Manchester United’s Ten Hag the latest to wilt in Ferguson’s shadow

LONDON : Alex Ferguson may have been stripped of his Manchester United ambassadorial role last week but his legacy as manager remains a stifling cloud for those following in his footsteps, with Erik ten Hag the latest to be jettisoned after failing to measure up.
Results under the Dutchman were disappointing from the start, and the temporary lifts gained from winning the League and FA Cups were never going to be likely to satisfy the modern generation of fans or the new ownership who expect instant success at the highest level for their huge investment.
For supporters of a generation who still consider the Premier League to be a new-fangled marketing ploy, two Wembley triumphs in two years would have been considered a reasonable return for a club that went 26 years without winning the title.
Ferguson, however, transformed that mentality with his extraordinary 26-year tenure that enabled the long-suffering United fans to gorge on trophies – an incredible 39 of them.
It is often conveniently overlooked that the Scot’s first four years were totally barren, but he was given far more time to turn things around than any of those who succeeded him.
United, who had last won the league in 1967, finished 11th, 2nd, 11th, 13th and sixth in Ferguson’s first five seasons and did not get their hands on the title until 1993 after Ferguson had been trying and failing for seven years.
However, United’s subsequent total domestic dominance and two Champions League triumphs utterly changed the expectations of supporters who grew to know only success.
Few could have predicted when Ferguson finally stepped down in 2013, having won the Premier League for an incredible 13th time, that 11 years later United would not only not have won it again but barely been in the mix.
FERGUSON SUCCESSOR
Ferguson pretty much personally anointed fellow Scot David Moyes as his successor but the gritty realism that kept Everton hovering in the top half of the table did not transfer to a squad of superstars and he was kicked out after a year, having overseen a seven-placed finish, United’s worst for 24 years.
Dutchman Louis van Gaal was a distant figure the fans did not take to and lasted 22 largely forgettable months, opening the door for the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho.
Finally, supporters felt, they had got a manager with a swaggering ego perfectly matched for their perceived top-dog status even as on the pitch they were again falling behind Liverpool and, most unbearably, Manchester City.
Mourinho did bring European glory back but the Europa League was not where United felt they should be and he too lasted only just over two seasons.
Next up was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who provided probably the most dramatic moment in the club’s rich history with his stoppage-time winner in the 1999 Champions League final to clinch the treble.
Despite a bottomless well of goodwill that did not work either and the short-term appointment of Ralf Rangnick merely seemed to underline the mess the club had got itself into.
UNCOMFORTABLE FIT
Ten Hag took over in 2022, but from the start he seemed an uncomfortable fit.
The Dutchman was not, of course, helped by the often-wretched displays of the biggest names at the club, some whom he inherited but many he brought in via a two-year, half-billion pounds spending spree.
Antony, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Mason Mount, Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund all cost big fees, but it is hard to imagine any of them getting in the Aston Villa first team let alone champions Manchester City’s.
However, with every defeat, Ten Hag’s deadpan analysis and seemingly bottomless collection of excuses left the fans ever-more angry and crying out for some passion.
That instead came from former players-turned-pundits such as Roy Keane and Gary Neville, who rained down opprobrium on the players and manager almost on a weekly basis.
They have become the voice of Ferguson, who has publicly kept his counsel through each management failure but whose shadow – metaphorically and literally from his place high in the stands – remains the silver-plated yardstick by which each successor is measured.
Being the manager of England has long been described as football’s impossible job but sitting in the Old Trafford dugout in the post-Ferguson era could well have supplanted it.