Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson has admitted that he could find himself under pressure if results don’t pick up.
The 53-year-old has been at the Cambridgeshire-based outfit on and off for the last 17 years and his currently in his fourth stint in the dugout. He last returned to the club in 2023 and helped guide the club into the League One play-offs.
The 2023/24 campaign heralded similar results but after a summer of transition, they struggled last season. After briefly flirting with relegation, they eventually finished 18th.
Peterborough have built a successful model under the stewardship of Darragh MacAnthony, buying low and selling high. This past summer saw more of the same, although it did mean that Ferguson has had to contend with losing key players such as Kwame Poku, Hector Kyprianou and Emmanuel Fernandez.
It’s no surprise therefore that they have also started this season poorly. Last weekend’s 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers was their first maximum haul of the season and they currently lie bottom of the table.
Ferguson Feeling The Pressure
Peterborough haven’t been in League Two since 2008 but are facing the very real prospect of having to fight for their survival. Ferguson may be part of the furniture at the Weston Homes Stadium, but he knows that he is not untouchable. Speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, he said:
“You’ve got to get results.
“If we keep losing games, it’s going to get to the position where something might have to happen. We’ve not even had any conversation like that, but we’re not stupid.
“The main thing is for me that when players are going through bad runs and teams, you need to keep communicating with them.
“Don’t get me wrong, as a manager you lose confidence as well. You’re a human being like the players. There’s times where you lose confidence in yourself, you doubt yourself. But you’ve got to quickly get over that.”
Speaking of his relationship with Darragh MacAnthony, he added:
“He’ll leave a voice note after a game and it can be quite colourful at times. I’ll just ignore them for about an hour and he’ll calm down. Not ignore them in a rude way, but he knows that.
“Listen, we’ve got a good relationship. We’ve had great success as a football club but we want more. Unfortunately, at the moment, we’re having a tough time.”
Writer’s View
Peterborough’s model means it was always going to be difficult to keep up the momentum for a sustained period, but there is no doubting it is a successful model. Unfortunately, that means that it is always going to be tough when you keep losing your better players. However, they should be doing better then what they are. They’ve had a tough start to the season though and last weekend’s win over Wycombe shows they have enough quality to pull themselves out of this situation.
