FA Cup Third Round: Doncaster vs Stoke - Darren Ferguson still hopes to make a splash

Sir Alex’s son is rebuilding his career at Doncaster – who face Stoke in the Cup today – with ambition still burning to manage at the top level. But, he tells Mark Ogden, chances for British coaches are rare

Doncaster manager Darren Ferguson is looking for a Cup upset today (Roger moody/Guzelian)

A huge puddle blocks the entrance to Doncaster Rovers’ Cantley Park training ground; so much so that anyone attempting to get in must walk through it or around it. The 4x4s in the car park are the only suitable transport to navigate its depth and breadth, but for those on foot there is no clear pathway to the other side which, as Darren Ferguson discusses the challenges currently facing British managers, seems depressingly apt.

At 43, Ferguson plays host to Stoke City, managed by his former Manchester United team-mate Mark Hughes, in the FA Cup third round this afternoon, rebuilding his career in South Yorkshire having taken his fourth job in management at the Keepmoat Stadium three months ago.

The Scot has lifted Doncaster from second-bottom of League One to within touching distance of the play-off zone since arriving in October, but he knows the pitfalls of the business.

While his father, Sir Alex, became immune to the snap judgements which can now break managers’ careers, the younger Ferguson, like his opponent Hughes, has had to start again after being sacked; but he insists that his old United room-mate is living proof that domestic bosses can perform at the sharp end.

“Mark and I played together and that was it, really,” Ferguson says. “I would never describe ourselves as mates – there was a bit of an age gap – although he was my last room-mate at United before I left for Wolves. But I am pleased to see him doing well at Stoke and, if you are talking about managers replacing Louis van Gaal at some point at Old Trafford, then I don’t know why Mark would not be mentioned.

“He has done well with his clubs, punched above his weight. He has changed the way Stoke play and recruited really well and that is key, especially when you look at United, because recruitment is a crucial factor.

“He was unlucky at Manchester City; that job just came at the wrong time. But he has done a great job at Stoke and, if it is going to be a British manager at United, then why not?

“But it is getting harder for young British managers and I think that is a sad situation. You have all these young coaches paying for themselves to go on courses and get all their qualifications, doing all the right things, but then you see a foreign coach coming from nowhere and getting a job.

“It can be difficult. People will now look at it and think, ‘is there a pathway?’ Hopefully that will change.”

Despite a track record which includes three promotions in two spells with Peterborough United, either side of a year-long stint in charge of Preston North End, Ferguson believes that the trend for focusing on a manager’s failures, rather than his successes, is a factor damaging their prospects.

“It’s easier for people to look at a manager’s record in a negative way rather than look at their successes,” he says. “I had three promotions and won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Peterborough, so my record stands right up there, but the time at Preston wasn’t so good.

“In fairness, it was probably the best year I have had in management, in terms of learning about certain things, even though results weren’t good. I learned about how better to deal with experienced players, and how not to change too many things too quickly, but it is difficult now because if you have five or six bad results the spotlight is on you at any level, not just at the top.

“Take Brendan Rodgers, for example. If Steven Gerrard doesn’t slip, then Liverpool might have won the league for the first time in a long time, but it didn’t happen and he [Rodgers] is now out of a job, so you need a bit of luck.”

Luck is a commodity that Ferguson and Doncaster are hoping to enjoy in abundance at the Keepmoat today, although the home team’s lack of FA Cup pedigree – they have never progressed beyond the fifth round – imposes its own pressures. “Have they not gone further than that?” Ferguson asks. “Jesus Christ. No pressure, then!”

Stoke’s leggy performance while losing in midweek to Liverpool in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg offers Doncaster hope of an upset, however, and the club is expecting a crowd in excess of 13,500 after reducing ticket prices to £15 for adults and £1 for children.

“I saw the game against Liverpool and I expect Mark will make five or six changes, but they are all internationals, aren’t they?” Ferguson says.

“I think it is a great tie, though.It has come at the right time, having overcome a banana skin against Stalybridge and then a really tough game against Cambridge in the first two rounds.

“You always look for a Premier League team at home and it will be a full house, but it is important to do ourselves justice in order to get some of those additional fans back for the league games.”

Ferguson will go head-to-head with Hughes without Sir Alex in attendance. The former United manager is expected instead to watch from the Old Trafford directors’ box as Van Gaal’s team face Sheffield United this evening. But a Doncaster victory would give Ferguson Jnr a taste of the FA Cup spotlight which his father grew accustomed to – and perhaps a chance to offer a reminder of his own managerial abilities.

“The experience I’ve had has been predominantly in the Championship and League One, but the aim for everyone is to work at the top level, whether it be in the Premier League or abroad in a big league,” Ferguson says. “That’s the aim.

“I don’t think I could sit here and say I wouldn’t want to do that and I certainly wouldn’t say that. That’s the aim for me.

“I think the experience that you gather along the way should definitely help you – the good and bad – but you look at the Premier League now and there are a lot of foreign coaches. It’s the same in the Championship.

“Preston was a case of wrong place, wrong time for me, but in this league my record is as good as anyone and I feel as though I’ve come to Doncaster having benefited from a break and the chance to assess and analyse my first eight years in management.”

With his Old Trafford connections, though, the issue of United’s progress without Sir Alex at the helm is never far from the surface, despite Ferguson’s determination to carve out a career in his own right.

He insists that Hughes possesses the character and credentials for the United hot seat, but believes that Ryan Giggs is currently the best-placed candidate to succeed Van Gaal whenever the Dutchman vacates his office.

“I think Van Gaal has a three-year contract and the aim then is for Ryan to take over,” Ferguson says. “If that is what they do, I am sure Ryan will be ready.

“Is he up to it? Without a shadow of a doubt. He knows the DNA of the club, knows it inside out. He may be quiet from the outside, but he is ruthless enough to be the manager, without a doubt. Personally, I think he would be a good choice.”

Stoke's fringe players have a chance to stake claim

Stoke’s manager, Mark Hughes, buoyed by positive negotiations with forward Marko Arnautovic, is hoping for a turnaround in form when the team face Doncaster. City have lost their last two games and Hughes wants the fringe players drafted in to stake a claim for a regular first-team place.

“Certainly, the guys that come in will feel it is a good opportunity for them to impress and start knocking on the door of the first team again,” he said.

Arnautovic has turned down an initial contract offer, looking to become the club’s highest-paid player. Hughes explained: “As with all negotiations, usually people representing players go in high, we go in low and somewhere in the future we come to a middle ground and it gets done. That is what is happening in terms of Marko.”