Ferguson's philosophy? Just go out and win

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson insists the general philosophy of management has not changed in his 38 years as a boss – you still need to win football matches.

With 12 Premier League titles, a couple of European Cups and now even a statue in his honour at Manchester United, Ferguson has surely gone beyond the point of worrying about whether he could ever be sacked.

Yet so many of his younger colleagues are now pitched into impossible situations.

Mark Hughes was axed at QPR last week after less than a year in charge. The same was also true of Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea, who found not even winning the Champions League and FA Cup last season enough to keep him in a job.

Ferguson has never been shy at making himself available for a phone call should advice be sought, with Reading’s Brian McDermott the latest to reveal he had spoken to the Scot in January after experiencing a few difficulties at Reading.

Yet, whilst the game has changed considerably from the one Ferguson knew when he took over at East Stirling in 1974, the bottom line remains.

“The one thing that hasn’t changed since I started at the age of 32 is you have to win games,” said Ferguson.

“It’s a results industry.

“The type of owners in the game has changed. Nonetheless, you couldn’t go five or 10 games without winning back in 1974 without some sort of pressure."

There are other issues to contend with though.

High finance, massive media interest and a seemingly insatiable need for assessment via social media has made the manager’s job much harder, and demanding owners have become more inclined to make knee-jerk decisions.

“The things that have changed since I started are the intensity of journalism, which has become more severe,” said Ferguson.

“Agents have come to the fore, freedom of contract has gone – when I first started you had contracts that controlled players which is unfair but it was there.

“All these things have created massive changes in management.

“The thing I did was integrate into each stage to the position I’m in now."

Which makes Ferguson such a useful sounding board for those, like his son Darren, trying to make their own way in the game.

“You do get phone calls from younger managers and I’m happy to help them because I know how difficult a job it is,” said Ferguson.

“We have a lot of coaches coming here for a couple of days at a time – we’ve always been open to that type of thing.

“It’s no problem for me to take a phone call or call a younger manager – it’s only 10 or 15 minutes out of my day.

“The work we do at the LMA (League Managers Association) is important.

“People with the experience of Howard Wilkinson, ’Harry’ (Dave) Bassett and Alan Curbishley and others who are out of jobs all have a role to play in terms of helping younger managers in the game.”