For a manager in the modern game to have remained at a top club for the amount of years Sir Alex Ferguson has, it is testament to both the club, players and of course the manager himself.
In a time where the managerial door is a revolving one, case in point Chelsea, and boards having little patience for managers who fail to deliver in a short space of time, some may wonder how Fergie has remained in our dugout since 1986.
One of the obvious reasons is the success that Fergie has brought to the club, building several brilliant, winning teams. He has guided inexperienced young players from the very start of their careers to their twilight years – the boys from ‘92 are a perfect example, with Giggs, Scholes and the Neville brothers like sons to the Scotsman. No manager in the game has presided over such a successful tenure at a club.
You only have to look at the trouble Wenger is evidently having now, his team has been in ‘transition’ since their season of being the ‘invincibles’. Seven years later and all Arsenal have achieved is a new stadium which they will struggle to fill should their trophy drought go on much longer. Yet in this time Fergie has built and rebuilt numerous sides, losing players such as Ronaldo and Tevez, yet still winning trophies on a regular baisis.
Credit has to be given to the board at Old Trafford, who during the ‘darkest moments of his career’, resisted calls to sack him and assured him of their faith.
Looking at it they made the right decision and we have been richly rewarded.
As Chelsea rose following Arsenal’s ‘invincible’ season, certain less knowledgeable people in the game suggested it was time for Fergie to retire and we get a new younger manager in. Some of these were the same ‘expert pundits’ who also stated that nothing could be won with kids but again the men upstairs knew that this would be folly, and Fergie remained to win countless more trophies, re-establishing United’s dominance at the top of the game.
United fans will look at the treble winning season of ‘99 fondly and as one of our greatest achievements, with young players who had been raised by the club aided by stellar signings dramatically winning the European Cup at the Nou Camp. After this came a knighthood for Fergie and two more titles.
After such success, a lull was inevitable, and rebuilding of the squad and transition took place – again showing how great Fergie is at knowing when it is time to freshen things up. Big name players left, new ones arrived and Fergie agreed not to retire as was his previous plan after the end of the 2002 campaign.
SAF is definitely MU’s greatest asset. Great players can come and go. MU had many world class players during SAF’s time, and yet he survived them all. Because of the short term nature of a footballer career at the peak, it is inevitable that teams go up and down. This can’t be blamed on any manager. Credit must go to MU’s top mgt for sticking with SAF. This must be MU’s second greatest asset – prudent top management.