The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 35 Danger of Demotion

The Red Devils board of directors fully supports the head coach, especially Atkinson, who is almost obedient to his words. The club management has always been ambitious, constantly recruiting stars and investing heavily, but now it has completely collapsed and is deeply trapped in the quagmire of relegation. This situation makes every fan who cares about the team feel anxious.

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Firing Atkinson is a helpless decision for the Red Devils, but it is also a way to stop the loss immediately.

For fans, this is a familiar yet heartbreaking script.

Is this the nth head coach to be fired?

The Red Devils can only start a new round of reconstruction and a new round of struggle?

The Red Devils were on the brink of relegation in November 1986, and the team was in the midst of a serious injury crisis. Under such circumstances, the board had to find someone to take the blame, and Atkinson had to step down no matter what results he had led the Red Devils to.

Atkinson is not without talent, but his few years as coach of the Red Devils have not proved anything.

He could only play in favorable situations, and was completely unable to deal with difficulties, let alone face extreme dangers. In the face of difficulties, he could not control the team's locker room, and had no way to build a complex formation system.

For several years, his team was not completely unable to play against strong teams, nor was it unable to win a series of games, but it always lacked stability and resilience. His team was very dynamic in the 1983-84 season, but the tactics were still simple.

Two FA Cup trophies prove that Atkinson's ceiling is just that.

The Times commented: "Atkinson? He is at best a mid-level manager. The Red Devils' investment, the board's support, the fans' support, all these have been maximized, but he still can't turn the tide and is completely out of control when facing a crisis."

This is indeed a fair statement. It cannot be said that Atkinson is completely incapable of managing a team. He had led West Bromwich Albion well before coming to the Red Devils.

But West Bromwich Albion and the Red Devils are not comparable at all.

Atkinson's time as West Bromwich Albion manager was a period of great success, and Robson's rise was his biggest reliance. He brought in this core player as soon as he arrived at the Red Devils, and built the team around Robson.

When Robson is in excellent form, playing all positions in the midfield by himself and being able to attack and defend freely, Atkinson's Red Devils will play very energetically, but this lineup and structure is still easy for opponents to become familiar with and find countermeasures.

The core of the Red Devils is Robson. Atkinson is good at England's traditional 442. His tactical style is completely traditional long charge and short pass, steady defense and counterattack.

Atkinson's biggest problem is his lack of comprehensive ability and his inability to make continuous progress and change. He knew that the team lacked offensive ability, but he even purged Mark Hughes because of his personal likes and dislikes. After buying Strachan and Davenport, one is a technical player and the other is a goal-grabbing player, the team's style is even more chaotic.

Another problem comes from alcohol.

Alcoholism is rampant in English football, and the Red Devils are a typical example. Alcohol can seriously affect players' physical recovery and physical reserve, affect judgment and coordination of movements, and is harmful to competitive sports. Atkinson likes to drink, and he also likes to drink with the players. The Red Devils' drinking trend was the most popular during Atkinson's time, and it can be said that he was the most serious cause of trouble. The most powerful guys of the Red Devils were nicknamed "Three Gentlemen of Wine". The Red Devils' core players were seriously injured, and alcoholism was one of the main reasons.

The Red Devils players are frequently injured, but the team does not pay enough attention to sports trauma and medical treatment, and the treatment and recovery of injuries are not satisfactory. Many players even play with injuries, or directly take injections of blockade and painkillers. This situation can easily lead to a vicious cycle of injury upon injury, which will eventually put the entire team in trouble and directly lead to bad consequences.

After losing one game after another, players were injured. After losing again and again, more players were injured. The whole team became a fallen rogue army... The Red Devils were thus plunged into a huge crisis.

Atkinson has no way to deal with this. "The Red Devils' problem is temporary. I can't say that it only takes one game to solve this problem, but I think the difficult stage will not take long to pass. I know what happened to the team, and I believe the team will get through the difficulties. It only takes time."

Atkinson's rhetoric failed to convince the fans. It only took one victory to save the crisis, and there were many opportunities to save him, but the Red Devils just couldn't win the game, whether it was the cup or the league. Instead, they were defeated again and again, sliding into the abyss step by step.

On November 1986, 11, the Red Devils suffered a crushing defeat to Southampton and it was all over.

After leaving Manchester United, Atkinson went to coach other teams in the English League One. He later led Villa to defeat Manchester United and win the League Cup. But his ending was not good. After "defecting" from Villa, he coached Nottingham Forest, which directly led to the team's relegation.

Atkinson's reputation fell to the worst, he was fired by Forest again and had to retire.

Atkinson later worked as a football commentator on TV and opened a football commentary column in the Guardian. In 2004, he was complained of racial discrimination in his comments on black star Desailly and lost his job. In 2005, Atkinson rarely made a notorious racist statement: "China should not have a population problem? Their family planning policy is evil, and Chinese women are the ugliest in the world."

Atkinson's insulting remarks against China aroused the anger of Chinese people around the world, and the voices of protest set off the entire English public opinion field. Atkinson had to apologize, and the TV station that hired him also directly distanced itself from him. From then on, Atkinson was like a rat crossing the street, and completely disappeared from the public opinion field.

