Darren Ferguson has been heavily criticised on social media after leaving Ashley Young’s son, Tyler, on the bench and denying the pair a moment of history in Peterborough’s 2-0 defeat to Everton in the FA Cup.
Much of the talk in the build-up to this evening’s third-round tie between League One outfit Peterborough and five-time FA Cup winners Everton had centred around the potential father-son meeting at Goodison Park.
The duo were upstaged somewhat just hours before kick-off, as the Toffees announced that Sean Dyche had been relieved of his duties as manager, with Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman taking over the reins on an interim basis.
Peterborough’s hopes of causing an upset were dented in the 42nd minute as Beto finished brilliantly to open the scoring and Iliman Ndiaye doubled Everton’s lead deep into added time to put the game to bed.
With 20 minutes remaining on Merseyside, 39-year-old Young was brought on for Nathan Patterson to set up the dream scenario of the former England international facing his teenage son, 18.
Never before have a father-son duo played against each other in the long and storied history of the FA Cup – and it remains the case after Ferguson opted to leave the Peterborough midfielder on the bench.
Ferguson instead introduced Oscar Wallin, Malik Mothersille, Ryan de Havilland, Abraham Odoh and Gustav Lindgren as the visitors searched in vain for an equaliser before Ndiaye’s late penalty.
It’s fair to say fans on X, formerly Twitter, were less than impressed by Ferguson’s substitutions, with many baffled by the manager’s failure to play along with the sentimental narrative.
‘Not bringing on Tyler Young to play against his dad (Ashley Young), is pretty poor from Darren Ferguson,’ @Footy_Tipster said.
‘Darren Ferguson needs sacking… imagine not playing Young against his dad for the last 15 mins of the game,’ wrote @Unitedfc484995.
‘Darren Ferguson not bringing on Ashley Young’s son, disgraceful behaviour,’ @DanWrexham tweeted.
‘Darren Ferguson needs to get over himself. Get Young on. Make history. You’ve been in Everton’s half once in the last 10,’ said @RwLang711.
All that press over the father/son game between Ashley and Tyler Young and Darren Ferguson doesn’t play Tyler. That’s incredibly petty,’ @MitchHalley wrote.
‘Darren Ferguson is bad vibes for not putting on Tyler Young and making a bit of history,’ @mync_____ tweeted.
‘Very poor from Darren Ferguson not to bring on Tyler Young to play against Ashley Young,’ said @emcbraham91.
Ferguson later revealed that one of Everton’s players ‘had a pop’ at him for refusing to bring Young on against his dad in the dying moments of the game.
‘[It was] very, very difficult but I’ve got to do what I think is best for the team, as much as I wanted Tyler to get on,’ Ferguson told reporters at his post-match press conference.
‘If the game had been 2-0 at that point then I would have put him on but it’s 1-0.
‘I’ve got to get a forward on, I’ve got to try and get something out of the game, I’ve got to do what’s best for the team and we’re not a charity case.
‘As much as I wanted Tyler to get on with his dad… one of their players had a bit of a pop at me which is bang out of order.
‘I’ve got to do what’s best for the team and at that point, it’s 1-0, I’m trying to get a result.’
Asked to elaborate on his altercation with the unnamed Everton player, Ferguson replied: ‘Listen, it was small things but nah, not for me, that.
‘I’ve got to do what’s best for the team.’
Ferguson was pleased with his players’ application and felt Beto’s strike was the key ‘turning point’ in the game.
‘I thought we did very well. I asked the players to do themselves justice and they did more than that,’ he added.
‘The two big chances we have at 0-0, their first goal was the turning point in the game. We have given them a game. It wasn’t until the last seconds they managed to wrap it up.
‘We are disappointed that we are out of the cup, we didn’t come for a night out but the boys acquitted themselves well.’
Ferguson admitted it was ‘unusual’ facing off against a team who had let go of their manager just hours beforehand.
‘Like everyone else we were surprised by Sean’s departure and sorry to see him go because he’s a good man,’ he added.
‘It was done on the day of the game, I have never had that before, it was an unusual situation.’
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