Manchester United legend

Chapter 84 Ferguson's Crisis
Entering February, the situation in the league is still very good for Newcastle. When entering the most critical middle and late stages of the league and cup, the league has already played 23 rounds, and there are 15 rounds to go. Manchester United only has 45 points, and they are still 9 points behind their rivals Newcastle United after playing one more game. In the FA Cup, Manchester United will also encounter strong opponents one after another.Is there hope for Manchester United?

On newspapers and TV, reporters and commentators criticized Ferguson even more sharply, and their sarcasm was even more bitter: what about Manchester United is "the end of the world";

Indeed, Manchester United before February can only be said to be struggling to catch up, while Ferguson is facing double pressure from the board and the field.In addition, a danger awaits him.

This season will be the period from the implementation of Ferguson's last contract to the negotiation.

Unlike later Manchester United fans who took it for granted that Ferguson never had to worry about contract renewal, Ferguson really faced the possibility of the club not renewing his contract that season-even though it seems so ridiculous now.

why?
Because there are conflicts between Ferguson and the board of directors, and there are many conflicts, and there are still signs of intensification last season.

First of all, last season Ferguson lost the league championship and the FA Cup championship, and they all left the championship behind by extremely small gaps.

Such a failed season has shamed the board of directors who have become accustomed to the glory of the championship.Changing the head coach to try other people's luck, such a proposal was brought up as a topic of discussion.

Although Ferguson has been coaching Manchester United for many seasons, many board members still think that Ferguson is not the best coach. There is no magic in tactics, and he wasted a good hand. Not winning consecutive championships is already unbearable for them.

The second reason is that Ferguson sheltered Cantona and Jost. For this reason, he even went crazy on the board of directors and offended many board members.

The vicious incident of Cantona kicking Crystal Palace fans has greatly damaged the image of Manchester United-for a long time, the discipline of the Manchester United team and the quality of Manchester United players have been criticized by the English media.

For a long time Manchester United played other teams and were booed much more intensely by other fans.

During that period of time, no matter whether it was a cat or a dog in English football, they could point and spit at Manchester United.

The "conservative gentlemen" on Manchester United's board of directors felt very ashamed and felt that this would have a fatal impact on the club's management, so they kept forcing Ferguson to give up Cantona.

But Ferguson insisted that Cantona was an indispensable leader of Manchester United, and in March 1995 he flew to France to renew his contract with Cantona for 3 years.

Then Jost trampled on the FA Cup maliciously, and Manchester United stood on the cusp for a while.Becoming the target of media attacks, Ferguson protected Jost again, and got into a fight with the board members, which made the board members of Manchester United dissatisfied.

The third reason is that Ferguson cleaned up many core players in the team who were still good at fighting with his iron fist. The storm in the locker room shook the entire Old Trafford.

Many of the purged core players have a large number of supporters on the board.

These people naturally make a big fuss about the purge of Ferguson, and there are countless accusations and attacks directed at Ferguson.

Some members of the board of directors who did not pretend to understand said, "It is completely unreasonable for Ferguson to expel a core player like Ince and cover up Cantona." Some management members believed that Ferguson blindly believed in young players and wantonly purged old players in order to make Manchester United his own team. Ferguson may become a "dictator".

The most critical reason is that people on the board of directors cannot see the hope of winning this season.

In the face of Newcastle's outstanding results, Ferguson's results this season are a bit overshadowed.

After the new year, Manchester United is still so many points behind, and there is no hope of winning the championship.

On the FA Cup battlefield, although Manchester United maintains hope, this is an event full of upset opportunities. The board of directors will not have the foresight at that time, thinking that Ferguson will finally win the cup.

The BBC reporter who specialized in following the team had a keen premonition, and revealed the possibility of Manchester United's possible coaching change at the very beginning of the season, and pointed out that Ferguson's position was actually precarious.

The Daily Mail, Mirror and other media have even appeared some reports predicting who will take over Ferguson next season.

Jost's contract with Manchester United still expires in one year. Affected by Ferguson, Jost did not sign the new contract Manchester United gave Jost.

Facing the officials sent by Manchester United to discuss contract renewal with him, Jost said that he would not sign a new contract until Ferguson signed a new contract.

However, this news was leaked somehow and became the target of media hype. The media hyped that Jost did not sign a new contract and might transfer to the Spanish League in the summer, but in fact Jost did not have an agent.No Spanish team is interested in him either.

The teams that are interested in Jost are all in the UK. Liverpool, Newcastle, Blackburn, and Arsenal have expressed their interest in Jost, and Liverpool is the most sincere.

As soon as the news of Jost's possible transfer to Spain came out, Liverpool immediately offered Manchester United £500.This was a sky-high price for Jost, who was only a little famous in England at the time.

But Ferguson refused without hesitation, he knew the value of Jost.

The undercurrent stirred again, and Ferguson sneered at the remarks of those reporters.

But the board of directors had to officially start talking about the contract renewal with Ferguson.

The rational Ferguson still gave the initiative on this issue to time.

He told the board that the renewal issue could wait until the summer.

In the face of such a gesture, there was a brief confusion on the Manchester United board of directors.

Soon, the voices supporting Ferguson began to resound. The fans and the Red Devils all claimed to support Ferguson, and the team stood on Ferguson's side overwhelmingly.

Negotiations on the signing turned out to favor Ferguson.Ferguson's confidence needs to be supported by achievements, and such a reason does not need any discussion.

So, when entering February, Manchester United, who blocked the killing Buddha and the Buddha alone, came back.

Manchester United maintained the bravery of a complete league victory, and in the FA Cup breakout match, Manchester United also maintained a steady and steady progress.

Although there is still a long way to go to the top of the league, Ferguson directed the players to keep winning and catching up. The whole team also maintained confidence and good condition, and continued to accelerate the speed of catching up.

Under such circumstances, major shareholders still deeply realize the indispensability of Ferguson.

When the board of directors discussed, Charlton and others showed consistent wisdom and foresight. He insisted on renewing the contract with Ferguson, "We can't have the slightest hesitation on this issue. That is definitely a crime against the Red Devils!"

In the end, the problem was solved.Manchester United announced that it will renew the contract with Ferguson after the end of the season, and the new contract will be signed until 2001!
(End of this chapter)