FM10: The Career of Darren Ferguson

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THE CAREER OF DARREN FERGUSON

BIO

Ferguson is the son of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. He has two siblings: a twin brother, Jason, and an elder brother, Mark.

His father brought him through the youth ranks at Manchester United, giving him his first team-debut in 1990. Ferguson played in United's first 15 games of the new Premier League in 1992–93 during the absence of the injured Bryan Robson, and although he did not play in the league after November, he did play enough games to qualify for a title winner's medal at the end of the season.

However, his first-team chances were very limited in 1993–94 and he was transferred to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £250,000. His final season at Old Trafford brought just five first team appearances, and with the introduction of squad numbers in the Premier League that campaign he had been issued with the number 18 shirt which would next be worn by Simon Davies.

He spent five years at Wolves, during which they qualified for the Division One playoffs twice and finished in the top 10 on four occasions, but never gained promotion to the Premier League.

He left Wolves in 1999 to sign for Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam. Between 1999 and 2007 he played for Wrexham making more than 300 appearances, scoring over 50 goals and helping them win promotion to Division Two in 2003. Ferguson also won the Football League Trophy with Wrexham after scoring the second goal in a 2–0 win over Southend United in 2004–05.

In 2001 Ferguson was linked with the management post at Wrexham, following the departure of Brian Flynn. At the time, he assisted caretaker manager Joey Jones. After manager Denis Smith was sacked in January 2007, Ferguson was again touted as a candidate, but coach Brian Carey was appointed instead.There were suggestions that Ferguson and Carey had clashed, as Ferguson had expected to be appointed. Carey, who had left Ferguson on the substitutes bench for his first game, denied this. The pair had argued a year previously, following a defeat to Leyton Orient. Ferguson later stated he was disappointed not to be considered for the management position, and stated the club would have done better under him than they did under Carey.

Shortly after his father celebrated twenty years as manager of Manchester United, Ferguson followed him into football management. In January 2007 he left Wrexham to become player-manager of fellow League Two side Peterborough United. Previous manager Keith Alexander had been sacked after a run of six straight defeats.He led the club to a 10th placed finish in his first season of management. In his first full season of management, he took Peterborough to second place in League Two, gaining promotion. He was named League Two manager of the month for March 2008, after Peterborough won six games out of eight in the month.

In his second full season, 2008–09, he led Peterborough to second place and automatic promotion to the Championship. He has also won the League One Manager of the Month award for March 2009, following six straight wins. Ferguson left Peterborough in November 2009, by mutual consent, with Posh bottom of the table.

In January 2010, Ferguson signed as manager of Preston North End. His first game at home as a manager was an FA cup match against Chelsea on 23 January 2010 which his side lost 2-0.

PRESTON NORTH END BIO

In the past Preston were famously successful, being the first winners of "The Double" in English football. In 1888-89 Preston became the only team to go throughout an entire season unbeaten in both the league and FA Cup — also with the record of never conceding a goal in the FA Cup, only Arsenal F.C., in 2003-04, have managed to have an unbeaten season in any league division since, with the Gunners also achieving the feat in the top flight (although Arsenal played 38 games to Preston's 22). PNE were league champions again the following season, and have not won the title since. Their last major trophy was an FA Cup triumph in 1938.

Preston were relegated to the Second Division (currently the Football League Championship) in 1961 and have not played in the top division since. They did reach the FA Cup final in 1964, but lost to West Ham United. Preston were relegated to Third Division in 1969-70 season. Preston won the Third Division title at the first attempt and so returned to the Second Division.

Bobby Charlton, an England World Cup winner from 1966, was appointed Preston manager in 1973, but was unable to stop them from sliding into the Third Division in his first season and left after two years in charge. A brief respite in 1978 saw them win promotion back to the Second Division, but they went down after three seasons and in 1985 fell into the Fourth Division for the first time in their history.
Preston North End in 1888-89, the first Football League champions, subsequently doing 'The Double'

In 1986, Preston finished second from bottom in the Fourth Division and only avoided dropping into the Football Conference because the other Football League members voted in favour of the division's bottom four teams retaining their senior status.

