Is this Rooney’s walk of shame or stride of pride?

WHEN I first interviewed Alex Ferguson in the mid-Nineties, having always prided myself in being able to remain unimpressed in the face of celebrity, I emerged from the session somewhat shamefaced.

For I had experienced what I would later describe in writing – with a deliberate nod to Third Reich historiography – as ‘Fergiepower’: a charisma and intimidating force of persuasion that renders all opposition virtually helpless.

In one-on-one eyeballing, few can best him; and even though I have always been more sympathetic to Fergiephobes than ‘philes, I have always been careful to laud his single greatest quality – that of personal man-management.