Firstly, Ferguson DID spend shit loads of money at first and got nowhere. From 1986 to 1990 he bought Viv Anderson, Brian McClair, Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce, Jim Leighton, Mal Donaghy, Mike Phelan, Gary Pallister, Paul Ince, Danny Wallace, Neil Webb. That's a whole new team.
And there plenty of United fans from that period who knew that moving towards a more disciplined approach was necessary if we were going to really challenge for the league.
In addition, this 'pub club' mentality existed in 91 other clubs as well during that period. That was the culture at the time.