:gos hehehehe ..., orang sono juga masih percaya nyang gini2x yaa .... :gos
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Are Fergie's proteges cursed? :gila :gila
MEN, James Robson - 17/12/2008
IT is fast becoming the curse of Old Trafford. :gubrax
Fitting then that the fatal blow to
Paul Ince's short-lived tenure as Blackburn manager should be dealt by the one man who has so far proved impervious to the hex on former United players.
Steve Bruce's Wigan inflicted a sixth consecutive defeat on Blackburn on Saturday. And it proved the final straw for an Ewood Park hierarchy that got too twitchy for Ince's good after seeing Rovers fall from seventh to 19th in the Premier League since taking a chance on the ex-Macclesfield and MK Dons manager.
At this rate
Mark Hughes will be sitting very uncomfortably at Manchester City.
In the space of a year he has watched as a once overflowing list of ex-United employees, who were seen as potential successors to
Sir Alex Ferguson, has been whittled down to virtually none.
An impressive shortlist that at the beginning of last season included Roy Keane, Hughes, Ince, Carlos Queiroz and Steve McClaren, is now just short.
Pressures
And, with City now on the precipice of the relegation zone, Hughes himself may also be on the edge.
Should Sheikh Mansour lose patience with Hughes then there really will be genuine credence given to the Old Trafford hoodoo.
Keane resigned at the start of the month, failing to cope with the pressures of management, while Ince was given the bullet for failing to cope with the rigours of top-flight football.
Before them Bryan Robson's promising start at Middlesbrough and miracle work at West Brom was punctuated with failures at Bradford and Sheffield United.
McClaren's rapid ascent from Ferguson's number two to England manager, via Middlesbrough, soon came crashing with him now banished to Holland, where he is rebuilding his career at FC Twente.
Meanwhile, Queiroz' form with the Portugal national team is only supporting the theory that he is a lieutenant rather than a commander.
Even further back, Brian Kidd's lofty reputation when branching out on his own at Blackburn was soon sullied.
Where as United were once spoilt for choice when it came to selecting Ferguson's successor, now they are finding the choice merely spoilt.
Curse :mereh
The evidence of curse is compelling - but the curse is not one of ex-United employees, rather the managerial business as a whole.
The sack race is not particular to those with a link to Old Trafford - it is endemic throughout the world of football.
It is a self-perpetuating curse only exacerbated by chairmen hell-bent on appointing men that are patently unqualified for the post and then being too quick to pull the rug from under them at the first sign of danger.
True, Ince's record at Blackburn presents little argument for him not being shown the door yesterday. But he was guilty, primarily, of being given his first job in the Premier League long before he was ready.
While he was applauded for earning his stripes at Macclesfield and MK Dons, less than two years in management hardly qualified him for the Blackburn post. Particularly when someone like Sam Allardyce was out of work at the time.
As impressive as Ince's record had been in steering Macc off the foot of League Two and then earning promotion with MK Dons, it was no better than, say, Dave Penney at Doncaster.
Penney led Doncaster from the Conference to League One and almost to the Championship.
His reward for that? A move to Darlington.
There wasn't so much as a flicker of interest from the Premier League.
But then a former bricklayer is not nearly as sexy an option as an ex-England captain.
Of course, Ince is no less qualified for the Blackburn job now than he was when he was paraded in front of the media at with so much fanfare in June.
Deep end
Likewise Keane, for all the coaching badges he'd completed, was thrown in at the deep end at Sunderland, just as Robson was at Middlesbrough and Bruce at Birmingham.
And of those veterans of Ferguson's all-conquering side of 1994, it is Bruce more than anyone who has proven his longevity in management.
Operating at the lower reaches of the Premier League and upper end of the Championship, he has done commendable work with Birmingham and Wigan but nothing that would single him out as a future United manager.
Which is why it was so ridiculous that he should be considered well behind the likes of Keane as a potential successor to Ferguson.
Hughes' career has also headed in one direction thus far, but should City lose patience with him then it will raise serious question marks about his ability to manage at the highest level.
Should Queiroz fail with Portugal, then they can be added to Real Madrid in a growing list of evidence that suggests he will never go beyond the role of No 2 at United.
But should McClaren's resurgence in Holland continue at pace, then by time Ferguson stands down, his former assistant could be an unlikely name in the frame.
Whoever Ferguson's successor is, United will do well to find someone with a spotless record. Which is why it would be foolhardy to rule out Keane and Ince after just one setback so early in their careers.
After all, even Ferguson was sacked - by St Mirren in 1978.
And that didn't turn out too bad for him.