The arrival of new manager John McGrath saw Preston win promotion to the Third Division a year later, and they were still at this level when McGrath left in 1990. Veteran player Les Chapman took over as manager, but left in October 1992 to be replaced by John Beck. The 38-year-old Beck had only recently been sacked by Cambridge United, where he had achieved two successive promotions and come within a whisker of attaining a unique third. Beck was unable to save Preston from relegation from the first season of the new Division Two. He endured a Division Three playoff final failure before quitting in 1994 to be replaced by his assistant Gary Peters

Peters guided Preston to Division Three title glory in his first full season as manager, and quit in February 1998 to be replaced by 34-year-old defender David Moyes. Preston quickly developed into Division Two promotion contenders under Moyes, reaching the 1998-99 playoffs (losing to Gillingham in the semi-finals before finally being promoted as champions a year later.
2000s

Preston began the new millennium by winning promotion from Division 2 in the 1999-2000 season as champions. They almost made it two promotions a row in 2001, but lost 3-0 to Bolton in the Division One playoff final.

Moyes left for Everton in March 2002, and his assistant Kelham O'Hanlon took over for the remainder of the season. Preston narrowly missed out on the play-offs and in the summer former Scottish national coach Craig Brown took over as manager. Preston were little more than a mid-table side during Brown's tenure, though they were never in any real danger of being relegated. He left in August 2004 to be succeeded by his assistant Billy Davies.

Davies guided Preston to the Championship playoff final in his first season as manager, but they lost to West Ham United. They reached the playoffs again the following year, this time losing in the semi-finals, to Leeds United. Davies then moved to Derby and was replaced by Carlisle boss Paul Simpson, who took over Davies's team and initially carried on where Davies left off. Preston spent much of the 2006-07 season in the automatic promotion or playoff places, however from March 2007 the club slid rapidly down the league. This happened even after holding on to David Nugent in the transfer window and Simpson being allowed to bring in a number of loan signings. The club failed to make the end-of-season play-offs, despite a 1-0 victory over Birmingham City at Deepdale on the final day of the season. They finished the season in seventh place.
Chart showing the progress of Preston North End through the English football league system from the inaugural season in 1888–89 to 2007–08 when Preston North End came 15th in the League Championship

On 11 July 2007 David Nugent, the first Preston player to win an England cap for 50 years, left the club to join Portsmouth for a reported transfer fee of £6,000,000. Although the club lost only one key player (David Nugent) and brought in several players including Darren Carter, Kevin Nicholls and Karl Hawley, to reshape the team they did not recover from their poor run of form. In August 2007, Simpson banned the playing of Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love, a song which had been a popular part of the pre-match music at Deepdale for over ten years, stating, "I don't know whose idea this song is at the start, because it seems to put everyone in a bit of a depression. We have to make sure we get something which the players respond to and go out and perform and the fans respond to as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we are losing games because of that song. But we have to do whatever we can to generate an atmosphere", a move which angered some Preston fans. After a bad start to the 2007-08 season which saw the club pick up just three wins, Paul Simpson was sacked as manager on 13 November.

On the 20th November, Everton's assistant manager Alan Irvine was appointed as Preston's new manager on a three-and-a-half year deal, and he achieved his first objective as manager by achieving Preston's survival in 15th place. The following season he lead Preston to 6th in the Championship after a good run of form towards the end of the season, qualifying for the playoffs. They lost 2-1 on aggregate to Sheffield United after a 1-1 draw at Deepdale was followed by a 1-0 loss at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane. On 29 December , Irvine was sacked after a poor run of results, with the club appointing Darren Ferguson as his successor on the 6th January.

PRESTON NORTH END TEAM 2010-11

GOALKEEPERS
1. Andy Lonergan
22. Wayne Henderson

DEFENDERS
2. Lee Hodson
3. Callum Davidson (c)
4. Craig Cathcart
5. Youl Mawene
6. Emmanuel Smith
12. Sean St.Ledger
18. Ryan McGivern
37. Conor McLaughlin

MIDFIELDERS
7. Albert Adomah
8. Lee Frecklington
10. Barry Nicholson
15. Paul Coutts
16. Keith Treacy
17. Paul Parry
23. Matt James
25. Ross Wallace
35. Danny Mayor
39. George Miller

STRIKERS
9. Chris Brown
10. Adam Le Fondre
21. Paul Hayes
26. Jon Parkin
38. Jamie Proctor

[ConnorPithie]

Looks good, Can't wait to read, Hope you keep it going.

