REWIND TO 1990:
At the start of 1990, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson (long before he was made a Knight of the Realm) was in trouble and his side were struggling at the wrong end of the Division One table. A run of eight games without a win saw the once-great Red Devils staring relegation in the face. The accepted story is that Ferguson would have been sacked if they had been knocked out of the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest on January 7. The game proved to be a reprieve from those calling for his head, but - possibly until the recent 6-1 hammering by rivals Man City - the time remains by his own admission his 'darkest period' as a manager.
The majority of Sir Alex Ferguson's first years at Manchester United were spent in a position he has since taken great pleasure in becoming unfamiliar with. Ferguson's first job at Old Trafford was to overturn the run that previous incumbent Ron Atkinson had placed them in and he succeeded in lifting the Red Devils from the relegation zone into 11th place at the end of 1986-87.
Revamping every aspect of life at the club, from training regimes to the scouting network and youth set-up, while paying particular attention to the boozing antics of a select few, Ferguson brought discipline back to the changing room. The signings of Steve Bruce, Brian McClair and Viv Anderson, among others, helped lift them to a worthy second place in the First Division, yet nine points behind champions Liverpool.
Unable to continue that kind of challenge, though, an inconsistent side slipped to 11th in their next season. At times, Ferguson's men looked like they could be title contenders; at others they would not have been out of place in Division Two. Clearly, their final position in the table was far less than expected and, with the side described as ''hard working, methodical and dull'', Fergie's cautious style was hardly winning over the fans either.
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