The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

"The Red Devils have had a lot of news this summer. After Ferguson's big purge, his recruitment has suffered a series of setbacks. The media has gradually changed from watching the fun to hyping up his coaching crisis. This kind of unscrupulous offense and groundless incitement really made Ferguson furious."

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Kanchelskis' departure was very sudden and unexpected to the entire dressing room. Many people in the Red Devils were familiar with this low-key and introverted guy and cared about him. Many people thought that the negotiation would be successful, after all, the person Kanchelskis trusted most in the Premier League was Ferguson.

Ferguson originally thought that Kanchelskis' agent was asking for a high price as a negotiation tactic, but he later made up his mind. Kanchelskis' agent refused to give in and kept forcing the Red Devils to agree to the transfer. One day, he visited Ferguson's office and specifically mentioned a souvenir he had given Ferguson a year ago. Ferguson was very confused because he had placed the souvenir in the storage room after receiving it without even unpacking it. Ferguson asked his wife to check out what was wrong with the souvenir, and soon he received a call from his wife Cathy, asking him to go home quickly.

Ferguson then realized that things were not simple. It turned out that Kanchelskis' agent had not just given him a souvenir, but also a large sum of cash in the package.

This is big trouble!

Ferguson immediately called the club and his lawyer, and soon the club representatives and lawyers arrived. Ferguson informed them of the cause and result of the incident, and then handed over the evidence of bribery on the spot, asking them to handle it according to relevant regulations.

The Red Devils club quickly reported to the English Football Association and relevant departments, and an investigation was quickly launched. Ferguson and the Red Devils club breathed a sigh of relief after Kanchelskis' agent admitted that he had not informed or even hinted that Ferguson's gift contained cash.

From then on, everyone quickly reached a consensus on Kanchelskis' transfer, and no one in the club tried to keep him.

Kanchelskis later said in an interview: "Letting me leave the Red Devils to join Everton was considered a mistake by fans and players. Ferguson later joked that he was ready to apologize to all the Red Devils players. But I knew he couldn't keep me, and I was determined to leave."

The bribery by Kanchelskis' agent was kept secret for a long time, and Kanchelskis was kept in the dark. Ferguson kept it secret in accordance with his own principles and did not choose to make these inside stories public.

When Kanchelskis left, Beckham was very reluctant at first, because Kanchelski had always been his role model. Beckham played in the middle and on the right side during his youth training, and he had always been diligently imitating Kanchelski, and never thought that this was an opportunity to move up. Kanchelskis said many years later: "Beckham even wrote me a letter to express his reluctance to leave. But soon he wrote another letter to thank me for leaving so that he could play on the right side."

Kanchelskis' transfer even sparked a dispute between the two clubs. His former club, Shakhtar Donetsk, kept asking for more transfer fees, but the Red Devils said it was nonsense and insisted that Kanchelskis' transfer fee had been paid that year. The dispute between the two teams was later brought to UEFA, but the Red Devils were eventually supported and were ruled not to pay any additional fees.

After selling Kanchelskis, the Red Devils management believed that they had to bring in new players on the right side. Ferguson did not intend to use Beckham and other young players as the main force at the beginning. He wanted to find a strong and capable player to take over. However, the Red Devils' recruitment on the right side has not been smooth. Ferguson has been looking for right winger all over the world. There are also rumors about Overmars and Babangida in the market. The media has helped the Red Devils to list more than 10 players.

Who is Ferguson's crush?

Ferguson was not interested in the Dutch fast horse and the African Eagle. He mentioned this in his biography "Manager My Life" published in 1999. At that time, the only candidate for the right side he had his eyes on was Darren Anderton. Darren Anderton was playing for Tottenham at the time. He was an England international and performed very well in the season that just ended. He was also a very famous right-wing attacker in the Premier League. Darren Anderton was born in 1972, when he was 23 years old. He was a young talent in English football. He grew up in the traditional 442 system of England. He had no pressure to adapt to the tactics of the Red Devils. He was also fast, strong in speed change, breakthrough and crossing. He had a good vision as a winger and had good advancing skills, which won Ferguson's favor. Ferguson had his eyes on Anderton very early. He asked England international Pallister to make a special match in the summer of 1994 and sent a message to Anderton hoping that he would join. In the summer of 1995, Ferguson personally called Anderton to recruit him and enthusiastically invited the England winger to join.

Anderton was honored, but he did not agree immediately, just said that he could talk. Ferguson then offered Tottenham 1000 million pounds, but this sky-high price was ruthlessly rejected by Tottenham. Tottenham Hotspur also made big moves this summer, selling core players such as Barmby, Popescu and Klinsmann. The owner Alan Sugar did not want to lose Anderton again.

Sugar called coach Francis and Anderton to his home to discuss contract extension and transfer. The naive Anderton had no power to resist Sugar, who played a tragic role, and he even ignored the opinions of his agent team. Ferguson's efforts were ultimately in vain, and Anderton signed the contract extension offered by Tottenham, even though his salary was lower than the Red Devils' offer.

Sugar rejected the Red Devils' transfer offer with great confidence, "Anderson is not for sale, no matter how much money you pay!"

Many years later, Anderton retired from Bournemouth. He recalled the past with regrets: "I don't have many regrets in my football career, but maybe I should have gone to the Manchester United in 1995. This is my only regret, because the Manchester United needed a right winger at that time, and Ferguson was very famous. He was very attractive to all newcomers in England. My agent also always wanted me to leave Tottenham and join the Manchester United, but I felt sorry for the Tottenham owner at the time, and I don't know why I softened my heart and signed a new contract."

