next week Ferguson asked me to play in the League Cup against Hamilton College."

"I was stunned, and then ecstatic. I have to say that the boss always encourages young players, cares about our performance very much, and gives us the opportunity to appear in official games. He pays great attention to encouraging the youth training team, and will meet with us individually to talk and give us great encouragement. I made my first team debut at the age of 16, Neil Cooper was also 16 when he made his debut, and John Hewitt and Eric Blake were 17 years old. This is not accidental, this is his characteristic as a coach. He ensures that young people have a smooth promotion channel. As long as you are really outstanding, you will never be missed by him."

Ferguson promoted an integrated style of play in the team, which was another strategy to maintain the team's strength. Ferguson did not rely on a certain star player in the team, but built the entire team into a whole. He carefully studied and borrowed various advanced playing methods, and continued to push the team in the direction of strengthening the whole. Ferguson carefully polished the tactics, explored how to knock down the enemy in the Scottish league that emphasized strength and physicality, and studied how to use the overall running cooperation of the players to fight against the superstars of the giants.

Ferguson made the 22-year-old forward McGhee the core player, promoted the 23-year-old Strachan to the core of the midfield, let the 20-year-old defender McLeish be the power output and final backup of the defense, and captain Miller was the leader on the field to command and coordinate... The Aberdeen team created by Ferguson became very young and energetic. A large number of young players emerged and began to shine in the football world.

After the new season began, Ferguson's Aberdeen, as the defending champion, became one of the teams that all Scottish clubs paid the most attention to. The opponents conducted targeted research and arranged a clamping tactic. Among the two giants, the Celtics recovered the earliest. They recruited new players and rebuilt a stronger team.

Aberdeen had some new problems this season. The team's stability was declining, and the biggest problem was injuries. Ferguson's team had serious player injuries, especially Strachan, who had been injured many times, which aggravated the team's lack of combat effectiveness.

Despite the difficult situation, thanks to Ferguson's excellent management and command ability, the team still performed very well this season. At the end of the league, their final points were even 1 point more than the previous season, which should be said to be a very good performance. It's just that the Celtics are still a little better. They played better data, 36 wins and 26 draws in 4 games, remained unbeaten, and took back the championship from Aberdeen with a 56-point lead of 7 points.

Aberdeen failed to defend their title, but still finished second, beating Glasgow Rangers. Ferguson's team once again declared with their results that the Scottish football landscape is not a two-man show, but a three-man show.

Aberdeen also participated in the European Champions League this season, which was of great significance to Ferguson. European competitions were like a fantastic platform, where they appeared on a big stage that brought together the best teams in Europe and competed with the super teams in other leagues, which benefited Ferguson a lot.

Although Aberdeen had participated in the UEFA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup before, the Champions League was a new experience for Ferguson and his Aberdeen. On September 1980, 9, Aberdeen met Austria Vienna in the first round of the preliminary round. In the first round, Aberdeen had a huge advantage at home and overwhelmed their opponents from the start. Vienna is a well-known Austrian giant, but it could only defend awkwardly in the face of Aberdeen's stormy attack. Aberdeen striker McGee scored the team's first Champions League goal in the 17st minute, helping the team win 31-1. In the second round, Ferguson's team played very well in defense in the Austrian capital, and the two teams finally shook hands and made peace with 0-0. Aberdeen advanced.

In the second round, Aberdeen met the English giant Liverpool. This battle allowed Ferguson to see the level of the English strong team. The early 80s was the heyday of Liverpool. They were a European hegemony. Facing the team led by Bob Paisley, Ferguson's Aberdeen team was full of courage, but their strength was still a little far behind. In the first round, Aberdeen played at home. Under the loud cheers of more than 2 fans, Aberdeen played well at the beginning and had many offensives, but they were soon controlled by the powerful Liverpool. In the end, Liverpool defeated Aberdeen 1-0. In the second round, Liverpool, who were at home, were not polite and launched a fierce attack at the beginning. Ferguson's team soon fell into trouble. Under pressure, Aberdeen captain Willie Miller made a mistake and directly gave the opponent an own goal. Although Aberdeen tried hard to launch an offensive afterwards, the opponent was very strong. They took advantage of Aberdeen's pressure and launched a sharp and quick counterattack, causing Aberdeen to suffer again. The team finally lost 0-4.

Aberdeen failed to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but Ferguson gained a lot from this experience. He continued to study and learn from the tactics of the giants, constantly thinking about how to improve the strength of his own team in the next step, and further strengthened his belief.

In the 1981-1982 season, Ferguson led the team to a comeback.

Ferguson brought the team to a new level of depth in the summer of 1981 when he bought a key left winger, Peter Weir. Peter Weir was only 23 years old at the time, but he had already represented the Scottish national team many times, along with Strachan, Miller and McLeish. As a left winger, Ferguson believed that Weir's skills and passion would bring better balance to the team, and the facts fully proved this.

