However, poor league form meant United completely disapeared from the title race and this incited supporters to call for his resignation. This was said to be Alex Ferguson's darkest period in football. That same season, United were drawn against Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup and with Forest flying high in the league, many expected United to lose and Ferguson to be sacked. He has built and dismantled many world class squads over the years and he is currently in the process of shaping the latest Man United team full of youngsters ready to dominate for another five or six seasons.
Ferguson claimed he would be retiring from football management at the end of the season but later changed his mind and vowed to stay for at least another three seasons. After claiming the Premier League and Champions League double in , Ferguson stated he would leave the club within three seasons because he wanted to leave United as a more successful club than long standing rivals, Liverpool. The board may want to install a new manager who will take over the reigns without too much of a change being implemented.
All had to believe that they were part of the club and that a resurgence was coming. It is understandable that his memories focus on the big rebuilding work.
There was little to mark out the season from a football perspective. There was certainly no new-manager bounce brought about by his arrival. United lost away at Oxford, drew with Norwich City away then scraped a narrow home win over Queens Park Rangers in his first Old Trafford encounter.
Back-to-back victories would have to wait until the end of December, but at least when they came, they were memorable. A routine success over Leicester City was followed up with a Boxing Day victory at Anfield, thanks to a Norman Whiteside winner.
From the turn of the year, they went unbeaten until March. Bryan Robson and Whiteside stood out to Ferguson. In Managing My Life , he wrote of Robson: "It would have been impossible for any manager to avoid thinking of Robbo as a hero.
He was a miracle of commitment. Of Whiteside, he wrote: "When I first saw Norman on the training ground at the Cliff, I felt the excitement that is stirred by watching a player of the highest class. He was less impressed by the squad as a whole, though. He goes on to relay a conversation with United's then-chairman: "I told Martin Edwards that I really needed about eight new players, and to my surprise, he was taken aback. You could say I was shocked at how shocked he was. The Scot had enjoyed great success north of the border at Aberdeen, but had no experience in England as a player or manager.
Sir Alex sits alongside chairman Martin Edwards, at his very first United press conference. However, once the man from Govan had helped the Reds to a first major trophy — the FA Cup — he never looked back. And what followed was over 20 years of near unbroken success, encompassing 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues and five FA Cups. I would have to build from the bottom up, rectifying the flaws I had recognised and spreading my influence and self-belief through every layer of the organisation.
All had to believe that they were part of the club and that a resurgence was coming. The new manager tries on the club merchandise for size.
His legacy as the most successful football manager in British history was secured not only by the number of trophies he won but also by how he transformed the club and helped them to become one of the greatest global teams of all time. His ability to build numerous successful squads over the years, blending home-grown talent with global superstars, has seen Ferguson overcome the doubters at many points during his tenure.
While fans were sad to see succesful players such as Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis, David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club, Ferguson always knew how he would bring new talent in. More often that not, another trophy-winning season would follow.
Just some of the remarkable statistics applicable upon his retirement in May include a total of 49 major trophies won under his guidance, 24 players who have graduated through the United academy and have gone on to play for some of the best clubs in Europe, and a record number of 28 wins in a Premier League season in , and Since being one of the inaugural managerial inductees to the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in , he went on to win a further 17 trophies for his club.
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