Anderton missed the most crucial career opportunity, just like Gascoigne. He also missed the possibility of achieving higher football achievements and became a guy who was out of touch with the times in Ferguson's eyes. After renewing his contract with Tottenham, Anderton suffered a serious injury and his competitive level plummeted. In the following three seasons, he was injured constantly at Tottenham and could only play intermittently. He was unable to recover to his best condition, let alone improve his technical ability.

Ferguson failed to recruit Anderton, which seriously undermined his plan. Not only that, backup goalkeeper Gary Walsh was determined to leave, which also caused a hidden danger in the goalkeeper position of the Red Devils. Walsh was always unlucky in the Red Devils. On the one hand, the main goalkeeper Schmeichel performed too well, and on the other hand, he himself was always injured and had minor illnesses. He didn't perform well when he had the opportunity to play. He was 26 years old that year. After feeling that he could not see the hope of the Red Devils, he decided to transfer and joined Middlesbrough, which had just been promoted to the Premier League and was coached by former Red Devils captain Bryan Robson.

Having lost two titles in the previous season, and having purged four first-team players in the summer, with Cantona, the core player, suspended, and no new reinforcements coming, the Red Devils were under great pressure in preparation for the game, and the one under the greatest pressure was Ferguson. Ferguson, who had always been the focus of the media, became the target of public criticism at this time. Although he had established prestige and had taught reporters a lesson, Ferguson was increasingly criticized and questioned by the media. He found that he could not fight four hands with two fists, and the media's wind direction was getting more and more outrageous.

Media such as the BBC, The Times, and The Sun initially analyzed the reasons from the lineup, but as the Manchester Evening News, Daily Mail, and Evening Standard felt that the excitement was not big enough, they continued to criticize and question the Red Devils' strength, criticized Ferguson's transfer policy, and even took advantage of Ferguson's vacation in America to attack and discredit the coach.

The Manchester Evening News made a big deal. They opened a special page to organize the so-called "Red Devils players and fans" to vote on whether Ferguson should be fired. Under the deliberate selection and guidance of the Manchester Evening News, the final result was shocking. The majority of fans voted in favor. "More than 64% of Red Devils fans want Ferguson to leave!"

Manchester Evening News spoke out, constantly emphasizing that competitive football must be judged by results, and Ferguson must bear the consequences of last season's failure. In their continuous sharp criticism, Ferguson was even smeared as a liar, a person who evaded responsibility, and a cover-up of evil... Because of the Cantona flying kick incident, these media have now turned a blind eye to Ferguson's success and only focused on the responsibility of the Red Devils' failure to defend the title last season. They continued to criticize Ferguson for unreasonably protecting Cantona, and then implemented a large-scale purge with different standards, criticizing Ferguson's poor recruitment.

Ferguson is not someone to be trifled with. He certainly knew it was not easy to clean out a team of players who had won two consecutive league titles, but whether it was Robson, Bruce, Ince, Hughes or other core players, or Walsh and other young players who had the potential to make a name for themselves but lacked opportunities, Ferguson was very resolute and showed no mercy. He knew what kind of impact this kind of thundering method against the regular players would cause, and what kind of doubts would be brought about by the setbacks in the recruitment, but he also implemented a major change when he was at Aberdeen, and he had also killed the main players, so he knew his own limits.

After selling their star player, the biggest crisis for the Red Devils is that they have not bought any star players to supplement the team, which is also the main question of the fans. Without enough strong players to build a skeleton, and without enough elite players to challenge the lost championship, how can Ferguson restore the glory?

Under the influence of many public opinions, many Red Devils fans are beginning to worry whether their team will never recover and whether Ferguson is confused.

Ferguson was certainly not crazy. Although he was under great pressure, he did not rush to try any possible means. He did not think it was a big deal even if Anderton was not bought. Instead, he maintained a certain degree of patience. When the season was about to start, Ferguson made a bold decision, which was to use youth training players such as Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, Butt, etc., and let them become the main force directly.

Where does Ferguson's confidence come from? The answer is his youth training program and his vision.

Ferguson cleared out the core players such as Ince and Hughes in order to ensure his authority in the dressing room. When the failure of recruiting players was questioned, Ferguson knew that he would rather choose youth training than allow his position to be challenged. The Red Devils Club is always more about the collective than the individual, and the authority of the head coach cannot be challenged, which is consistent with Ferguson's insistence. The hope and glory of the club all depend on Ferguson alone. Ferguson is full of confidence in whether the revival can be achieved through the power of youth training.

After the big cleanup, the young people of the Red Devils' golden generation of 92 quickly rose to the top. Kanchelskis' departure provided an opportunity for Beckham to shine, and the Beckham arc rose after the Ukrainian Express left the station; Mark Hughes' departure made Scholes an assassin, and Ince's departure brought hope to Butt...

Mathieson, the Manchester Evening News's reporter for the Red Devils, recalled that Ferguson was furious when he was on vacation because of the Manchester Evening News's voting incident. He was very dissatisfied with the arrangement of the Manchester Evening News and regarded it as a serious offense. Ferguson did not curse Mathieson directly afterwards, but the Manchester Evening News lost the convenience of reporting on the Red Devils, and all the news and revelations that were one step ahead of others were completely lost.

After a period of stalemate, Mattison had to find Ferguson to communicate. He said that if this continued, he would have to quit his job as a team reporter and go back to work as a bricklayer, because he would not get any materials and could not do it.

Ferguson then roared and told him the reason for his anger, saying that he hated Manwan's decision to vote. Ferguson said, "I will never forgive you and everyone involved."

"It was an absolute soul-destroying blow dryer," Mathieson said. "I knew the door to Carrington was closed and it left a deep psychological scar on me."