Ex-Man Utd Hero: Sir Alex Ferguson “Never Coached” At Man Utd

Paul Ince

Paul Ince spoke on his time at Manchester United and told of how Sir Alex Ferguson treated him differently to the other players at the club and that it was ‘always a dream of mine to play for Manchester United.’

Ince, who was recently sacked by Blackpool, spoke on a number of topics, including signing for Liverpool and how he couldn’t turn them down, the influx of foreign players into the Premier League and when he signed for Man United.

He had better career than most players as he captained his country, helped Man Utd win trophies and even played in Italy with Inter before stepping into management after stints at Wolves, Swindon and Macclesfield.

Before signing for United, Ince was playing well for West Ham, until Mr Ferguson approached the club about signing Ince.

“Fergie was very kind to me. He wasn’t as intense with me as he was with other players,” claimed Ince.

“I met him at a hotel in Waltham Abbey. He was sitting there, suit on, cup of tea, and I couldn’t believe I was in the same room as Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United. It was always a dream of mine to play for Manchester United.

“Bryan Robson was my idol. I always wanted to base my game on his – never actually got there. I always wanted to play for the team he was playing for. So to get the chance to go to United was fantastic.

“Ferguson never coached; it was either Brian Kidd or Archie Knox. He would sit in his office and look down from his big window at the Cliff and if anyone was farting about, he’d be banging on the window and we all knew we were in trouble.

“It was only on Thursday that we saw Ferguson in training, and then on Friday morning, doing the boxes with his silly little woolly hat on. Saturday was his domain. That’s when you really saw him. If I’d seen Ferguson every day on the training ground it wouldn’t carry that as much substance. It was special when we saw him. ‘Gaffer’s here, stand by your beds’.”

“Those were great teams. So many strong characters, myself, Robson, Keane, Cantona, Bruce, Schmeichel, so many egos, so many opinions. I’d argue with Keaney, Keaney would argue with Schmeichel, Schmeichel would argue with Brucey and everyone was shouting like little kids.

“But Fergie’s voice was the one that counted. We were big giants and all of a sudden he walked in and we were like little boys. Sir Alex had a great presence. He was ‘the man’.”

Ince also touched on the influx of foreign players coming to the Premier League. He blames foreign players for clubs hiring foreign managers. Currently, there are 10 British managers in the league.

“We are too obsessed with foreign managers. Because we have an influx of so many foreign players the owners think the best way is to bring in foreign coaches because they understand the culture of foreign players. Even watching the City-Chelsea game on Monday I was thinking everyone was foreign (19 of the 22 starters). That can’t be right. As a former England player, that kills me.

“The problem we have is that the Premier League are not interested in England.”