Let's turn the clock back to just over three months ago.

In the away dressing room at Fulham's home stadium, Cravennon Stadium. The King of the Red Devils Manchester United is throwing a tantrum at his soldiers.

"You've lost to Fulham! Well? Fulham! Such a team that is not worth mentioning, you dare to lose the fuck and not score a single goal! Look at how you guys did in the game! I bet a girl of one hundred and ten pounds in half an hour is better than you! No fighting spirit! No aggressiveness! I don't see the winning ** in you at all! If you don't want to play, just me up and I'm not going to sign you up! ”

Ferguson is sixty-nine years old, and he has a pacemaker buried in his left chest, just like Donn. But judging by his performances over the years, no one wants to believe that this energetic old man has such a thing in him.

At this moment, his face is ruddy, but this is not necessarily a sign of health. On the contrary, the people who really care about him now must be worried about Lao Shuai's heart in their hearts.

For some time, the United players had never seen Ferguson so angry.

Lost away to Fulham, and lost helplessly, and surrendered early. From the result of the game to the process, the TV commentators were puzzled, and they did not know why the United team was so poor in this game.

After scolding for a while, Ferguson suddenly stopped saying nothing. His unusual behaviour caught the attention of the players, and some of the bold ones quietly looked up to see Ferguson gasping for breath in his chair.

His face was still ruddy, but a fine layer of sweat had formed on his forehead. He sat in his chair like that, his shoulders moving with his breathing. It looked as if he was exhausted.

"Go home and get back to your car." Ferguson waved his hand.

The players were relieved and got up and walked out of the dressing room.

When everyone was gone and Ferguson was the only one left in the dressing room, he was still sitting in his chair and not moving.

The wheezing sound gradually subsided, the red on his face subsided a little, and the sweat on his forehead was still there, but Ferguson did not wipe it.

This body is sixty-nine years old, and now it seems that even scolding people has to use all their strength to rest for such a long time. What would the bunnies think of his aging? Do you think Ferguson can't control them anymore and can do whatever he wants?

He thought of Brian. Clough left the city stadium in disgrace, and he didn't want to leave the coaching role like that...... He's a great coach and deserves a decent ending.

After resting for a while, Ferguson felt the strength return to him, so he got up and walked out of the dressing room.

※※※

Two days after the game, Manchester United CEO David was in London to work for the English FA. Jill received a call from Manchester.

It was the head coach Alex Ferguson, but this time he didn't reach out to the club to ask for money, nor did he say that he had a crush on a young and promising young seedling and wanted Gil to arrange it...... He didn't ask for anything, he didn't give any explanation for his unexpected defeat to Fulham two days ago, and he didn't call specifically to talk to Jill.

He only said one sentence on the phone: "David, I'm tired." Find a successor. ”

David. Gil was shocked by this, and in his mind, the FA meeting could not compare to the news. He immediately pushed off the meeting and took the fastest flight back to Manchester. He's going to talk to this guy face to face to see if he's playing for real.

Previously, Ferguson has repeatedly expressed his thoughts of retirement. However, some of them were just a means for him to put pressure on the club, and some of them were successfully dissuaded by the club despite his sincerity. Ferguson has been at Manchester United for 24 years, and he has long been integrated with the world-renowned club, and no one in the United has seriously considered the scenario of Ferguson's absence one day - they think that will not happen, and everyone hopes that the old Scottish man will remain at Manchester United until death.

If Ferguson wants to use that to put pressure on the club, then Gil wants to know what he wants. If Ferguson is serious about retiring, he will keep the old coach anyway. We've managed to keep him three times, and this time it was no problem!

As soon as he got off the plane, Jill went straight to Carrington. It's time for the squad to finish training, but Ferguson won't leave the training base so soon. If there is no traffic jam on the road, Jill should still be able to catch up. In order not to miss the air, Gil also called Ferguson on the way, hoping that he would be waiting for him in his office.

Ferguson didn't object, and apparently he wanted to have a good talk with Jill.

※※※

"What do you ask again, Sir?" As soon as they met, Jill didn't even have time to take off his coat, so he said to Ferguson, who had been waiting for a long time, in a half-joking tone.

