The other side of Sir Alex Ferguson

There are few people in football who divide opinion more than Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. It has to be said that you either love him or you hate him. In fact, apart from Manchester United fans I doubt whether there are too many in the ‘love him’ camp.

Angry old git

What most football fans can agree on is that we all share a huge amount of respect for the grumpy, moany, angry old git!

In the last couple of weeks Barcelona’s Gerard Pique has spoken out about the regime at Old Trafford and the fact that their diet is poor and they are allowed to drink beer. He has said that neither he nor half of the other players understand a word Fergie says.

One Scottish first division title, three Scottish Premier League titles, four Scottish Cups, one Scottish League Cup, ten Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups, two Champions League titles, two Uefa Cup Winners Cup titles and two Uefa Super Cups.

Not a bad record

For a man who doesn’t know how to look after his players and who finds it impossible to communicate with them, he hasn’t got a bad record!

So what is it that makes Sir Alex so successful? An insight into the type of man and manager he is comes from former United player and now Bordeaux striker David Bellion.

Bellion, now enjoying some success in the French League, had a seemingly unsuccessful spell at United who he joined in 2003 and started just five Premier League games in three years with the club.

Rebuilding

He then had an unsuccessful loan spell with West Ham before leaving United and trying to rebuild his reputation with Nice in his home country of France. During that rebuilding process few in England would have given the striker a second thought.

One notable exception, however, Bellion told the BBC was the United boss. Bellion says that Fergie sent him a letter telling him to “keep going” during that time at Nice and has since phoned him to offer further similar encouragement.

“Those are the kind of things that make a great manager and maybe a great man. He is class. A gentleman. To some coaches, when you leave their club you are gone completely but he looks out for all the players who have been with him. For me, to receive that letter after a small spell at United was a great honour for me. It maybe means nothing to him but it means a lot for me. He had not forgotten me.”

Maybe in what David Bellion tells us we can see why Sir Alex has been so successful. The image of him being a caring and thoughtful man doesn’t sit easily and I’m sure it isn’t an image that he would want people to have of him. However, the image of a man fiercely loyal to those who work hard for him and behave themselves is an easier one to believe.

Knighthood

Sir Alex Ferguson has won thirty-one trophies in the thirty-four years since he moved into management. On eight occasions he has won the PFA manager of the year award, and he has been manager of the month an incredible twenty-one times. He is in the English football hall of fame and has received the O.B.E. and a knighthood in recognition of what he has achieved.

One of the main opinions about Ferguson’s management of Manchester United has been the fact that no player is bigger than the club. He appears to have consistently taken a “do it my way or f**k off” approach in his dealings with his players over the years. Such players as Gordon Strachan, Paul McGrath, Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, Dwight Yorke, David Beckham, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Gabby Heinze have all left the club after some sort of falling out with Fergie.

Protector

There is no doubt that he is in charge and there is no doubt that he would back his loyal players to the hilt. Step out of line and he’ll come down on you like the proverbial ‘ton of bricks’, but if you do a job for him, you’ll have a protector for life.

This is probably a side of Fergie that he wouldn’t be thrilled to get out, but you do not achieve the level of success he has achieved simply through fear and discipline.

The fact is that whether you like him or loathe him, he has been incredibly successful. Maybe David Bellion has given us a small insight into part of the reason as to why this might be.