The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 338 "Get lost, I don't care who you are, Governor!"

"Ferguson's ruthless sale of Ince was beyond everyone's expectations, but the reason for Ferguson was actually very simple. Ince challenged Ferguson's authority and stepped on Ferguson's bottom line. He could not let Ince stay."

--Inscription

Cantona's crisis of leaving Manchester United shocked Ferguson, who personally went to Paris to persuade him to change his mind. Cantona was the only one who enjoyed this treatment in Manchester United, and other players would not let Ferguson treat them in this way.

Losing the championship last season did not affect Ferguson's control over the locker room, but Manchester United players will never lack troublemakers. They are submissive and fearful of Ferguson, but there are still conflicts between them. These conflicts will even become more serious due to the season results and the opening of the transfer window. Many players are fighting for power behind Ferguson's back, and even forming cliques and small groups, and they are willing to tear each other apart in order to compete for the position of the boss.

Ferguson was furious and immediately took drastic measures.

The Red Devils need a strong captain in the dressing room, otherwise they cannot effectively manage the players. Bruce, the current captain of the Red Devils, is a mild-tempered old man who rarely gets angry with his teammates. He is not a tough manager. This character makes him lack prestige in the team, and many troublemakers and famous players simply do not accept his management. Cantona originally seemed more suitable to be the boss of the dressing room, but he was not interested in getting involved in the politics of the dressing room. As a result, disputes are easy to occur in the Red Devils dressing room. Whether it is Ince, Schmeichel, Keane, Pallister, or Hughes, none of them obey each other, and conflicts often occur.

Paul Ince was the first to come out and the loudest. Ince had always considered himself to be an irreplaceable core midfielder in the team, and because he could attack and defend well, and could go up and down, he was naturally the undisputed leader of the team. Bruce? He thought he was not domineering; Cantona? Although that guy was very brave, he didn't want to do it; Hughes? He was leaving soon; Schmeichel? He was an outsider, not an English player, so there was no chance to talk nonsense! Keane? Latecomers should not have status... Ince's wishful thinking was very clever.

Ferguson has long recognized Ings's strength on the field. He has plenty of physical strength, is willing to run without hesitation, is very brave and aggressive in tackling, and is very strong in interception and confrontation. Ings has a strong presence in the midfield, and his hot temper and aggressive character make him a well-known midfield butcher in the Red Devils and even the Premier League. Ferguson trained and used Ings as a fierce version of Robson, a complete version of the beast waist. It is precisely because of Ferguson's reliance that Ings has always performed very well in the Red Devils. There are a lot of famous scenes, blood-stained battlefields, high-speed flying tackles, tank advances, fierce firepower... He shines in the Red Devils and becomes the absolute cornerstone and key midfield core. The Red Devils won 2 league titles in the Premier League and other cup key games, and Ings has made great contributions.

Ince became increasingly arrogant, bringing his unreasonable attitude on the field into the locker room, boasting that he was the ruler of a territory in Africa, a high and mighty "governor". He not only wanted the Red Devils staff to call him governor, but also wanted the young people to follow suit and worship him.

Ince's arrogance soon went to his head. He quarreled with his teammates in training, did not listen to the coach's instructions, did not listen to Ferguson's instructions in the game, shouted at his teammates at will, and ignored the team's tactics. He even did something strange at the Carrington base, such as asking the youth players to play games completely contrary to the coaching staff's requirements. He would beat and scold the young players when he was unhappy. Butt, Scholes, and Gary had all suffered from his "poisonous hands". Even worse, he deliberately set traps for these young players to lose money to him.

When Keane joined the Red Devils, Ince still thought he was the boss. Ince was dissatisfied with Keane's outstanding performance and thought he stole his limelight. He began to mock and provoke Keane and almost wanted to hit him. Later, a group dinner with teammates stopped Ince's stupid idea in time. Keane killed three troublemakers in the bar alone. This incident made Ince recognize Keane again, and he never dared to speak loudly to Keane again.

Even so, Ince thought his position was unshakable, and at most he would share the two midfield starting positions with Keane. But at the end of last season, he missed many games due to injury, and Ferguson began to trust Butt, Scholes and Gillespie, and Ince felt that his starting position was in jeopardy.

Ince's temper became worse and worse. At the end of this season, he missed many games and broke into Ferguson's office with a gun, demanding that Ferguson recognize his status as the boss of the locker room and guarantee his starting position.

Ince was drunk at that time and was talking nonsense while drunk. He even started to criticize Ferguson's tactics and command.

Ferguson was so angry that his face turned blue. "Are you f*cking crazy?! What the f*cking do you want?! I've got three seconds to get out of here! Security, where the f*cking security is?!"

The furious Ferguson subdued Ins, who was suddenly a little sober. He was so scared that he immediately dropped his gun and ran out of the office.

Bruce recalled many years later, "That moment was so scary and crazy. Ince was absolutely crazy. He must have drunk a lot of alcohol and was completely out of control. He broke into the office with a shotgun and pointed at Ferguson and talked. I was scared at the time."

Bruce said, "Never doubt his madness. There are many crazy people in our team, but Ince is the kind that makes everything out of control."

Bruce admitted, "I was so scared that my legs went limp. Who dares to point a gun at the boss (Ferguson)? He really doesn't want to live! This is a criminal offense. We were all scared, and I don't know how the boss will let this end."

