In the mind of Jim Leighton, Ferguson may be a contradictory character. On the one hand, Ferguson promoted himself in Aberdeen and became the first-team goalkeeper. Under his leadership, he won 3 league titles and one European Cup Winners’ Cup. He was also selected to attend the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. But it was also a decision of Ferguson to pronounce his death sentence for his Manchester United career. What are the mental journeys of these two Scots?
After Jim Layton joined Aberdeen in 1978 at the age of 20, Ferguson quickly gave him a chance to play. After Aberdeen won the league championship in 1980, the team arranged an open top bus for a victory parade. At that time, Jim Layton refused to participate because he felt that he had only participated in 2 games this season, and Aberdeen also lost that game, so he felt that he was not worthy of sharing this honor with the team. However, Ferguson still encourages and insists on his participation. As a result, Jim Layton saw so many fans celebrating the team, he determined to give more to the team.
Sure enough, Jim Layton became the goalkeeper of Aberdeen at the beginning of the next term, and slowly assisted the team to win all the championships in the Scottish football world as the main force. In 1983, it made history and won the European Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup for the first time for the team.
In 1983, Jim Leighton began to be selected for the Scottish national team. In 1985, in Scotland's crucial World Cup qualifiers against Wales, Jim Layton was selected as a positive. However, Jim Layton’s performance was inaccurate. It turned out that he lost a contact lens and he had no backup glasses. This embarrassed Ferguson, the assistant coach at the time, because as the team’s coach, he had no idea about Jim Layton. Had the habit of wearing contact lenses, as a result, Jim Leighton was removed in the second half. In the end, Scotland was able to force and qualify, and finally reached the finals. Fortunately, this accident did not affect Ferguson's trust in Jim Leiden. When Ferguson was the coach of the national team, he still entrusted Jim Leiden with important responsibilities in the Mexican finals. He was chosen as the goalkeeper in all three group matches.
later Ferguson and Jim Layton worked together again at Manchester United, the first two seasons were Ferguson's chief goalkeeper. But everything changed because of the 1990 FA Cup final. 1990 was a precarious year for Manchester United and Ferguson. Ferguson came to Manchester United for three years without a championship, and the league results did not improve. At that time, there were voices that the FA Cup was Ferguson's last lifesaver. Sure enough, Manchester United went all the way to reach the finals, competing with Crystal Palace for the championship. However, in the face of the high-altitude bombing of the Crystal Palace, Jim Layton performed very poorly. The time of the attack was completely inaccurate. He also failed to prevent his opponent from scoring 3 goals. If it were not for Mark Hughes to tie in overtime, Manchester United It will fall short of Wembley. After the game, Ferguson saw Jim Layton in the locker room with his hands covering his face, and he didn't respond to the comfort of others, as if he collapsed. At this time Ferguson knew he had to make a trade-off.
After the 5th rematch, Ferguson decided to replace Jim Leighton with the substitute goalkeeper Les Sealey (Les Sealey). In fact, this decision also caused opposition from Archie Knox. He thought it would Hit Jim Layton's self-confidence, and Leslie Sealey is not a popular figure in the locker room, but Ferguson insisted on his decision, and he won the bet. Leslie Sealy did bring stability to Manchester United's defense and he also made 3 important saves. And Manchester United also returned with Lee Martin (Lee Martin) to win the championship. This is also Ferguson's first championship for Manchester United, and it also established Ferguson's future. However, after the game, Jim Leighton was alone and haggard. When Ferguson wanted to come forward to comfort him, Mrs. Jim Leighton's wife Linda Leighton made swear words to Ferguson, and then turned and walked away with Jim Leighton.
Jim Layton can be said to be the only loser in this championship. He lost the trust of Ferguson and also lost a seat at Manchester United. Jim Layton never said a word to Ferguson. He only played for Manchester United in the League Cup. Six months later, he was loaned to Arsenal and Reading until he officially transferred to Dundee, Scotland in 1992 and left Manchester United. This sadly. In a final, Ferguson and Jim Layton's fate at Manchester United went to extremes, just like the relationship between the two.
