The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 26 "Tyrant"

"Ferguson has always been known for his rough character and hot temper. His rude behavior and violent words are unique. His success in coaching Aberdeen has made Ferguson's nickname 'Tyrant Fergie' spread like wildfire."

--Inscription

Ferguson's success has attracted extraordinary media attention. In East Stirling, St. Mirren and Aberdeen, Ferguson has continued to improve, and the teams he led have made continuous breakthroughs, which is extremely shocking.

Ferguson has extraordinary leadership and management skills, as well as constantly innovative tactical ideas and team building strategies. He started by controlling the Aberdeen dressing room, allowing the team to regain its strong fighting power and regain its ambition to win the championship.

Of course, another point that the media is concerned about is how Ferguson's bad temper became a helper to his coaching success rather than a hindering factor.

When Ferguson took over Aberdeen in 1978, he had only four years of coaching experience and was only 4 years old. He was at a disadvantage in terms of age and qualifications. How to control the locker room? How to establish authority?

Ferguson's solution was simple. He was already well-known for his rude temper, which allowed him to communicate directly with the players. He constantly motivated the team and painted a beautiful blueprint for the team, which in layman's terms was "chicken soup" and "painting a rosy picture". After the straightforward communication, Ferguson really enforced the team's discipline and daily training, and was very strict and never relaxed. After continuous high-intensity training, Ferguson set high standards for the team.

Ferguson quickly gained recognition from the players at Aberdeen, and when he led the team to a draw against Rangers for the first time, this was almost considered a great success in previous years, but Ferguson said in the locker room: "I am very sorry that we didn't win. We could have won a big victory and beaten the opponent without any chance of fighting back, but you actually opened champagne to celebrate the draw. This is really a rubbish mentality, willing to be a bootlicker!"

Ferguson's assistant coach Archie Knox recalled: "Ferguson told everyone that everyone is against you. The venue, the football, the opponent, the referee, the media, even your supporters, the pressure you feel, are all against you. The only thing you can do is to take up arms and fight to defeat them."

Ferguson is straightforward and has a bad temper, but these are not without source. Ferguson has been studying Jock Stein's coaching methods seriously and has been deeply influenced by Stan's straightforward style. Ferguson can't be as simple and direct as Stan and criticize others without swearing, but he and Stan both hope to reach a consensus through direct communication. Many years later, Ferguson recalled: "I was fortunate to work with the master and to learn from him. Stan gave me key guidance and the right education. I was a young coach at the time and kept asking questions, but he was very patient. Although Stan was very direct and rude to many people, he never tired of teaching me."

Ferguson learned that the key to Stan's success was his dedication to football. Stan was a workaholic who devoted himself to his work, often working day and night to study tactics, the team's problems and countermeasures, which deeply influenced Ferguson.

"Stan was working all the time, and we would often talk until midnight," Ferguson said. "One time I had to go to bed a little early because I had a game the next day, but he was still working until 3 a.m.."

Ferguson's first speech to Aberdeen players was to learn from Jock Stein's mobilization. This kind of motivation was something Aberdeen players had never seen before. Ferguson's words made them confident and made them more eager for trophies.

"Others may think Ferguson is a madman, but he really made me believe that I can do extraordinary things. Just like he himself has accomplished so many incredible tasks. If he can do it, we can certainly do it too!" recalled McLeish, the main player of Aberdeen team at that time.

Ferguson was also good at dealing with opponents, even if the opponent was the team captain. His relationship with Miller, the leader of the locker room, was a delightful story. It was Ferguson who inspired Miller's pursuit and the captain's sense of honor, which made Miller fearless and persistent in leading the team to win various championships. Miller was grateful for Ferguson's coaching and leadership for the rest of his life.

Ferguson strengthened the team's confidence, stimulated their passion, and used strict management and effective training to increase their fighting power. Ferguson insisted on offensive play, emphasizing overall offense and defense, and emphasizing fast transition rhythm. He made long-term plans for the team, built a youth training system, and innovated the team's appearance by training local players. Ferguson established a sophisticated and complex tactical system in the Aberdeen team. The players were exposed to it very early, and were able to put forward suggestions and opinions, concentrate on discussion and research, and continuously deepen their understanding of tactical play and continue to grow in this system.

Ferguson's ability to discover and cultivate talents is extraordinary. Among the Aberdeen players, Strachan, McLeish, Black, McGee and Hewitt were trained by him personally. They grew up quickly and became stars of the league and the core of the national team.

Ferguson is good at discovering the best among ordinary people. After joining Aberdeen, Ferguson began to introduce Weir, who he had previously identified as a future superstar. Ferguson signed this midfielder when he was at St. Mirren five years ago, when Weir was still working as a golf course administrator. After Ferguson came to Aberdeen, he quickly dug up this guy who was frustrated at St. Mirren. Weir later shone in the league and the European Cup Winners' Cup, making a great contribution to the Aberdeen team!

Ferguson attached great importance to youth training, strengthened support for young players in the community, and broke the monopoly of the two giants. Neil Simpson was discovered by Ferguson when he was only 16 years old and played in the League Cup; Neil Cooper was only 16 years old when he made his debut, and John Hewitt and Eric Black were 17 years old. Neil Simpson said: "This is not accidental, it is his characteristic as a coach. He wants to ensure that young people have a smooth promotion channel, and this is the case every year."

