There are many achievements of Sir Alex Ferguson’s that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would love to repeat as Manchester United manager. But mirroring the start of the 1989/90 campaign was probably low down on his list. The recent draw against Arsenal gave Manchester United their worst league start to a season in 30 years. When United gained seven points from seven matches in 1989, it seemed that Fergie time was running out.
Backed heavily in the transfer market, it was now time to deliver. Signing Neil Webb and Mike Phelan in the summer, and later adding Gary Pallister, Paul Ince and Danny Wallace to his squad, Ferguson needed a solid start to silence the doubters.
Instead, as the results dipped and the pressure grew, his £13 million outlay on players since his arrival was used as a stick to beat him with. With his players described regularly as “expensive misfits”, many also questioned Ferguson’s decisions in allowing Paul McGrath and Norman Whiteside to leave the club. The vultures were circling.
The troubles ahead must have felt far away as champions Arsenal visited Old Trafford on a gloriously sunny August afternoon. Tearing into George Graham’s team, a crowd of 47,245 witnessed a rampant United pull off a thumping 4-1 win. With debutant Neil Webb scoring a stunner, things appeared to be rosy.
Webb’s was not the only goal scored at the Stretford End that day which created a stir. Prior to the match, businessman Michael Knighton took to the pitch, the 37-year-old seemingly on the brink of becoming chairman in succession to Martin Edwards. Donning a club tracksuit top, and demonstrating some keepie-uppie skills, Knighton basked in the spotlight.
Alas, his promises to complete a £20 million takeover were as empty as the goal he scored in that day, and Knighton’s plans turned to dust as the season progressed. This, and the impending downturn in results, led to “club in crisis” stories dominating the back pages as the 1980s drew to a close.
A last minute Ian Wright equaliser denied United three points at Crystal Palace, in a match that Ferguson’s team had dominated, but the real problems were just around the corner. A 2-0 defeat at Derby raised the first doubts, as another false dawn disappeared. “After the sunny start it was back to the grey days,” Clive White wrote in the Times. Soon there would be more clouds on the horizon.
The 2-0 home loss against Norwich was the biggest of wake-up calls. With £2.3 million signing Pallister giving away a penalty on debut, and influential skipper Robson limping out, the “Woe upon woe for United” headline in the Times was spot-on. When Webb then ruptured his Achilles tendon whilst on international duty, Ferguson must have been bemoaning his luck.
A 3-2 loss at Everton in truth flattered United, as the Express’ James Lawton indicated that “United, after spending £11 million [prior to the Ince and Wallace signings], are as far as ever from breaking into the circle of power formed almost exclusively by Liverpool.”
Never mind Liverpool; even at this early stage of the season, Ferguson had one eye over his shoulder looking at the likes of Palace and Charlton. The gloom was lifted temporarily with Robson returning and Mark Hughes scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 demolition of Millwall, yet any hope of a revival was extinguished in an abject display during the 111th Manchester derby a week later.
“Alex Ferguson knows what he has to do, he is the man in charge and there is no one working harder to put the situation right,” Knighton stated before the trip to Maine Road. What followed led many to judge that statement.
Even without Steve Bruce and Robson, United were facing a newly-promoted team even lower on confidence than themselves, their opponents minus the services of the experienced Neil McNab and £1 million signing Clive Allen. But on an unforgettable day for both sets of fans – who held the match up for eight minutes due to fighting – United simply imploded.
United’s defending could politely be described as abysmal, with Pallister all at sea and coming in for heavy criticism. The 5-1 hammering would enter City folklore, and increased speculation that Ferguson was not up to the job. “From boardroom to dressing-room United are showing all the classic signs of a club cracking up,” Harry Harris declared in the Mirror.
Despite this humiliation, and with rumours circulating that he had until Christmas to save his job, news broke a few days after the derby debacle confirming Ferguson had signed a new three-year contract at the club that had originally been offered to him in May. “It gives me more time to get on with the job,” Ferguson declared.
Time was one thing that Ferguson did not appear to have on his side, as for the next three months his spell at the club plumbed new depths. The 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham in the Littlewoods Cup blocked one possible route to salvation, although soon attention began turning to the relegation battle that was enveloping the club.
A 2-0 defeat at struggling Charlton saw Ferguson refuse to talk to the press after the match, as his experiment was labelled “an expensive nightmare” in the Telegraph. On his third anniversary at the club, the press rounded on Ferguson. Called “Fergie the Flop” in the Express, Colin Gibson assessment in the Telegraph was cutting.
“They [the supporters] are fed up with excuses and false dawns. Old Trafford needs success and it needs it quickly, otherwise the pressure Mr Ferguson has experienced will grow much worse.” As November moved into December, the dissenting voices were increasing in volume. And then came Crystal Palace at home.
Remembered for the banner displayed by one disgruntled supporter – “3 years of excuses and it’s still crap. Ta ra Fergie” – cries of “Fergie out” and “What a load of rubbish” filled the Manchester air. “The reaction of our fans after our home defeat by Crystal Palace was the worst I have experienced,” Ferguson admitted.
Edwards, still in charge after Knighton’s failed takeover, backed his man. Yet with a run of no league wins in eleven matches – United’s worst run since the 1971/72 season – and odds of United getting relegated slashed to 5/2, the forthcoming FA Cup third round match at Nottingham Forest took on extra significance.
“I know patience is a word football fans do not like to hear but that is what United supporters need.” The words of Howard Kendall, Manchester City manager and a man previously linked to Ferguson’s job, may have been tested had United lost in Nottingham. But Mark Robins gave Ferguson a bit of breathing space.
“I am sure he will get it right given time,” Kendall added. How very true. Both Kendall and Ferguson benefitted from patient chairman at the time. Whether Solskjaer is afforded the same luxury is open to debate.
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