"Will was the right choice," Ferguson later recalled. "He made the team complete. Will brought new contributions on the left and inspired the whole team, because it was not enough to rely on the skinny Golden Strachan. Strachan played well on the right, but was always surrounded by heavy siege and the defenders always paid special attention to him. After the introduction of Will, the opponent could no longer just focus on our right, because Will would make a big fuss on the left. He is a very good player. If it were not for his naturally introverted personality, he would definitely become a top-notch player."

Ferguson has attached great importance to the attacking tactics on the left and right sides this season, and his team has started to compete for the league championship and various trophies again. In the long journey of the league, Ferguson's team lost the chain in the sprint to the championship and finally finished second. But in this season's Scottish Cup, Ferguson's team fought all the way, played classic games one after another, and went straight to the final.

In January 1982, Aberdeen played against Motherwell in the third round of the Scottish Cup. Hewitt, the team's youth training talent who was favored by Ferguson, scored in 1 seconds after the start of the game, scoring the fastest goal in the history of the Scottish Cup. It was with this goal that Aberdeen eliminated the opponent 3-9.6. In the fourth round, Aberdeen faced Celtic. Hewitt was still very brave. He scored the only goal of the game under the opponent's close defense, helping the team enter the quarterfinals. After that, Aberdeen was unstoppable, eliminating Kilmarnock and St. Mirren successively, and finally met Glasgow Rangers in the final.

Aberdeen had a fierce battle with Glasgow Rangers in the final. Rangers scored the first goal in the 15th minute, but McLeish equalized the score 16 minutes later. After the two teams entered the extra time, Rangers' physical strength collapsed and the game was completely dominated by Aberdeen. McGhee, Strachan and Neil Cooper each scored a goal, and Aberdeen won with a total score of 1-4, winning the Scottish Cup again since the 1-1969 season!

Similar to the English FA Cup, the Scottish Cup is also very important. Moreover, this championship was won by defeating two giants, Celtic and Rangers, which is even more significant.

This championship not only means the trophy, but also means that Aberdeen has qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup next season.

Aberdeen participated in the UEFA Cup as the runner-up of the league this season. In the first round, Aberdeen met the last UEFA Cup champion, Ipswich from England. Facing a famous opponent, Aberdeen did not panic, but calmly dealt with the opponent. Aberdeen finally won both home and away games easily, eliminating the opponent with a total score of 4 to 2. In the second round, facing the unknown Romanian team Pitesti Agos, Ferguson's team was not polite and easily won 5 to 2. Strachan scored 3 goals in two rounds, and the talent of the midfield conductor began to be famous in Europe. In the third round, Aberdeen met the Bundesliga powerhouse Hamburg, which has the "football emperor" Beckenbauer. In the first round at home, Aberdeen did not have any stage fright. Their offensive style of play caught the opponent off guard, and unexpectedly won 3 to 2. Aberdeen's young killer John Hewitt scored twice, and his brilliance once overshadowed the opponent's superstars. In the second round, Hamburg put aside their underestimation of the opponent and went all out, launching a fierce attack at the beginning. Aberdeen fell into a difficult battle, passive everywhere, and finally couldn't hold on. In the 67th minute, Aberdeen fell behind 0-3. Although McGee scored a goal in the 79th minute, the team was unable to recover and was eliminated with a total score of 1-4.

In the 1982-1983 season, Ferguson's Aberdeen team further trained the lineup, improved the team's combat effectiveness, and actively challenged for the championship.

In the league, Aberdeen played very well. They were full of confidence when facing Celtic and Rangers, and suppressed both opponents on the field. Aberdeen basically had the advantage when facing other teams. Although some games had unexpected results, Aberdeen still led the league standings. However, at the end of the season, the team was affected by multiple battles and the team lineup was not strong enough. In the last few games, the team lineup was not complete, the state was not good, and the performance was not good. It could only be overtaken by the championship rivals helplessly, and finally only won the third place in the league, losing to Dundee United and Celtic.

In this season's Scottish Cup, Ferguson's team once again showed their strength and made it all the way to the final. In this final, Aberdeen faced Rangers again. The two teams played very fiercely in the final. After extra time, with Blake's goal in the 116th minute, Aberdeen finally defeated their opponent Rangers 1-0 and won the Scottish Cup again.

Starting from 1978 when he started coaching the team, by the summer of 1983, Ferguson had brought Aberdeen a league championship trophy, two Scottish Cup trophies, the second round of the Champions League and the third round of the UEFA Cup.

In Scotland, Ferguson's achievement in leading Aberdeen was already a great success. All the fans were impressed and the media praised him constantly.

But Ferguson was obviously not satisfied with this. Ferguson's efforts and attempts helped Aberdeen win two cup titles. In fact, he hoped that the team would have enough strength to compete in Europe. Ferguson's ambition was not limited to this. He even hoped to lead the team to strive for laurels outside of Scottish football.

Ferguson wanted to lead Aberdeen to success in European football - such a lofty and ambitious goal shocked the entire team.