Darren Ferguson: Manager hailed as Peterborough 'icon' after ending third spell in charge

"Darren Ferguson might make that decision himself and I think it will hurt our football club for a long time."

Now, following Ferguson's resignation on Sunday, their professional partnership, which has taken Posh to the second tier of English football on three occasions, is over for the third - and possibly last - time.

At the beginning of February, Ferguson said his team were facing a "make or break" month in their battle to avoid relegation from the Championship.

And although they are in round five of the FA Cup, with a lucrative date against Manchester City coming up, results in the league have remained poor, and the 'break' has come with Ferguson's decision to leave the Weston Homes Stadium.

"He's a legend, he's an icon, he's been there through thick and thin, he's done everything, he's gone, he's come back, when it hasn't worked for other managers, he's been the one that seemed to have the formula right for Posh," former captain Gabriel Zakuani told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"He deserves respect from everyone because of what he's done for the club. He's been arguably the most successful manager for Peterborough United in history. He's taken the club as far as he can - he has the club's interests at heart and just felt he couldn't go any further."

Following in father's footsteps

It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to pursue a career in football management when your father - in this case, Sir Alex Ferguson - is acclaimed as one of the greatest ever in the same role.

Yet Ferguson decided, at the age of only 34, that he was ready to face that challenge when he called time on an eight-year playing spell with Wrexham and was appointed Peterborough player-boss in January 2007.

"I feel we have hired an ambitious young manager who shares our vision as to where the club is going and where it needs to be," MacAnthony said.

Posh were promoted to League One in 2008 and the Championship 12 months later as Ferguson made a turbo-charged start to his managerial career, prompting MacAnthony to describe him as "the best young manager in the country" - but he left by mutual consent in November 2009 with the club bottom of the second tier.

He was soon appointed Preston North End boss but lasted only 11 months at Deepdale before returning to Peterborough in January 2011 following the sacking of Gary Johnson.

"It was actually great meeting each other again, when he came to the house and he walked in the door we had a bit of a hug. It was a tender moment, a bit of a tear jerker," MacAnthony said at the time.

Taking over with the club back in League One, Ferguson led them back to the Championship in 2011, and although they were relegated in 2014, the season had the undoubted highlight of a trip to Wembley where Posh beat Chesterfield 3-1 to lift the EFL Trophy.

Back for third spell

The Scot left Peterborough for the second time in February 2015 and later that year took over at Doncaster Rovers where he achieved yet another promotion, to League One, in 2017.

Always one to know his own mind, he quit the south Yorkshire club in the summer of 2018, but the lure of Cambridgeshire proved too strong to resist when Posh came calling again in January 2019 following the downfall of Steve Evans.

And once again, he proved a perfect fit by leading them to promotion to the Championship last season.

One of the hallmarks of Ferguson's spells at Peterborough has been his ability to spot striking talent and bring the best out of them at the club.

Aaron McLean scored 33 goals in 2007-08, Craig Mackail-Smith 35 in 2010-11, Britt Assombalonga 33 in 2013-14, Ivan Toney 26 in 2019-20 and Jonson Clarke-Harris 33 last season.

Their success has also brought financial rewards for Posh, with Mackail-Smith moving on to Brighton for an undisclosed fee, Nottingham Forest paying £5.5m for Assombalonga and Brentford a similar sum for Toney, which is expected to rise with add-ons.

'Team feel shell-shocked'

Clarke-Harris, though, has only managed five at the higher level this term and Peterborough's overall tally of 23 is the second lowest of the division, one of the main reasons for their current plight, five points from safety with 15 games remaining.

"It's been a really tough season for everyone and I think it's taken a toll on everyone, including Darren," said Zakuani.

"I think lack of experience has been the key issue - there's a lot of players who have never played at this level. I think Darren mentioned there are only three that have had some sort of Championship experience and it's caught up with them.

"I think a lot of them feel shell-shocked and haven't performed to the levels that were expected. It's been a really tough season and it's getting harder and harder as the weeks go by."

Ferguson was backed by the board as they brought in six players during the January transfer window

But a 1-0 defeat by Derby County - who scored the winner in the second minute of added time - proved the final straw for him.

"A new manager coming in will need time to settle, but maybe it will give new life to the club," Zakuani added.

"I don't think it's a positive thing, Darren leaving. It's definitely a negative because there is no-one that knows Posh as well as Darren but you don't know how the players will respond and he hasn't been getting a tune out of them."

Where next for Posh?

There was undoubted sadness in the MacAnthony statement on the club website confirming Ferguson's departure following a phone conversation between the pair.

"Myself and my two partners regard Darren as one of the greatest managers of this football club, most certainly in the modern era," he said.

"The success we have enjoyed with him at the helm has been unrivalled and he will always be described as a legend by myself and my partners."

Former Posh striker Francis Green believes MacAnthony would have stuck with Ferguson to the bitter end.

"He was never going to get the sack. He was going to be around for as long as he wanted really because of what he has done, whether some people agree with that or not," he told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"I don't think he'd lost the changing room, it just seemed like everyone ran out of ideas. Sometimes I think no matter what you do, a change needs to happen. The big question now is which direction do we go."

Green continued: "Hard work, desire and a little bit of luck can still save the season - as crazy as that may sound. Whoever comes in needs an immediate bounce to get rid of the doom and gloom and losing mentality we have at the moment."

So where to now for MacAnthony? He could again try to 'keep it in the family' with another ex-Posh boss Grant McCann available following his recent departure from Hull City.

"Grant's name is going to be in the mix. But do we go backwards?" said Green. "We tried it with Fergie and it's worked a few times, but that's not necessarily going to work with other old managers."