Alex Ferguson says John O’Shea cried when Man United lost the Premier League

Even the players Alex Ferguson offloaded from Manchester United retained their loyalty to the legendary Scot as the club’s most famous manager illustrated last night in a story he told about John O’Shea.

The 74-year-old, in Dublin for a special charity event with Rory McIlroy, reminisced about losing the Premier League title in the cruellest fashion to neighbours Manchester City on the final day of the 2012 season.

United had done their part by beating Sunderland only to learn following the full-time whistle of City’s late and decisive comeback against QPR. As the disconsolate Red Devils boss marched down the tunnel at the Stadium of Light, greeting him was a player he’d handed his United debut to 13 years earlier.