Young Fergie’s sacking proves that football has gone mad

Championship club Peterborough United have parted company with their manager Darren Ferguson. The club sit bottom of the Championship having won just two of their first sixteen games.

Exit

Ok, I hear you say, football is a results business and Mr. Ferguson has failed to get results and should therefore not be surprised that he has been shown the exit door.

The reality, however, is slightly different and this decision has actually confirmed to me that the football world, in England anyway, has finally gone totally mad.

Defeats

The thirty-seven year old son of Sir Alex Ferguson took over at Peterborough in January 2007 when they were on a run of six straight defeats in League Two.

The following season he led the club to promotion to League One. Remarkably, the very next season, last time out, he led them to promotion again and the dizzy heights for Peterborough, of the Championship.

Difficult

They have had a difficult start to life in the Championship but what exactly was expected after two successive promotions? The start has been difficult and they are currently bottom of the table but let us get their current position in perspective. It is only November and they are only four points from safety. In fact, they are only seven points from mid-table.

If the decision to part company with Ferguson is based on football matters alone then it is one of the most bizarre and ridiculous things I have heard in football.

Reputation

In the summer, Reading wanted to take Ferguson from Peterborough and put him in charge of their attempt to get back to the Premier League. They were not the only club interested in the man who had forged a reputation as one of Britain’s best young managers. Peterborough refused Reading permission to speak to Ferguson with their chairman Darragh MacAnthony saying,

“We’ve got the best young manager in the country, he’s just claimed back-to-back promotions and we have a terrific group of young players.”

How short-sighted can a man be to go from saying that a few months ago to moving him out of the job now?

Wager

Darren Ferguson won seventy-three of his one hundred and forty-five games at Peterborough and suffered just forty defeats. I would be prepared to wager that his record stands comparison with any other manager who has taken the hot-seat at London Road.

He was so highly thought of that he was given a new four year contract back in July, just four months ago.

Sad

I absolutely love football and it plays an unhealthily large part in my life. Sometimes things happen that make me feel very sad about where the game is going and this is one of those times. I simply do not understand the thinking of anyone who would think that Darren Ferguson should be sacked.

If this is a purely football related decision then I think it is a sad day for the game.

Let us hope that Ferguson finds a job quickly at a club who can appreciate what he has achieved in such a short time. He deserves better.