The next morning, Paul Ince sincerely apologized to Ferguson and was as well-behaved as a kitten.

Ferguson did not choose to call the police, but only reprimanded Ins for his behavior and fined him internally, so that the matter ended quickly. But after that, he began to consider the issue of cleaning up Ins. What impact would selling Ins have on the Red Devils?

Keane has grown up. His skills, physique and awareness are not inferior to Ince, and his overall view and offensive ability are far superior to his opponent. What makes Ferguson most satisfied is that Keane is very hardworking and self-disciplined. In addition to being demanding of himself, he is also strict with his teammates. Keane can use his actions to set an example and drive other players to work hard. Ferguson believes that Keane's personality is suitable for being a leader: more self-disciplined, more demanding; more domineering, and more appealing.

Can Ings be sold? In fact, Ferguson started thinking about it in the FA Cup final of the 94-95 season. In this game, the Red Devils finally lost to Everton. Ings' performance was far below standard and he played very poorly in the midfield. After the game, Ferguson turned on the hair dryer and all the players were trembling. Only Ings dared to swear at Ferguson.

Ferguson was so angry that he was shaking all over. "Paul, you've done your damnedest!"

Ince responded with an even louder curse, "I have never seen a coach as stupid as you, I can play the way I want!"

This game became the decisive factor for Ferguson to finally clean up Ince. Later, Ince learned about the crisis and complained to the management without Ferguson's knowledge, and even exposed the conflicts in the locker room to the media. The arrogant Ince thought that the Red Devils did not necessarily need Ferguson and could consider changing the coach, but he was absolutely indispensable.

Ferguson was furious. He said: "If there are players who think they can override the coach's control, then there are only two words to say to them: Get out!"

In this way, Ferguson's opinion was unanimously agreed by the Red Devils board of directors. Ince's Red Devils career soon came to an end. In the summer of 1995, he was sold to Serie A giants Inter Milan for 700 million pounds.

Ince was very unhappy. After joining Inter Milan, he once again criticized Ferguson and the Red Devils club. "Ferguson is obviously confused because of losing the league championship. He needs me to take the blame. This is not fair at all. The Red Devils have lost their competitiveness now. Selling players like me will cause them to suffer setbacks in the transfer market. I don't think they will have good days anymore."

When time came to the summer of 1995, Ins's history as a Red Devils came to an end.

A few years later, Ings joined Liverpool, which was a bit like joining his mortal enemy for revenge. In a derby match between Liverpool and Manchester United, he scored a goal to help Liverpool equalize the score, and then deliberately ran to the Manchester United bench area to yell and provoke, which was extremely arrogant. Ings also said after the game: "It's exciting to score against the Manchester United. I just want to get revenge on them. I just want to prove myself. I'm not a fool or a burden. I'm stronger than they think. I enjoy it all!"

Ferguson was dismissive. "Scoring a goal is revenge? Forget it. I didn't consider it revenge when Dalglish led Blackburn to win the championship."

Later, Ins played for Middlesbrough, Wolves and other teams, but did not achieve much success. After retiring, Ins served as the head coach of several teams in England and continued to be active in the Premier League.

Many years later, especially after coaching a Premier League team himself, Ins finally realized how difficult it was for Ferguson. For this reason, Ins personally called Ferguson to admit his mistake and apologized. When he led the team back to the Manchester United game, he also took the initiative to apologize to the fans, blamed himself for the offense that year, and thanked the Manchester United and Ferguson for giving him the opportunity and honor.

When Ins was coaching Blackburn, he said, "Of course I am grateful to Ferguson and the Red Devils now. I was very dedicated and enjoyed playing for the Red Devils. At that time, I would often fight with others in the team. We were never afraid to express our opinions, whether with fists or mouths. We fought and struggled, and then got honors. Those championships are my achievements and my pride. This is also the success that Ferguson led us to."

Ince later opened up and said, "I rarely thank others, but Ferguson is the first on my list. He took me to Old Trafford like my father. Without his help, I would not have my life as a Red Devils player. I will always remember the first day I came to the team. I failed the physical examination. Generally speaking, the transfer would have fallen through. But Ferguson's greatness lies in the fact that he finally gave me a second chance for a physical examination. This was a very special treatment and I can't help but thank him. Of course, my appearances and efforts in the future were also opportunities given by Ferguson."

Ferguson said: "I no longer remember why those stories happened back then, and we have put those memories behind us. Let us move forward positively to the future. Ince has made an outstanding contribution to the Red Devils, and we will always be grateful for his efforts."

Looking back at Ings's statistics for the Red Devils, he played 6 times for the Red Devils in 281 years, scored 30 goals, won 2 league titles, 2 FA Cup titles, 1 League Cup title, 1 European Cup Winners' Cup title and 1 European Super Cup title, a total of 7 titles. He spent a glorious era with the Red Devils, bringing championships to the Red Devils almost every season, becoming the representative of Ferguson's first generation of Red Devils. Because of his outstanding performance in the Red Devils, Ings also became the core of the England team's midfield, and became the first black captain in England's history. His talent on the field was recognized by the world football, and his reputation as a "tough midfielder" was also recognized by the world football.