[PNE-Adz]

FERGIE'S PRE-SEASON VIEW

Darren Ferguson has said he is to get rid of the wasters at Preston North End, and replace them with young, hungry players with lots of character.

Alan Irvine was sacked in December, many blaming his mediocre signings the reason for his downfall. The son of Sir Alex Ferguson came in at the helm in Janaury, and brought in younger players, much like he did at Peterborough, and although it didn't work in the Championship there, he could have every success with a bigger club like Preston with this scheme, and with a bit of help from his father.

The following is what Ferguson said in his pre-season interview.

"I have managed this team for 5 months now, and I have identified the places where we need to strengthen and sell. I've sat down the the Chairman and discussed my targets, and he's right behind me. I want young, hungry players, with character and determination. This team has too many wasteaways who won't fight for the team, which is why we finished two places outside the relegation zone last year."

"It also helps that the fact my old man is just down the road in Manchester. I managed to take Matty James and Danny Welbeck in January, and i'm looking to reneew those deals. I'll sit down with him soon and discuss plans."

"We greatly underachieved last season, but we are going into a new one, full of fresh optimism. The league looks a bit easier on paper that last year, as the big guns in Newcastle and West Brom have gone straight back up, and the teams that have come down, Wigan, Wolves and Portsmouth are not that big of clubs, so we could be up there if we improve the team."

[ConnorPithie]

This is great, KUTGW Adam

[PNE-Adz]

Wow forgot about this lol, FM kept crashing, will try to carry on this

[ConnorPithie]

Please do, I ain't a fan of Football Manager or Preston really but this looks promising

[PNE-Adz]

It's fixed now, had to start again, some things have changed, but i'll post something later about who they signed when I wasn't manager

[PNE-Adz]

Squad Changes - Official Announcement



4th May, 2010

Preston North End manager Darren Ferguson has officially announced his retained list and has also placed a number of players on the transfer list with immediate effect.

Winger Chris Sedgwick and defender Liam Chilvers' contracts end on June 30th and these will not be renewed, whilst fellow defenders Elliott Ward and Tom Williams will return to Coventry City and Peterborough United respectively.

The Club will be speaking to Youl Mawene, whose contract runs out at the end of June, to discuss his situation in the near future, and a further announcement will be made about this at the appropriate time.

Players currently out on loan; Eddie Nolan, Stephen Elliott, Neill Collins and Neal Trotman have all been placed on the transfer list and they are joined by Michael Hart, Richard Chaplow, Darren Carter and Neil Mellor. The Club is willing to listen to offers for all the above named players.
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MESSAGEBOARD

Quote: Originally Posted by Kesselring

Finally Fergy Jnr addresses this issue. We can't afford to keep these slackers on board, and although he went back on his promise of blooding the youth, I am fully confident that a younger and more optimistic approach will take to the field on August 7th.

Quote: Originally Posted by staffordwhite

Finally Sludgewick is off. WDD (Well Done Darren).

Quote: Originally Posted by Moe Lester

Most are understandable, but why Mellor? He's our best striker, better than Parkin, Brown and Elliott anyway. they're all a million miles off our beloved Toudic, but Mellor's the best of a bad bunch.

Quote: Originally Posted by leftbackdarton

shiping out the deadwood, then you'll bring in Man Utd's 4th Team. Meanwhile in the glorious land of Blackpool, Holloway continues to thrive on the pressure and bring in classy bargains. The future is bright, the future is Tangerine.

Quote: Originally Posted by JoeyPne09

Oh **** off you troll. Personally it's a good move, announcing a sale list, but would of took off Mellor, added on Brown and Davidson. Could also see SSL and Lonners moving for a decent fee.