'I told Sir Alex Ferguson he wouldn't be sacked despite dire Man Utd run'
As Sir Alex Ferguson won more and more trophies at Manchester United, the story about him being one defeat from the sack back in 1990 grew legs, but the man who had the power to hand the Scot his P45 has revealed that was never the case.
The story goes that United's form in the 1989-90 season left Ferguson under pressure around the turn of the year. Eight winless games put extra strain on the FA Cup third-round meeting with Nottingham Forest, with defeat potentially the final straw for the manager.
Mark Robins scored the winner, supposedly saving the boss, and United ended the season as cup winners. The rest was history, so they say.
Except there's one small problem. United chairman Martin Edwards would have been the man tasked with sacking Ferguson if his team lost to Forest, and Edwards himself has explained that was never on the cards.
“I spoke to him in the week leading up to the Forest game, and said that if we did lose, it wasn’t going to result in the sack," Edwards told FourFourTwo. “I wanted to give him that comfort before the game.
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“Coming second flattered us in 1988 – the team needed strengthening and probably his management helped us get to that position, but we weren’t good enough to win the title. “We were patient, particularly during 1989-90, because we’d bought five players and had to give them time to gel.
“He’d revamped the whole scouting system and we could see the work going on with the youth team, so we felt it was worth supporting. We had faith that success would arrive, but I’m glad it arrived when it did because we were coming under pressure from fans and everyone else."
Was the Forest game a critical turning point for Ferguson? Have your say in the comments section
Mark Robins scored United's winner against Nottingham Forest (Daily Mirror)United didn't immediately recover in the league. Indeed, they lost their next two to leave relegation as a distinct possibility, but seven wins from the final 14 games led them to the relative comfort of 13th place.
The momentum came from the cup run, though. After away wins against Hereford, Newcastle and Sheffield United, Ferguson's team needed replays in both the semis and the final to bring their manager his first silverware in English football.
There was steady improvement over the next two seasons, too. Sixth place and a Cup Winners' Cup win in 1990-91, second place and a League Cup win the following year, and then the first of Ferguson's 13 Premier League titles in 1993.
Manchester United fans backed the under-pressure Alex Ferguson in 1990 (Daily Mirror)Ferguson also poured cold water on the suggestions he was one game for dismissal, sharing his recollection ahead of a meeting with a Barnsley side managed by Robins in 2009. "The goal at Forest was an important goal, don’t get me wrong, and who's to say what would have happened without it, but I don’t think it saved my job," he said.
"You never know in football. Who's to say how the club would have reacted if we'd lost and if crowds had tumbled? Although it was unusual for United crowds to do that. One thing's for sure though - Bobby Charlton would not have let it [my sacking] happen. He knows better than anyone the heartbeat of this football club.
"This football club needed the foundation of youth and we were doing some great work there. Bobby knew we were on the right road."
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