#FergieOut – the hashtag that divides a fanbase

Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson received the perfect birthday present on Tuesday night as his side came from behind to claim a well-deserved 2-1 win over Ipswich Town at the Weston Homes Stadium. But the victory means far more than points alone.

Sitting third in the league, it is hard to justify why any Posh supporter would want their most successful manager sacked for the third time.

Son of Sir Alex, Darren won back-to-back promotions with the Cambridgeshire from League Two to the Championship from 2008 and 2009 in his first two full seasons in football management, before rejoining the club in 2011, where he went on to win the League One play-offs and Football League Trophy in 2014.

In spite of such successes, when he replaced Steve Evans in the January of 2019 his appointment was deemed uninspiring and foolish by the fans. Many could not understand why owner Darragh MacAnthony would rehire a manager he had already fired twice in the past ten years. Isn’t doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results the definition of insanity?

But it was different this time. The Posh were lacking direction having languished in mid-table following several failed promotion attempts and Ferguson was jobless having resigned from Doncaster Rovers, the season after he got them back into the third tier.

Such a contentious decision was always going to be met with scepticism and four games without a win on his return did not help his cause. Though a  run of 17 points out a possible 24 in the spring saw the Posh finish seventh and a point off a place in the play-offs which put a positive end on a turbulent campaign.

So when the 2019/20 season rolled around, there was an overriding feel of optimism. Ivan Toney couldn’t stop scoring, Marcus Maddison couldn’t stop assisting all whilst the back four looked to have regenerated into the London Road rearguard of old; bolstered with the arrivals of Mark Beevers, Frankie Kent, Nathan Thompson and Dan Butler.

However, in typical Peterborough fashion, winter came and so did the poor performances. Three consecutive defeats over Christmas saw the Posh drop out of the top-six and Fergie’s days looked numbered (again).

Yet, with the arrival of Sammie Szmodics Szmodics and Reece Brown on loan – two players who had hardly played before they pitched up at Posh – the season run-in could not have been more dramatic as they hit the ground running upon arrival.

The Posh were transformed from a misfiring outfit to the best team in League One and looked destined for playoff glory. Then, coronavirus happened.

Wycombe Wanderers, the eventual winners of the playoffs, snatched their place in sixth on points per game leaving United to rue at their misfortunes. The maxim ‘we go again’ rang true.

But this season, Peterborough could not be better positioned. Level on points with Hull City in second place and with Jonson Clarke-Harris, Siriki Dembele and Szmodics firing on all cylinders, the standing on Fergie’s job should be without debate. Yet that could not be further from the truth.

Accompanied by a slight dip in league form and the lost to fourth-tier Tranmere Rovers in the Papa John’s Trophy, Fergie’s decision not to sign any new players in the January window sparked supporters to spout #FergieOut on Twitter, suggesting the Scot should be held accountable if things go wrong.

Not only that, his unwillingness to veer away from the three-at-the-back diamond formation against defensive opposition left a section of the fanbase to believe like the season was heading in the disappointing direction as the previous eight.

He’s as clueless now as the last two times he was sacked #fergieout

— Marcus Gear (@johngixer_gear) February 2, 2021

Despite the critics and his stubbornness, Fergie’s numbers argue he is orchestrating one of Posh’s greatest ever campaigns.