In 1980, when Ferguson led Aberdeen to win the second league title in the team's history, 21-year-old Alex McLeish was the core of their defense, and 23-year-old Gordon Strachan and Steve Archibald were the backbone of their offense. Three years later, when Aberdeen defeated Real Madrid in the final to win the Cup Winners' Cup, the average age of Aberdeen's starting lineup was only 24.9 years old, with 24-year-old Jim Leighton standing in front of the goal, 24-year-old McLeish on the defense, 21-year-old Simpson and 19-year-old Cooper in the midfield, 19-year-old Black on the front line, and 20-year-old Hewitt on the bench came off the bench to score the winning goal.

Ferguson was very strict in managing the club. He would punish any mistakes without mercy. The strict management made the players miserable at first and caused great resistance. But Ferguson was brave enough to persist and did not make any special arrangements even when he threw some big-name players into the reserve team. With the persistence of strict management, Ferguson made the team's performance continue to improve and the team's atmosphere gradually improved.

Behind the strict management, Ferguson's love for the players is also online in time. Ferguson has always wanted to build the team into a big family. He cares about the players' families very much, and takes the initiative to seek benefits and provide convenience for the players. Ferguson often invites the players' families to watch the game and have dinner together after the game. Ferguson always gives extra prizes to outstanding players, and sometimes calls their wives and parents to praise them. When players or their families come to ask for help, Ferguson always takes the initiative to donate money and actively helps the players solve their problems.

"The team is a big family. If you don't perform well and cause the team to fail, you let your family down and your parents down. There is nothing worse than this." McGee recalled, "Ferguson did this particularly well. This is the authentic northern city working family ethic. We all believe in this principle."

Ferguson won the support of the players' families, which is a recognition that transcends profession and a rare cooperation.

Of course, there were storms in the locker room. Ferguson would definitely go crazy in some special situations. He was a hot-tempered guy, so it was not surprising that he became a "tyrant". At the beginning of his coaching of Aberdeen, Ferguson was extremely strict with the team. His distinctive characteristics were "hellish training that far exceeded the opponent's" and "inhumane long-term repetitive training". This was indeed terrifying at the time.

Ferguson explained: "You can learn new things every day. This is the trend of football. However, there are some principles that I have known and adhered to since I was a 1974-year-old novice coach in 32. These will never be outdated and will always be effective. We need ambitious goals, players need to train hard, and the team needs strict discipline... I think these principles are very important. I will implement these requirements in training. The players complain, fear, and resist, but I always insist that the standards must be met, even if it makes the players cry and scream."

"I realised very early on that all successful clubs must adhere to this principle," Ferguson said.

Ferguson's training requirements were a nightmare for many Aberdeen players. "Even during normal, scheduled training time, Ferguson had a way of making you regret being born from your mother's womb - his training subjects were numerous, extremely intensive, demanding, and he never tired of repeating, repeating, repeating... The ultimate goal was to make you almost subconsciously make the correct movements." Many years later, Aberdeen's famous Miller still shuddered when he talked about it, he really had a deep memory.

In addition to strict training requirements, Ferguson's temper was also reflected in his swearing, especially when the game was lost or the players disobeyed him. Aberdeen players gave him the nickname "Furious Fergie", which soon became the headlines of newspapers.

Ferguson's strictness will be unforgettable for players for life. Aberdeen once had a player who was late, and Ferguson immediately kicked the unlucky guy out of the team training and forced him to do more exercises on his own; it was common for Ferguson to punish players who made mistakes by running 5 kilometers at a steady speed and then 2 kilometers at an accelerated speed; Ferguson once got furious because a player was speeding on the road, and he thought that the poor guy was "driving dangerously" and had to reflect on himself before the next training session...

Ferguson's most frightening thing is undoubtedly his face-to-face scolding of players. Strachan is the offensive core of Aberdeen and an indispensable soul figure during Ferguson's coaching period, but even so he suffered enough. Strachan joined before Ferguson and was later trained by Ferguson to become a right-wing attacker and won many honors, but his continuous improvement process was extremely difficult. Not only was he often punished and scolded, but sometimes Ferguson even hit him in the face directly, or Ferguson picked up things in the locker room and threw them at him.

Ferguson's hair dryer, which later made people dreadful, actually started at Aberdeen. Aberdeen players often enjoyed this treatment from Ferguson. The most exaggerated one was that a player was substituted after more than ten minutes in the first half, and then was sprayed with saliva by Ferguson for a whole half day after the game.

Even so, Aberdeen's players still obeyed Ferguson very much. They were very united, carried out tactical orders very strictly, always tried their best to complete Ferguson's requirements, and always hoped to fight for the coach.

Aberdeen's transformation was thus achieved, under Ferguson's rough management. The players were full of energy and confidence, like a little fighting cock. They were full of energy on the field, kept full of energy at all times, ran actively and tacitly, maintained a close team, switched quickly from offense to defense, and had strict tactical discipline. They were like a strong breeze blowing from the north, bringing a different impact to the league.

Ferguson's reputation is well known, but no matter Aberdeen, St. Mirren or East Stirling, the players respect him very much and are willing to play for him. Reporters interviewed many players under Ferguson, and without exception, they said they would fight for the "tyrant".