Ferguson Wouldn't Have Survived Slow Start At United Today
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Chelsea Chairman: Ferguson Wouldn't Have Survived Slow Start At Manchester United Today
Chelsea have attracted criticism for their recent hiring and firing of managers, their perceived lack of patience contrasting with the situations at Old Trafford and the Emirates, where longevity has been the order of the day for both Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and, especially, Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson.
However, perhaps reacting to accusations that Chelsea are somewhat trigger-happy, their chairman Bruce Buck has said he thinks the unimpressive start Ferguson made at Old Trafford would have seen him ousted in today's climate long before the four years it took the Scot to land his first trophy as United boss.
It is generally believed that Fergie, appointed in the Autumn of 1986, was on the verge of being fired before Mark Robins scored the goal that kept them in the 1990 FA Cup, which they went on to win. The rest, as they say, is history - and a glittering history at that, including a remarkable 10 Premier League titles, two Champions League triumphs, a Cup Winners' Cup win, four more FA Cups and two League Cups.
Ferguson is now in his 23rd season at the United helm, while Wenger (three League titles and four FA Cups) is in his 13th at Arsenal. Chelsea, in contrast, have Guus Hiddink taking charge of the team for the first time this weekend, the Dutchman becoming their fourth manager in less than 18 months.
In the opinion of many, his predecessor, Luiz Felipe Scolari, was not given nearly enough time in the job.
But Buck has told Chelsea's official website, "A lot of people talk about continuity in managers and I think that we as a board and Roman [Abramovich, the Blues' owner] would agree that continuity is a real plus.
“But we don’t think it’s continuity for continuity’s sake and it has to be with the right person at the right time.
“Everyone points to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United as situations where continuity has worked very well. But football has moved on and I think it was four, five years before Alex Ferguson really won anything at Manchester United.
“I think the way dynamics of football are today, that’s not really acceptable. When Manchester United does finally change coaches, and they will at some point, I don’t think they will have the luxury of waiting four, five, six or seven years for their new manager to win a trophy.
“I think times are different from when Wenger and Ferguson first started their jobs. Everyone looks at continuity as helpful and as relevant but there’s not a lot of it because of the nature of football.
“So yes, continuity is important but it has to be with the right person and it’s very hard to achieve.” -
Witht eh current united squad, if you don't win anything, you deserve to be sacked. What they failed to noticed is that Ferguson and Wenger did'nt inherit a good team. Fergie inherited a recently promoted team of drunkards and turned them into winners. Scholari inherited a team perfectly capable of winning the title....