In early November 1986, the English League One standings were very strange. The last four teams in the English League One standings were: Newcastle United, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

The power structure of British football is constantly changing, and there is not much difference between the top teams and the grassroots. Chelsea, which rose to prominence after being acquired by Russia's richest man and won the Champions League, Arsenal, which baptized England with a record-breaking unbeaten record, Manchester City and Newcastle, which relied on West Asian oil daddies, Liverpool, which regained the Premier League and Champions League titles... There is even Leeds United, which suddenly rose but disappeared and is now back in force, and Blackburn and Leicester City, which once won the Premier League title, etc., all of which were once extremely glorious or played the role of dark horses, but they have also been knocked down or repeatedly struggled and sunk.

After the Premier League entered the 21st century, the football landscape changed from the Big 4 to the Big 6. Political and war factors also began to affect investors, and funds from more regions began to invest deeply in the Premier League... The world of football is constantly changing, and people sometimes forget its long history.

Back to the end of 1986, Liverpool was the strongest team in recent seasons and the dominant team in the league. Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham, Nottingham and other teams were the strong teams of the time, and they challenged for the league championship from time to time. Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and other teams were well-known at the time, while Luton, Coventry, Wolves and other teams were just in the middle, and Oxford United and Wimbledon were small teams.

The football landscape back then was different from today, but the intensity of competition was the same. The divisions between the dominant and powerful teams, the mid-table teams, the dark horses and the struggling teams were not as chasms as they seemed. A strong team could become a favorite for relegation, a league champion could be overtaken by a dark horse, and the fate of different teams would also change dramatically.

The Red Devils have reached such a sensitive juncture. Having won the FA Cup and finished second in the league, they had previously been considered a strong team that could challenge for the league title. However, this season they have fallen off a cliff and are facing the risk of relegation after a series of defeats.

Ferguson taking over the Red Devils at this time means that it will be much more difficult than for a mid-level team that has clear goals before the start of the season, and it may even be a few points more difficult than for a weak team that is determined to avoid relegation at the beginning of the season.

A phoenix that has fallen to the ground is no better than a chicken. As a former giant, the Red Devils, who dominated the FA Cup in the past few seasons and competed for the championship in the league, will always be compared with other famous coaches by the media for their fame and strength. A tiger in trouble is bullied by a dog. The current decline of the Red Devils has naturally affected Ferguson's original aura, and it has also increased the difficulty of his leading the team.

There were many famous coaches in English League One back then. The one with the brightest halo was of course Clough, the famous coach of Forest, Venables who returned from Barcelona to coach Tottenham, Dalglish, the Liverpool star who turned from a player to a coach, and so on.

The most famous one is the legendary Clough, who led Nottingham Forest to win the league championship and then won two consecutive Champions League titles, becoming the top figure in English football. Venables is internationally renowned, and his coaching skills have been recognized by European giants; as for Dalglish, he led the team as a legendary Liverpool player, and Liverpool itself was also a European powerhouse at the time. In addition to these famous coaches, Roy Hodgson coached the Swedish Malmö team to win two league titles and cup titles between 1985 and 1990, led Malmö to win five trophies, and also won a prominent international reputation; the famous coach Bobby Robson led Ipswich to win the UEFA Cup in 5, and then became the head coach of the England national team. He led England to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 1981, but unfortunately lost 1986-1 to Argentina. Redknapp had just started at Bournemouth, leading the team to win the championship in the English League Three and be promoted to the English League Two. At that time, the 2-year-old Frenchman Wenger was coaching the French Ligue 37 team Nancy, but eventually ranked 19th in Ligue and was relegated.

Among these figures, Dalglish and Ferguson have a deep relationship. They are both Scottish and 10 years apart in age. Dalglish was once the main player when Ferguson was in charge of the Scottish team, but there were many conflicts between the general and the coach. He also completed his last performance for the national team 4 days after Ferguson took over the Red Devils, helping the Scottish team beat Luxembourg 1988-3 in the 0 European Championship qualifiers. Outside the national team, Dalglish's career achievements are much higher than Ferguson's. He made immortal contributions to Liverpool's dominance in England and the Champions League. After becoming Liverpool's head coach, he also opened a new chapter and won the league championship in his first season as coach.

In contrast, Ferguson's arrival at Manchester United was a difficult matter. As Dalglish led Liverpool to great success, how Ferguson could save Manchester United from relegation became a hot topic in the media.

The Manchester Evening News bluntly stated that the Red Devils are becoming a "mess", having suffered a complete defeat in the league, ranking second from the bottom in the standings and facing the risk of relegation at any time; The Guardian said that the most embarrassing thing for the Red Devils fans is that the team has lost its soul and has completely lost its enterprising spirit; The Daily Mail pointed out that the Red Devils were eliminated by Southampton in the League Cup. In addition to the horrible content of the game, Whiteside was also seriously injured, which was really a "loss of both the wife and the army".

Almost all the media are sneering and gloating. The Red Devils have been losing games one after another, so it is not unfair for Atkinson to be fired; but for the Red Devils and their fans, the current predicament is tormenting. Not only that, these years have been wasted, and it is unknown when the team will rise again...

Ferguson knew the Red Devils' predicament when he took over. The team was full of injuries and it was difficult to even put together a starting lineup. Robson, Whiteside, McGrath and Blake were all unable to play. Strachan was injured every time he played, and Davenport was sometimes in good form and sometimes in bad form. Among the players who could play, there was no one who could be relied on.

A team where half of the main players are useless and all the starting players are mentally exhausted.

For an airborne head coach, the difficulty is extremely great.