The list of
On Sunday, Robins could push current United coach
“We will never know how close I was to being sacked (fired),” Ferguson wrote in his autobiography. Robins is mentioned on the very first page.
It was in
Ferguson himself accepts that without going on to win the Cup that year “grave doubts would've been raised about my suitability for the job.”
United did win it — with Robins also scoring the winning goal in the semifinal replay against
Now the
“I have got no agenda other than trying to prepare the team as best we can to go and put a performance on that we can be proud of," Robins said Friday. “For me it is nothing other than that, it is not about me for sure.”
Ten Hag is desperately trying to mount a convincing argument that he is the man to return United to the summit of English soccer after more than a decade of decline since Ferguson retired. That is becoming increasingly difficult amid a hugely disappointing second season in charge for the Dutchman and speculation rife about his position.
Dumped out of the
With new United co-owner
“We want to achieve every season. We want to win trophies and we have a big opportunity, because we are in the semifinal,” Ten Hag said Friday. “We want to go into the final.”
There are some parallels between Ten Hag's position and Ferguson's in 1990.
Back then Ferguson was struggling to shake the club out of years of underachievement after the retirement of former manager
A poor campaign has raised doubts about Ten Hag's ability to end United's long wait for a league title, which stretches 11 years since Ferguson's last trophy. The Cup has the potential to be a salvation and would mark successive trophy-winning seasons for the former Ajax coach after victory in the
“I hear people talking about
That is precisely why the pressure is on Ten Hag to at least lead United to the final against
There is no such expectation on
“It is the first time we have been there since 1987 so it is not a normal occasion for us; for
While Robins may be most famous for a goal he scored 34 years ago, he has become an icon for
In that time he has led the Sky Blues from the fourth division to the second and was one game away from securing promotion to the
“We have to understand what the game will be and what the occasion is," Robins said. “There shouldn’t be any fear.”
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