Alex Ferguson admitted in his book, Six-Year at United that ex-Manchester United player and Norwich star Mark Robins was the one who saved him from a potential sack three years earlier. He said “The knives were out and it seemed I might become yet another statistic in the pursuit of success. But the FA Cup came to my rescue, starting with the morale-boosting victory over Forest, we got a 1-0 win with a goal scored by Mark Robins, bless him.”
Robins had been sold to Norwich for £800000 the previous summer and his excellent performance that season had put Norwich on the top of the table.