Darren Ferguson says Peterborough United lacked the ambition to stay in the Championship and he's staying patient while waiting for the right job opportunity to come along

Ferguson quit as Posh manager after a Championship defeat at Derby County at the end of February. It was his third spell at the club during which he won his fourth promotion, and third to the Championship.

Ferguson said the last Posh promotion from League One in 2020-21 was his favourite because of the complications caused by Covid. But he claimed the club weren’t then ambitious enough with their investment and relegation became inevitable.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t establish ourselves in the Championship,” Ferguson told www.coaches.com. “We underestimated it as a club, and we weren’t ambitious enough with our investment. I just couldn’t see the club getting to where I felt they needed to be to stay in the league, so in February 2022 I decided to leave. I couldn’t face the prospect of being back in League One, and I thought someone else might be able to save them from the drop.

“It was as far as I could go with Peterborough. We’d reached the end of the road together, and it was time for me to go. The love affair with Peterborough was over. It’s a club I love dearly, but we all knew it was right to call time then.”

The 50 year-old managed Posh over 500 times and has racked up over 700 Football League games as a manager. He wants to get back into the game, but he’s waiting for the right project.

Ferguson told coaches.com: “I’ve had plenty of offers to go back in, but I’ve got no interest in taking a job for the sake of it. It’s important to enjoy the time off and recuperate, but also to have a hard think about what I want from my next job. Then, I can take my time and wait for the right one to come along. I want to go somewhere with real potential; a project I can get my teeth stuck into. I’ll know when it’s the right club.

"Some people might assume I’d lean on my dad for help getting a job. He’s helped a lot of people get jobs over the years, but I’ve never once let him make a phone call for me.

“I always ask him for guidance and advice. He’s obviously a brilliant person to be able to call on in that regard, but I have never had a hand getting a job through being Sir Alex Ferguson’s son.

"I’ve done everything in my career off my own back, and it will be no different going forwards from here.

“I’m not going to be doing this until I’m 70, like my dad. But before I retire, I’d like to firmly establish myself in the Championship, where I feel I belong.

“More than anything, though, I want to enjoy myself. I’ve done it for 15 years already, and I’ve learned this job is best when you let yourself enjoy your work.”