"It's not a pretense for retirement this time, David." Ferguson sat on the couch and crossed his legs.

"Are you really?" Jill turned to stare at Ferguson.

Ferguson smiled: "I decided to retire after this season. ”

"I've heard this many times, but I still want you to think about it......"

"I've heard you say that many times. I thought about it for two days before I decided to call you. ”

"It's only been two days...... The team needs you, Alex. Jill moved a chair and sat in front of Ferguson and looked at him.

"I'll be seventy next year, David. Don't you think it's cruel to ask a seventy-year-old man to continue in such a stressful job? ”

"Uh......" Gil must admit, and when it comes to lip service, he says that he is no more than a manager who once "beat all the invincible opponents in the Premier League". He hesitated for a moment and decided to go another way.

"Don't you want to win another European Cup? You once told me that it was your biggest regret to win only one Champions Cup. ”

Ferguson laughed: "Of course I hope, and I haven't given up that hope until now. Isn't the season over yet? I think it's promising. ”

In any case, Gill doesn't feel that Manchester United will want to win the Champions League again this season. The team's results have been inconsistent this season. That's one of the reasons why he doesn't want Ferguson to leave.

But now it seems that Ferguson has made up his mind, and it is not something he can convince with a few words.

"Let's start looking for a successor now, David. You'd better decide before I retire, I don't want to see me go and Manchester United feel like I'm gone. ”

"Do you have any recommendations?"

"Over the years, there will always be a few......"

Jill obviously knew who Ferguson was referring to, and he signed up one by one: "Mike." Phelan? ”

This is the current assistant coach of Manchester United, a close confidant of Alex Ferguson, and the result of his internal digging after Quiroz left Carrington. Mike. Phellan's strength lies in the fact that he comes from the Manchester United system and has a full understanding of the essence of Ferguson's personnel and tactics.

But Ferguson shook his head: "No. He's better suited to be an assistant coach. After a pause, perhaps considering that it was too much to say that about his assistant, he added, "At least at the moment he is not the right person for the manager of Manchester United." ”

"So...... Moyes? ”

This time Ferguson thought about it for a moment before shaking his head: "I'm not sure he can do as well in this position as he did at Everton. You know, coaching a big club and an ordinary team are two different jobs entirely. ”

"Huh, Roy?"

Ferguson continued to shake his head: "Let's wait until he's fifty before thinking about him." ”

That means he's still too young. When he resigned from Sunderland, there were certainly reasons for poor grades, and there were also reasons for the excessive pressure that made Keane feel that things were out of his control. In short, he is not really ready to become a professional manager, let alone a Manchester United manager. He has said before that he wants to take over from Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, but he hasn't said that in recent years and it seems that he has learned the gap between reality and ideals.

"José. Jose Mourinho? ”

Ferguson glanced at Jill: "Do you think he'll come?" ”

Jill shrugged: "How do you know if you don't try?" What do you think? ”

"If you can bring him, of course I have no problem. However, it may take some time for United fans to settle into their new manager. ”

"Well, let's talk about an easy ...... Queiroz? ”

"He has just renewed his contract with the Portuguese Football Federation for less than a year."

"Hey, Alex, just tell me what you think of this candidate."

'I think he knows Manchester United best, but ......'

"But?"

"Manchester United's results under him can be up and down, very fluctuating...... Well, in simple terms. I think technically Quiroz is a good fit for Manchester United, but mentally I can't look at him. ”

"Ha, lo and behold, Alex. There is simply no suitable successor, so you don't want to talk about retirement. "It turned out that everything was deliberately set up by Jill.

But is Ferguson that easy to conform to?

"You haven't listened to my recommendation, David. Didn't you just ask me to recommend it? ”

"You say."

"Tony. Dawn. ”

Jill's eyes widened. "It can't be!" He barely thought about it and vetoed it.

"Is it impossible for us, or is it impossible for him?" Ferguson asked.

"Can you imagine him leaving Nottingham Forest?"

