English Premier League: Ferguson refused the English national team job
Ferguson told a Canadian TV station that he refused to take the English national team job twice during the 1990s in order to remain at the helm of affairs at Manchester United. Ferguson has been in charge at Manchester United since 1986. It took him several years to achieve success at United as they won their first trophy under him in 1990.
After their F.A Cup success in 1990, United won their first league title in twenty six years under Ferguson in 1992. Ferguson’s star signing Eric Cantona led United to the league championship. In the 1993-1994 season, United won the league championship again and added a F.A cup triumph to their collection as well. They repeated this feat in the 1995-1996 season as well, this season also saw the rise of Fergie’s fledglings which is the name given to United’s young squad at the time. United’s squad of the 1995-1996 season included many youngsters such as Beckham, Scholes, Neville and Giggs.
Ferguson won further seven premiership titles with Manchester United and still is their manager. Ferguson is particularly renowned for his extensive focus on discipline at Manchester United. He has banned all players whether seniors or new-comers from drinking, 72 hours before a scheduled football match.
He is also well known for paying special attention to Manchester United’s youth academy. He has laid a structure in place at the club through which United have constantly produced young players which have gone onto become World class footballers. He has also organized a good scouting base at the club. By making use of the scouting facilities, Manchester United signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon for 12 million pounds and then nurtured him into one of the best players in the World.
They then proceeded to win three consecutive premier league titles with him in their team and also won the European Cup in 2008. United also made a healthy profit when they eventually sold their superstar to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee of 80 million pounds.
Ferguson whose team at the moment are on a tour of North America and Mexico, commented that he was offered the chance to manage the English national football team but he refused to do so each time. He also said that because of his Scottish nationality, the job itself was going to be extra difficult for him given the animosity between the Scottish and the English people. He also added that he thinks the English manager’s job is a terrible one. He stated that fatigue played a huge role in the English team’s failure at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
He also said that players in the English Premier League play eight to nine games during December which is the worst time for pitches in England because of the snow and extensive rain. He said that come the end of the season, all the players are exhausted and some are even carrying minor injuries in big tournaments such as the European Championships or the World Cup.
Ferguson also defended the English referee Howard Webb who also officiated the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Fergie said that the referee had no choice but to officiate the way he did because of the way that the players were behaving on the pitch during the final match.
Ferguson is expected to remain at Manchester United till 2012; however the Scotsman has stated plenty of times that he will continue as United’s manager till his health allow him to do so.
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