Reading Sir Alex Ferguson's autobiography has really aroused my curiosity about the salient tenets and conditions necessary for success as a football coach in the 21st century.
Before he (Sir Alex) became one of the greatest football coaches in modern day history, he experienced some challenges during the early days of his tenure at Man United, so much so that his reign as coach was in doubt due to, amongst other things, the immense pressure from the United fan base at the time.
In the 1989-1990 season, Ferguson splashed out the cheque book, acquiring the services of midfielders Neil Webb, Mike Phelan and Paul Ince as well as a defender Gary Pallister and winger Danny Wallace. Man Utd began the season all guns blazing, thrashing defending champions Arsenal 4-1. Unfortunately, things turned pear-shaped thereafter. In September of that year, United suffered an agonising 5-1 hammering from rivals Manchester City. Due to an early season form run which included 6 losses and 2 draws in 8 games, combined with the Man City loss, a banner at Old Trafford screamed, "Three years of excuses and it's still crap ... ta-ra Fergie". A large number of supporters and journalists called for him to be given his marching orders. He later described December 1989 as "the darkest period he had ever suffered in the game" as United finished slightly outside the relegation zone.
Ferguson later conceded that the board of directors had pledged their support of his tenure and understood some reasons why the club had underperformed, which included the sweeping injuries of key players. Despite possessing a normal displeasure of having underperformed, they were pleased with how he had re-engineered the club's coaching and scouting system. Despite a 7 game winless streak, He managed to win his first major title, the FA Cup as Man United coach, beating Everton 1-0 after an initial 3-3 score in the first game of the final.
In the 90'-91' season, United finished in 6th place, with some highlights which included a 6-2 annihilation of Arsenal and a first class debut for young upstart Ryan Giggs.
In the 91'-92' season, United won the League Cup and the UEFA Super Cup for the first time in United's history.
In the 92'-93' season, United managed to recruit Frenchman Eric Cantona, a striker from Leeds United. Cantona's partnership with Mark Hughs proved to be dynamic, devastating all defences in their path, leading to United's first league title in 26 years. This was also the first ever English Premier League, won with a comfortable 10 point margin from second place Aston Villa. To top it off, Alex Ferguson was voted Manager of the Year by the League Managers' Association.
As is clearly evident from the above, Sir Alex Ferguson's ascension did not happen over night. It took several elements working together to eventually create a Manchester United which went on to dominate not only England, becoming a major contender in Europe, and by virtue of winning the FIFA Club World Cup in 2008, was the best football club in the world. It took 4 seasons to win a major trophy (FA Cup,1989–90) and his 7th season to win the league title (1992–93).
One wonders whether perhaps certain coaches would have attained different outcomes under different circumstances. One wonders whether a man like David Moyes would have done better at Manchester United had he been given more time. A David Moyes led Manchester United outfit, ironically, has gone further than all other mentors at the helm in the post Ferguson years in the UEFA Champions league.
Being at the coalface of a major club such as Kaizer Chiefs has also proven to be a major challenge for coach Steve Khompela. One can't help but wonder what he could have gone on to achieve at Naturena had circumstances been different.
Building a club, running a successful organisation, having a great team, having a great coach, managing relationships between sponsors, supporters, players, coaching staff etc is a delicate balancing act. Being on the board of a football club in top flight football has always been an incredible task. For those clubs wishing to build clubs which will last, the board will have to continue to make carefully weighted decisions.
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