Ferguson stared at Gil, "I don't think I can imagine you working with him. ”

Jill admits it: "I wouldn't be happy to work with him. ”

"Aside from your personal relationship with him, I think he's the best fit for Manchester United. He's a coach with a championship tradition, and he's able to bring victory to the team, but he's also easy to gain the trust and support of the players. Of course, Manchester United fans will also fall in love with this arrogant man as long as they get used to it for a while. ”

Jill did dislike Donn purely because of his personal perception - he hated Donn as a person, not because he hated his last name or his speech, or anything, but because he hated Donn. Alex Ferguson is also a very good manager, but he has his own measure. Don is simply a mad dog, and he will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. What a great old man Keegan is...... was bitten out of class by him like this.

Don't look at the fact that he can have a good conversation with Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, in fact, there are only a few people who like him, and most people hate him. In the relatively conservative circle of English football, he is too arrogant, too arrogant, too shameless, too shameless, he is too mean, too maverick, too self-righteous, too self-serving......

"He's not my type anyway. I always felt like he didn't belong in England and he didn't belong to Manchester United. Jill said with strong personal feelings.

Ferguson acquiesced. He also knew that it would not be easy to get Don to come to Manchester United, and the difficulty was not at the club, but with Don himself. From the countless side knocks, Ferguson can tell that Donne has little interest in coaching a team like Manchester United.

It stands to reason that being able to coach such a giant team is a dream of countless coaches. It's like the only train in your life, and if you miss it, you can't turn back. But Tony is always rejecting his kindness, is he reluctant to the forest?

Ferguson was always doubting his loyalty to the forest. He always looked down on the Forest Club, believing that it was a small club that was still small no matter how many titles it won. is obviously a very talented head coach, but he is willing to tie himself to such a small stage and can't show his skills...... It's a shame.

According to the grapevine, when Benitez led Liverpool for several years in a row, and spent a lot of money to buy people but could only play in the League Cup, Liverpool's senior management once had the idea of inviting Don to coach. But in the end, I don't know why I still dismissed.

Maybe it's with David. Jill an idea?

He doesn't belong to Manchester United, he doesn't belong to Liverpool, he doesn't belong to England, he doesn't belong to any ...... Team. Ferguson probably wouldn't be too surprised if one day he suddenly announced that he would leave Nottingham Forest and go home to enjoy the world with his supermodel wife......

Such a tough and unique person belongs only to himself.

David. Jill looked at Ferguson, who was silent, and he was ready to take his leave. "Well, we'll try to try it out for the people you recommend. My personal feelings are personal feelings, and if choosing him really helps Manchester United......" he shrugged, in fact, he decided that Donn would never accept Manchester United's invitation.

"The Ferguson I know is the man who never tires of winning." At the time of farewell, Jill stood at the door and was still a little unwilling.

"That must have been me forty years ago. Have we known each other for so long? Ferguson laughed as his last effort faded into obscurity.

Jill really can't help but face this stubborn old man. He sighed and left.

※※※

More than three months later.

Alex Ferguson and Tony. Donn played the "my successor" card in psychological warfare, and some people thought he was just trying to disrupt the morale of the Forest team, but the Manchester United hierarchy and him were actually here for real this time.

Before going to Glasgow, Don picked up David. Jill's phone.

"Hello, Mr. Donn. I'm David. Gill, CEO of Manchester United. Can I delay you by a few minutes? ”

Donn is scratching his head - what is the CEO of Manchester United looking for himself? He instinctively wanted to refuse: "I'm going out to the airport......"

"It's only a few minutes, I promise it won't be more than five minutes." Jill pushes down his inner disgust for Don and does business.

It didn't actually take a minute.

"There's an attractive job contract here, Mr. Donn. We want to hire you to coach Manchester United from next season. We don't ask for an immediate response from you, we just want you to think about it. This is my phone number, you can contact me anytime after you have thought about it. Goodbye, Mr. Donne. ”

Don was stunned at the door of the house with the phone that was still ringing. Manchester United suddenly called themselves just to get themselves to coach Manchester United?

Hey, old man, isn't it psychological warfare? How's it really going to happen?

What's going on?

(To be continued)