Emergency Pod: Amorim Arrives! Man United And The Busby-Ferguson Curse
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 1 November 2024
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this bonus episode of It Was What It Was hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper look into the striking parallels between Manchester United’s managerial struggles in the post-Matt Busby and post-Sir Alex Ferguson eras. Despite decades of history and immense success, the club has faced a persistent challenge in finding a manager capable of replicating the legacy left by its legendary figures.
Following the recent sacking of Erik Ten Hag, the arrival of Ruben Amorim has reignited the age-old debate about the club's direction and leadership. Wilson and Draper explore how the patterns of the past continue to haunt United, questioning whether Amorim will be the answer to the club’s woes or merely another chapter in a familiar narrative.
Join us as we analyze the lessons learned (or not learned) from the club's history, the impact of managerial instability, and the pressing questions that linger: Can United break free from the cycle of déjà vu, or will history repeat itself once again?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, welcome to It Was What It Was, the Football History podcast. And today we've got a very special bonus edition for you because we thought in the week that Ruben Amaran has been appointed Manchester United manager and Eric Tenhaar has been sacked. It would be interesting to look at |
| 0:21.8 | just why Manchester United have become so bad over the years at appointed managers and try and view that in a |
| 0:28.0 | historical context, take a long view of what's going on. And Jonathan, you're very fond of saying |
| 0:34.7 | that only three Manchester United managers have ever won the league, |
| 0:38.5 | which I think is Ernest Magnell, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Matt Busby. |
| 0:42.5 | So our Manchester United essentially a personality cult that have a brand has been built upon |
| 0:48.9 | these three men. |
| 0:50.2 | And there's no real function institution at all. |
| 0:53.0 | I mean, yeah, I kind of think that is true. |
| 0:55.8 | It's a very weird fact that United are the most successful club in English league history. |
| 1:00.4 | They won 20 league titles. |
| 1:02.1 | But as you say, Ernest Magnall won the first two of those just before the First World War. |
| 1:06.9 | Matt Busby won the next five. |
| 1:08.4 | And then Ferguson won 13. |
| 1:10.7 | And it's almost like United is this sort of this great mythological beast, |
| 1:16.2 | but only a tiny chosen handful are able successfully to ride. |
| 1:21.2 | And what's fascinating is the post-Ferger years from 2013 onwards they they look so similar to the post |
| 1:30.8 | busby years from 69 onwards united aren't going to get relegated as aware of in 74 the economics |
| 1:36.9 | of football have changed but that inability to find the right man to lead the club i think it's |
| 1:42.7 | extraordinary they've ended up doing that twice. |
| 1:45.5 | So that's what we're going to look at right now, isn't, isn't it? |
| 1:48.3 | Sort of the post-Busby era, compare it to the post-Ferguson era, see if Manchester United |
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