The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 29 Rejecting the Gunman's Advice

"I rejected the Gunners and have no intention of coaching other teams in England. Neither traditional giants nor emerging forces are my goals. I am only willing to take over the Red Devils."

--Ferguson

The negotiations between Ferguson and the Red Devils management were quickly finalized. With the news of Atkinson's dismissal ahead of time, the media received a press release from the Red Devils management in a timely manner, and Ferguson took office on the spot.

Many English media began to compare the Red Devils with Aberdeen, and they believed that the Red Devils should choose a more famous coach. The media listed a bunch of so-called famous coaches who were unemployed at home at the time to question the Red Devils' hasty action.

The fans don't care about these, they just know that the club must reform. The only thing they are not sure about is that English football has its own unique features, can Ferguson succeed?

Some Manchester United fans did not accept Ferguson because he had nothing to do with Manchester United. He had never played for Manchester United as a player, nor had he been on the Manchester United coaching staff, and he had no experience coaching any other English league clubs. It was hard for local fans to believe that this foreign monk could chant sutras, after all, the English football world at that time was still very conservative.

Some Red Devils fans compare Ferguson with Stan and Shankly, which creates a huge cognitive gap. These fans believe that Ferguson can never be compared with famous coaches like Stan or Shankly. Some fans who feel sad about the club's future say: "Red Devils has nowhere to go now. Atkinson's coaching can't revive this aging team. We can only try an external messenger to see if there is a miracle."

Before the 80s, English football was always very proud, and the local faction had an absolute upper hand, especially among the fans. The national team coach must be from the country, and the club coach should also be selected from the country. This is the logic of the local faction. Not to mention the giants like the Red Devils, even an ordinary team should not choose a coach from another country or from another league.

Some fans are sitting in a well and always think that teams like Aberdeen are small fish and shrimps in a small league. They don't care that Aberdeen was thriving at the time and was also majestic in Europe, which was completely incomparable to the Red Devils. They were anxious to see the Red Devils struggling and even falling into the abyss of relegation, but after the club fired Atkinson, they hoped that a real god would come. Some extreme localists even thought that even if the Red Devils were relegated, the team should not hire an outsider to coach.

"Football originated in England, how could we tolerate an outsider telling us what to do? How could the Red Devils, who have won the Champions League, accept a 'barbarian' as their coach?!"

There are many Red Devils fans, and most of them heard the news of Ferguson's appointment with trepidation. They have doubts but still hope. They know that even Atkinson's qualifications cannot turn the situation around, and it is difficult to find a famous coach to save the situation temporarily. It is probably useless to change other English coaches. Finding a new coach to try may still have a chance.

Instead of trying to cure a dying horse with new treatments, it is better to ask for a "foreign monk" to give it a try.

Metaphysics aside, looking around the British Isles, the most dazzling and fastest rising star at the time was Ferguson. In his eight years at Aberdeen, Ferguson won more championships than many coaches have won in their entire lives. This kind of experience is not something that every coach can have. Ferguson made Aberdeen a new giant and also made a name for himself in European football. This is very convincing.

Aberdeen can still shake the overlord and become the league champion, so coaching the Red Devils can certainly make them rise again. And whether it is Charlton, Busby, or the Red Devils technical team, they all recognize Ferguson's ability and think that this guy is "very powerful" and "very talented".

Edwards later said, "We have studied Ferguson for many years. Ferguson has achieved success in the Scottish League and is passionate about winning. He has the magical ability to turn things around. We firmly believe that he will change everything, so inviting Ferguson is by no means a last-minute effort."

After falling out with Ferguson, Manier, the former largest shareholder of the Red Devils, told the media: "Ferguson was far from being a famous coach at the time. He didn't have that status. He had no relationship with the Red Devils and was just an outsider. The club chose Ferguson purely by chance. They were just taking a gamble and happened to pick Ferguson's from a pile of coaching information. Ferguson was just a temporary worker. The club let him take over just to try to avoid the embarrassment of having no coach left. If Ferguson was really good, it wouldn't have taken six years to win the championship, nor would it have cost the Red Devils so much money. I think Ferguson just got lucky. He is not a famous coach."

The two sides' statements are completely different, but this does not affect the final result.

Many years later, Ederson, the then director of the Red Devils, said: "I remember that the situation was critical at the time. After we announced the dismissal of Atkinson, everyone was a little confused. To be honest, no one thought that the team would play so badly. We didn't even think about changing coaches before November. So the temporary change of coaches was also a mess. Everyone seemed to be at a loss and no one was available. To be honest, I almost suggested that Charlton should take charge of the team. After all, he has prestige, right?"

Watkins, another director of the Red Devils, said: "Someone proposed Venables. He is certainly competitive. His identity and record meet the requirements of the Red Devils, but it is impossible in terms of time and conditions. We contacted Venables urgently and even sent representatives to meet with Venables in Barcelona. Unfortunately, Venables has no interest in coaching the Red Devils."

Graham? Clough? Robson? None of these famous managers were on the shortlist of the Red Devils board.

Edwards said, "Venables was not our first choice, just a backup. We had contact with Ferguson very early. We bought their star player Gordon Strachan from Aberdeen and we had a meeting with Ferguson at that time. Ferguson is full of vitality and confidence, very charming and quick-witted. We all like him very much."

