The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 62: Violent "Hair Dryer"

"The first time Ferguson turned on the hair dryer," its ferocity shocked everyone. The team lost badly to Tottenham, but the players showed an indifferent attitude, which Ferguson would never accept. "

--Inscription

In the match against Queens Park Rangers, the Red Devils were passive everywhere and finally shook hands with their opponents with great difficulty.

Ferguson's face was very ugly on the spot. He knew that his players were much stronger than their opponents, no matter which position they were in. But he barely suppressed his anger, knowing that the players had just finished the battle with Liverpool and their spirits were bound to be low.

In the following game, Ferguson was no longer willing to tolerate it. His team faced the "crazy gang" Wimbledon, and was once again beaten 1-0 by the barbaric Wimbledon team.

Ferguson was furious.

He couldn't understand why the team lost to Wimbledon twice in a row, and both times the scenes were extremely ugly. After the game, Ferguson exploded and started to criticize the team in the locker room. He severely scolded the players who performed poorly, and scolded almost everyone.

Some players remember this as Ferguson's first blow dryer.

Ferguson did not give the players any face. He shouted: "Are you all babies without balls? How can you be as weak as chickens? When two armies meet, the brave one wins. You surrender before the game even starts? The opponent is not an outstanding person, let alone a league overlord or a gangster boss. Why do you look so disgusting and let others trample on you?!"

Ferguson certainly knew that the team was a little unmotivated and in poor overall form, but he did not think that was a reason to lose the game mindlessly.

Ferguson said: "You are all softies! You are rubbish. We are the Red Devils, how can we not attack? How can we not be tough? This is our home ground, so many fans are watching, so many fans who love the team are cheering for us, shouldn't we play tougher?!"

Ferguson became angrier and angrier as he spoke. "The opponent's style is so rough and tough, but how can we be humiliated like this? You didn't react even when you were bullied? Are you all a bunch of rubbish? You are so spineless, you really disgraced the Red Devils! This is a battle, how can we not fight? We should fight back strongly when facing provocations, but now you are being pushed to the ground and rubbed without reacting. I really don't want you to be like this, this is more insulting than being slapped in the face, how can you be calm?!"

Ferguson continued to lecture everyone in the locker room in a very high voice at a deafening volume.

Ferguson said: "I am angry, angry at all of you, angry at everything. It's not that I can't accept losing, but I can never accept losing like this. You are so listless, so weak and incompetent, it's really shameful. The tradition of the Red Devils is not pleasure and weakness. The Red Devils must not be without ideals and sense of honor, must not lose fighting spirit, must not lose courage, must not be numb and be bullied without resistance."

"We should bully others and make others fear us! Damn it, you are such rubbish and such a weakling!"

Ferguson's speech was deafening.

Everyone listened in silence, their souls hurt.

Ferguson was certainly out of control and his language was rude, but that's just how he is.

Many Red Devils players were really scared. Goalkeeper Turner recalled: "Ferguson's first blow dryer? He had an outburst after we lost to Wimbledon. There was no sign before that outburst. He had been in office for 6 months and had gradually become familiar with us. We didn't think he was particularly excessive. We didn't play well on the field that day. He called us back to the locker room after the game and directly launched a barrage of attacks. We were all scared by his fury. He shouted and yelled at each of us. No one dared to move, and no one dared to look him in the eye."

The Red Devils players truly witnessed Ferguson's violence and saw the power of the "hair dryer" for the first time.

Ferguson doesn't turn on the hair dryer easily. This outburst also made everyone realize that Ferguson's requirements for the game are extremely strict. The changes in the field and the performance of the players have always been his top concerns. If the performance is not good, the players will be sharply criticized by him. If they deliberately play badly, then the fate that follows may be tragic.

After losing to Wimbledon, the Red Devils went to Tottenham Hotspur's home ground to play a midday kick-off game, which was the 40th round of the league. The starting lineup for that game was goalkeeper Walsh, defenders Sevebek, McGrath, Gibson, Duxbury, midfielders Mullen, Robson, Strachan and Gibson, and forwards Whiteside and Olsen. The Red Devils were not in good shape in this game, and the key was that they had no fighting spirit. Many people may not be used to playing at this time, and some people are not interested in fighting. In the end, the whole team did not perform well, and the game ended up losing 0-4.

Ferguson was stunned by the defeat.

Compared with the score, what Ferguson could not accept was that the team played so badly.

Worse than against Wimbledon.

Ferguson's face was red with anger, and his eyes were about to spit fire. He came to the locker room and shouted angrily to calm the whole audience, and then he got angry at the players one by one, scolding them. Ferguson's mouth was full of foul language, and the curse words were like high-speed bullets, firing at all the players. He was full of anger and kept roaring. He was like a flamethrower at full power, shooting at all the players fiercely.

"I'll never forget the time Ferguson's blow dryer really scared me," said Albiston.

