Ice cold Alex keeps heat on nervous hacks

IS there a more accomplished juggler of carrot and stick in football management than Alex Ferguson?

Sure, Jack Charlton could be humming ‘Dublin In The Rare Oul Times’ one minute and inviting the Dunph to step outside the next but there was almost always a comical dimension to even his most explosive moments. As for Brian Clough, by turns inspirational and intimidating, well, he was simply sui generis, comparable to no-one but himself.

Certainly, of those still occupying the hottest seats in football, Ferguson is in a league of his own when it comes to an ability to alter the temperature in the room, for good or ill.