Praise continues to come in for Sir Alex Ferguson, and Mark Lawrenson writes of why we will never get a manager of his kind again.Sir Alex Ferguson is a one-off and we will never get a manager of his kind again.
Ferguson has built six different and successful Manchester United teams. He has dealt with Chelsea and their finances, Arsenal’s threat and now Manchester City.
He has also built bold, attacking teams who will always go out to win games and play with a courageous style.
Another reason why we won’t see another reign like Fergie’s is that clubs, chairmen and owners are not as patient as they were in his early days at United.
Even Ferguson himself was humble enough to admit that, these days, managers aren’t afforded as much time as he was at Old Trafford to get it right.
But, my word, United’s patience, support and understanding has been repaid. And then some.
Ferguson has gone on to write his name into British management legend. It’s a tough question to answer as to whether he is the best ever.
After all, we’ve had Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Jock Stein and Brian Clough.
And yet Fergie has done an incredible job at United.
How will we know whether managers of the past could have dealt with the egos of today?
Ferguson has dealt with everything that’s been thrown at him.
He’s had fantastic resources but the modern-day obstacle is to deal with the mercenaries, egos and increasing transfer fees.
He has always been able to deal with big stars, build a team full of spirit and character and maintained incredible success.
He’s done that during the Roman Abramovich era. United have spent big but they’ve not always had the same spectacular spending power on transfers and contracts as Chelsea, especially not during the early Jose Mourinho days.
Arsenal came along with the Invincibles. Ferguson said he’d not come across such big players and would have to change his philosophy.
Now that’s come full circle.
United won the Premier League last season but were beaten in the Champions League. Beaten by Barcelona, possibly the best team for a generation and made up of small, quick and skilful players.
What’s been Ferguson’s best team? I would argue it came in 1999 with the Treble. What an achievement.
The best XI is easier to pick.
The likes of Schmeichel, Cantona, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy. He managed and got the best out of big players and smaller games alike.
Look at his management of Cristiano Ronaldo. A player who said he was determined to leave.
Ferguson dealt with him, got the best out of him again and he was eventually sold for £80million.
Throughout it all, United have played great football. Often they went out with a 4-4-2 with two wingers, two strikers and a determination to win the game.
Now, even though tactics have evolved, Ferguson has moved with the times and still kept an attacking philosophy.
He likes exciting, attacking players.
He will always go out to win whether it be in the fifth minute or the 95th minute of “Fergie time.”
He has also helped produce good managers from his 25 years at Old Trafford.
Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Paul Ince, Bryan Robson, Gordon Strachan, Roy Keane, Mark Robins, his son Darren and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He has embraced new thinking on diets, fitness levels and coaching, and maintained complete control.
There’s been boardroom changes, upheaval and difficulties through several stages.
But Ferguson stands head and shoulders above everyone else as the boss. He has also had a love-hate relationship with the press.
He’s banned so many reporters and organisations. But here we all are, writing tributes about his 25 years of management and the genius of Ferguson.
That truly makes him a genius!
You can see Ferguson at a social event and he will be charming and engaging – even with us former Liverpool players.
But back in the day, he treated Liverpool players as the anti-Christ.
It’s hard to imagine Ferguson not still at Old Trafford and still winning trophies in three, four or even five years.
He is a living legend and he’s a managerial great who deserves so much praise to mark 25 remarkable years.
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