The day Fergie made me float
I’m still in shock about Alex Ferguson retiring. I genuinely felt that with the squad he’d assembled and all the talk of signing a couple of significant players in the summer, his tenure would stretch to maybe 30 years in charge.
Like a lot of people, I’ve only ever known Manchester United with Alex in charge. I must admit though that, growing up, he wasn’t my favourite person. Our family was divided between supporting Liverpool and Manchester United, and as I was a Liverpool fan it was always preached to me that Ferguson was public enemy number one. It wasn’t really until I grew up that I learned to first admire, then respect and eventually like the man.
What he has achieved at United will never be surpassed. The teams he has built and the players he has discovered or nurtured to become world class talents, show not just a hunger and will to win but also that he’s a very clever man. He recognises when a player has had his day at Old Trafford and, sometimes controversially, eases them onto pastures new. You just need to think of players like David Beckham, Paul Ince, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jaap Stam, who were all crowd favourites with the United faithful and who all still had good years ahead of them when they left.
But the manager’s made the bold decisions because maybe he thought they had grown too big for their boots or possibly he just wanted to cash in on them as he had replacements in mind. The point is that, ultimately, he’s never been afraid of making the big decisions and, let’s be frank, the vast majority of those calls have been right.
I haven’t personally come up against him that many times and certainly not to really test his managerial skills, at any rate. But I do have fond memories of one occasion when I was playing at MK Dons against Peterborough — the latter managed by his son Darren — when Alex came to watch.
It was a crucial match as we were positioned first and second in the league and were the clear favourites for promotion that season. We won the game 2-1 and I scored one and set Kevin Gallen up for the other by hitting probably the best pass of my career.
To use a Ferguson quote, ironically about our then manager Paul Ince: “I used to have a saying that when a player is at his peak, he feels like he can climb Everest in his slippers”. Well, that was exactly how I felt when I heard later about comments Alex had made while he shared a post-match glass of wine with Darren and his former player Ince. He told Darren that if I was in his Peterborough side that they would win the league and also said I could play at a much higher level. When Paul Ince told me this on the Monday morning I was bouncing around for days and my confidence soared through the roof. To think that a man of Alex’s experience and knowledge would take note of me, let alone sing my praises, was very special.
The United players I’ve come across down through the years all seem quite guarded when it comes to sharing information about the way they do things at Old Trafford. I’m sure it’s something that is ingrained in them from an early age and I quite admire it, even if I do find it frustrating when I’m trying to pick their brains on certain things. When you think of how little information leaks out of United as opposed to their “noisy neighbours” or Chelsea for example, then it just shows that Ferguson has always run a very tight ship and insisted on players doing things the “United way”.
There was one little nugget I did learn from a United Irishman, however. On an international trip I was sitting next to John O’Shea having dinner and we were chatting about the game in which we’d faced each other the previous weekend. I can’t recall the score but if I was a betting man then I would hazard a guess United won. In any event, John told me that they knew our starting line up the day before the game and that more often than not Alex would somehow find out the opposition’s team in advance. You’ve got to love that.
There’s no doubt that Ferguson would have had a massive say in who succeeded him at this club. I think the appointment of David Moyes shows the Glazers greatly value the opinions of Alex and Bobby Charlton and also want to maintain the values on which the club is run. There’s no doubting there are bigger names that could have taken over but, in my opinion, this is the right appointment.
Moyes is a cut from the same cloth as his fellow Scot and the fact United have given him a six-year deal shows continuity is key to the appointment.
The media had built it up as a battle between Mourinho and Moyes and, as much as I admire Mourinho and love his charismatic approach to the game, I simply think it would have been the wrong fit. Having said that, I do feel that Mourinho is at a stage of his career now where maybe he’s looking to stay at a club for a considerable amount of time after being very successful in leagues across Europe.
In the day between Alex Ferguson retiring and David Moyes being appointed, my only concern was that the Glazers’ global brand ambitions and stock market flotation might have gone against Moyes as he’s not as big a name as Mourinho but, like I said, they clearly see the wisdom of United continuing to be run in the way which has brought the club so much success.
As much as this a dream job for David Moyes, it’s also going to be a very tough one. He will have to adapt his style of play to suit the United squad but I have no doubt he is capable of this. Funnily enough, I don’t think he will have as big a task on his hands with the dressing room as he did when he took over at Everton at the age of 40. Back then he was relatively unproven as a manager, certainly at Premier League level, and inherited a dressing-room full of senior professionals who may have questioned the appointment. But he dealt with all that at a canter and, by all accounts, is a fiercely driven character who can back up his occasional eruptions of anger with solid action. At Old Trafford, he will be dealing with good senior players who are only interested in Manchester United and in winning. And I can only see their respect for him growing as the weeks and months go by.
And so another dramatic week in the football world comes to a close. This game never ceases to amaze me. And, if you think we are obsessed with football, then you should take a trip out here to Qatar, where I’m currently doing rehab on my injury. I haven’t missed a trick since I’ve been here. More on this amazing place next week.
