‘Three years of excuses and it’s still cr*p – Tara Fergie’, read a banner made from a white bed sheet and black paint unfurled by disgruntled Manchester United supporters at the midway stage of Sir Alex Ferguson’s fourth season as manager. Fittingly, it complimented a defeat to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. Sound familiar?
A 2-1 defeat to the Eagles on home soil left United 12th in the First Division, having lost seven of their opening 16 games of the season, and intensified the mutiny against Ferguson’s reign.
The Red Devils were also out of the League Cup after suffering a 3-0 thumping against Tottenham Hotspur, also at Old Trafford.
Ferguson was not a popular figure on the Stretford End at that point. It’s an unthinkable prospect to ponder today, but it wasn’t a surprise 34 years ago.
After the Scot replaced Ron Atkinson in the hot seat in November 1986, he guided United to 11th, second and 11th-place league finishes and lifted no silverware.
It’s fair to say the Red Devils were rewarded for keeping faith in Ferguson, who had to wait a further four years from that Palace loss for his maiden league title.
He eventually brought 38 trophies to Old Trafford before his 2013 retirement. That’s not in the realm of possibility for Ten Hag or any of United’s future managers.
Neither is a manager retaining his job fit if they suffered a similar start as Ferguson at a club of United’s magnitude in the modern game.
However, United’s decision-makers must harness the wisdom of their predecessors four decades ago and stick with Ten Hag, no matter how ugly the 2023/24 season becomes.
Mikel Arteta is a common comparison. The Spaniard could only record back-to-back eighth-place finishes before fumbling a top-four spot in his third campaign in the Arsenal dugout.
But the Gunners trusted the process and pushed Manchester City all the way in last season’s Premier League title race, and look set to do the same this term.
However, United don’t even need to look at Arsenal to inspire patience with Ten Hag.
The Dutchman has already done more than Ferguson achieved in his first three seasons at the helm by lifting the Carabao Cup in his maiden year in England.
Ten Hag has splashed over £400million since his arrival last summer, and the steepness of United’s regression so far this term is alarming. But he has credit in the bank.
He has shown enough signs that he is the right candidate to take the club back where it belongs. Such a dramatic change of culture was always going to be a case of short-term pain for long-term gain.
The process won’t be quick, regardless of his surprisingly successful start, and United must stick to their guns to ensure the club doesn’t go back to square one under a new man in charge.