Strachan kept in touch with Ferguson after he arrived at Manchester United, but the Ferguson he introduced to the Manchester United board was extraordinary. Strachan's exaggerated words in his introduction did not arouse fear, but interest. Edwards was very impressed with Ferguson's management skills. They agreed that Ferguson's toughness was what Manchester United lacked the most.

Charlton recalled his interactions with Ferguson: "When the Red Devils introduced Strachan, I went to Aberdeen to negotiate with Ferguson in person. He invited me to observe the team's training and games at the time, which allowed me to get to know Ferguson more specifically and in depth. He is definitely a high-level coach."

Charlton said: "Ferguson is different from any coach of this era. He is more like a tough guy coach, maybe a bit like Forest legend Clough? Or Shankly? He has absolute authority among the players, but he can take care of everyone. He has won the unanimous love of the club, which is extraordinary."

Signing Ferguson is not easy. Aberdeen is in the early stages of development. The team is very dynamic and the team's performance is not comparable to that of the Red Devils. The Red Devils don't know whether Ferguson is willing to join. If he is not willing, it is impossible to succeed in poaching him from Aberdeen by offering a high price. It would only be a joke.

Edelson clarified the claim that the Red Devils lured Ferguson with a huge salary: "When we started discussing the specific treatment with Ferguson, we found that his salary at Aberdeen was higher than what we could offer, which made us very embarrassed. We didn't think it was an obstacle and quickly adjusted the offer to ensure that the Red Devils would match his contract with enough sincerity."

For Ferguson, this choice was actually a bit incredible. He rejected many English clubs in the summer, even the London powerhouse Gunners. By this time in November, the league season had already begun and Aberdeen had a chance to win the double championship. Taking over an unfamiliar team at this time, and the team was in deep trouble, was really an unimaginable challenge.

If you want to upgrade your career, the Gunners may be more likely to succeed than the Red Devils. The Gunners were also in the stage of waiting to take off in the 80s, and the players in the team were full of vigor, very similar to Aberdeen when Ferguson first joined. If you only consider the salary, the Gunners also pay more, and the salaries of the Red Devils and Aberdeen are far less than those of the London giants.

Ferguson's close friend Charlie Nicholas is a Gunners fan. He later revealed a secret, "I have been in close contact with Ferguson and we talk on the phone almost every day. When Ferguson told me that he would be the head coach of the Red Devils, I was deeply shocked. I always thought he was going to coach the Gunners, my Gunners, because the Gunners have always offered better conditions. Ferguson is a good friend of mine and we talk about almost everything, but he quickly finalized the job at the Red Devils to avoid me, which made me particularly sad. The Gunners invited him to coach when he was still in the Scottish national team. He told me he was still considering it and asked me to keep it a secret."

Charlie Nicholas was full of joy and anticipation waiting for Ferguson to coach the Gunners, but then he was disappointed. Nicholas said: "When Ferguson told me he was going to coach the Red Devils, I thought to myself, 'Okay, you bastard!'"

The goalkeeper of the Scottish national team at that time, Leighton, also knew that Ferguson almost went to the Gunners. Many years later, in an interview with BBC Radio 1986 reporter Mark Chapman, Leighton said that the Arsenal made an offer and a contract to Ferguson. At the end of the Scottish League in , the Gunners approached Ferguson and hoped that he could be the head coach. Ferguson was temporarily in charge of the Scottish national team at that time because of the sudden death of Stan. He hoped to make a decision after the World Cup in Mexico.

"Ferguson got a huge contract from the English giants Gunners," Leighton said. "George Graham will be his assistant coach. The Arsenal board intends to build a strong coaching team to lead the team to attack the league championship. Ferguson wanted to wait until the World Cup to announce it, but the Gunners wanted Ferguson to decide immediately. The two sides had a disagreement and Ferguson rejected them. In the end, Graham got the job and Ferguson came to the Red Devils."

Why did Ferguson reject the Gunners?

Ferguson himself said: "I hadn't thought about how to decide. I had a commitment to Stan that needed to be fulfilled. At that time, I couldn't give an immediate answer to coaching the Gunners, and I couldn't decide before meeting the Gunners management. The Gunners did invite me and I met their team, but that was it. We didn't progress to the point of negotiation, and they didn't have any consultations with Aberdeen."

Ferguson rejected the Gunners, and he also rejected Wolves and Tottenham for different reasons. The former was because there was no plan for the club's future, and Tottenham was because the management's thinking was completely different from Ferguson's and they had no common language at all.

Ferguson took over the Red Devils because he has an adventurous and challenging spirit. He is willing to take risks for the Red Devils and firmly believes that he can achieve new success.

The Red Devils and Ferguson share a common background in birth and experience. The history of the Red Devils resonates with Ferguson's political stance. The characteristics of the Red Devils are also completely consistent with Ferguson's own personality traits. The tradition of unremitting struggle and hard work is also what Ferguson himself identifies with and adheres to. Ferguson felt the call of the Red Devils tradition.

Ferguson gave up the opportunity to coach a top club in the capital London and came to the Red Devils, determined to start from scratch here.