This season, Tottenham Hotspur was in excellent form under Ferguson's friend David Pleat. They forced Arsenal to fight three games in the League Cup semi-finals, finished third in the league, and made it to the FA Cup final. Although they lost 2-3 to Coventry City in the FA Cup final, most people agreed that Tottenham Hotspur was the more dominant side.

Against the Red Devils, Tottenham was in excellent form at the time. They also had certain strength advantages and the support of the home fans. In order to deal with Tottenham, Ferguson made very detailed and targeted deployments. Albiston did not play that day, but he remembered it very clearly. He said: "Ferguson gave a very detailed tactical explanation before the game, telling the team what might happen on the field, how Tottenham would play, etc. For example, Chris Waddle in the opponent's lineup would make several changes of direction before crossing, and we need to pay attention to Michel Thomas attacking from the left rear. He was extremely well prepared for all of this, and almost everyone received a task individually before playing. The result? We lost 0-4, and the whole team was completely vulnerable. Thomas scored two goals after receiving Waddle's cross, and every time Waddle's cross was just as Ferguson predicted, it was exactly the same!"

He said, "As a spectator, I admire Ferguson's predictive ability. But my partners messed it all up. After the game, Ferguson scolded everyone, even the captain Robson. He yelled, you, you and you, oh, I almost forgot about you, you are really rubbish, a bunch of shit! Every danger he reminded us of before the game unfortunately became a reality."

Ferguson didn't just use the hair dryer on one person this time, nor did he spit fire on Severbek's face as rumored. Ferguson's anger was directed at everyone, at every player in the locker room. His face was almost touching the players' faces, his eyes wide open and glaring at them, and a roar came from his throat. Everyone felt terrified, as if facing an angry beast, and his anger made their souls tremble.

Red Devils player Barnes later said: "We were all stunned. We had never seen a manager so crazy before. Atkinson would not be like this. Ferguson was spitting fire all over his body. His expression was really like he wanted to eat someone. He was so violent that Sevebek, who was sitting in front of him, changed his face because of the yelling. We didn't dare to say anything and could only wait for this hurricane to slowly die down."

Ferguson's rage even embarrassed his good friend, Spurs manager Pleat. His extremely high voice, deafening volume, and curses like machine guns could be heard a hundred meters outside the door of the Red Devils' lounge.

This time the "hair dryer" was so powerful that no one dared to talk back, no one even dared to move, and no one dared to look Ferguson in the face.

Sevebek said, "I was the first victim. Because I was sitting at the door, Ferguson was the first to grab me and curse me. His face was hideous and fierce, and I felt scared and helpless. He only sprayed me for less than two minutes, and then changed people, but I felt like it was more than a century."

Strachan was even more impressed. The Scottish star had played under Ferguson, and as a former Aberdeen player, Strachan had already seen the power of Ferguson's hair dryer.

Strachan said: "I saw it as early as when I was in the Aberdeen team. When Ferguson got angry, he could make a hurricane blow on both sides of the High Bay Channel and destroy everything. If Ferguson sprayed you in the face, you would definitely question your life. I was also playing on the field at the time and was criticized in the end."

Strachan said: "Ferguson's rage is sometimes confusing. Some players are unwilling to fight back immediately when provoked by their opponents. They hope to fight back with victory and performance. Some players really don't care. They will even avoid their opponents as if they were avoiding evil spirits. Some players obviously won't suffer a loss. They will get back at the scene and defeat their opponents with performance afterwards... Ferguson obviously likes players with tough personalities. If you don't fight back in Scotland, you will be laughed at."

Ferguson had already made decisions on some players in that game, and after the thundering move, drastic measures came immediately.

Players that Ferguson thought were unsuitable had to prepare to leave the team. Sevebek never played for the Red Devils again and was sent away by Ferguson at the end of the season. The days of some others were also counting down, including strikers Frank Stapleton, Peter Davenport, Terry Gibson, winger Peter Barnes and defender Grammy Hogg. Even McGrath and Whiteside, who seemed indispensable at the time, were already on Ferguson's "blacklist".

The players who stayed to fight naturally knew that changes had to be made.

There were two more games to go, and the Red Devils team mustered up their remaining courage, first drawing with Coventry, and then beating Aston Villa 3-1 in the last game, thus ending the entire league schedule and finally ranking 11th in the standings.

弗格森执教红魔之后带队打了29场联赛，赢11场平10场输8场，从1986年11月6日排名第18飙升到第11，从保级泥潭来到了中游位置。如果从弗格森执教之后英甲才开始计算积分，弗格森的球队能够进入积分前三名。比较阿特金森13场联赛赢3场平4场输6场的数据，弗格森带来的改变不言而喻。

The Red Devils rose rapidly, while Manchester City in the same city was unable to recover and could not escape the danger of relegation. At the end of the season, they finally ranked second from the bottom and were unfortunately relegated.

In addition to the increase in points, under Ferguson's iron fist, the Red Devils team showed a different spirit. In just a few months, Ferguson brought something different to the locker room, changed the team's state, and gave the Red Devils fans hope.

Results are important, but the most important thing is hope!