BAD CALL SO CRUEL SAYS IAIN
IAIN FERGUSON is hoping Dundee United can gain revenge on St Mirren in Saturday’s Irn-Bru Cup Final at Fir Park.
This clash comes 30 years after the Tannadice team were robbed of glory by the Paisley side.
Ferguson was part of a United side that thrilled everyone by reaching the UEFA and Scottish Cup finals in 1987 and feels one decision stopped Jim McLean’s men from becoming legends.
The striker had a goal disallowed against Saints at Hampden and minutes later Ian Ferguson won the Cup for the Buddies.
Four days later they drew 1-1 with Gothenburg at Tannadice in the second leg of the UEFA Cup Final to lose 2-1 on aggregate.
A season that promised to be the greatest in United’s history after victories over Barcelona and Monchengladbach, ended in disappointment.
But Ferguson said: “It was a perfectly good goal against St Mirren.
“Kevin Gallacher was ruled offside but he was lying on the ground when I hit the ball into the net.
“Referee Kenny Hope gave the goal but the linesman chopped it off. It was proved later that the goal should have stood.
“My namesake went up the park and scored for them and that was it.
“It was hard to take and of course a few days later we lost the UEFA Cup too and a season which had been so good left us with nothing. All the highs, the great performances and we didn’t end up with any silverware.
“We got praise from all over Britain, for our Euro performances especially, but I don’t know what it was with United in cup finals in those days.
“You need a winning mentality. I had it, Ian Redford and others had it but we came up short.”
Ferguson cites McLean as the greatest coach he ever worked for but he feels the legendary United boss got the preparation wrong for the Gothenburg return.
The 53-year-old feels McLean should have taken the players away to recover from the horror of losing to Saints and allow them to refocus.
Instead, they went home and remarkably made their own way to Tannadice for the game against Gothenburg.
Ferguson said: “Jim was undoubtedly the best coach I ever worked for but what people might find amazing was that I left for the Gothenburg return leg from my house round the corner a couple of hours before the game.
“I think Jim asked a few of the players what they wanted to do. But it was as if we were preparing to play Falkirk, no disrespect, rather than Gothenburg in a European final.
“I think we should have gone away after the Scottish Cup Final to a hotel with our wives and girlfriends, had a drink and a meal to get the game out of our systems.
“Then we could have had a walk on Sunday before training on Monday and Tuesday for the most important game in the club’s history.
“I felt that was the only thing Jim got wrong.”