'Cheerio' Sir Alex Ferguson: End of an era, start of a new one

And he rightly backed it up when United won their 19th league title in ’10. In his time at United, Ferguson saw off Liverpool’s tradition, Leeds’ rivalry, Blackburn’s money, Arsenal‘s onvincibles, Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea overhaul, and later Mancini’s overspending Manchester City.

Ferguson was a strict disciplinarian and a shrewd tactician and had a steely determination. He was a firm believer in the ideology that the club is bigger than any individual, and he always made sure that no player crossed the line; those who dared never got away. United under Ferguson has always had the knack of punching above their weight. Arguably, United has never had the best individuals in their team with the likes of Chelsea and Man City at the moment boasting of better individuals, but individual brilliance rarely wins you games. It’s the team effort that counts. After all, they call it a team game for a reason.

He instilled such confidence and positive attitude in his side that they were feared by any opposing team, especially in the last quarter of the match, not to mention the never ending injury time for the opponents, more if United were behind. It’s this winning mentality and spirit in the team that made players believe that it’s not over till it’s over.

The number of points that they have accumulated from these uncountable number of comebacks and injury time winners is just startling, leading to the title “Comeback Kings”. A title they always live up to. Any team, no matter what the magnitude is, always know for a fact that if they are to beat United, they will have to give their all. Nobody ever has it easy. In his time at United he has won 13 league titles, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 2 Champions League titles and many more.

The answer to the question as to who is the best manager ever has long been debated. And the answer depends on a number of factors. Trophies are quantifiable and nobody comes close to Sir Alex Ferguson’s total of 49 trophies. In fact, a total of 21 trophies separate the legendary Ukrainian Valeriy Lobanovskyi who comes next in the list with Lobanovskyi winning most of it in the less competitive Ukrainian league.

Then comes different football cultures. The likes of Jose Mourinho, Giovanni Trapattoni, Ernst Happel have won across different football leagues. While many would disagree with Ferguson’s European performance citing Bill Shankly’s record three Champion’s League titles. Contribution to evolution of tactics, science or football as a whole is another major factor.

Helenio Herrera and Catenacio, Rinus Michels and Total Football, Guus Hiddink and organisation, Tele Santana and aesthetics, Brian Clough and alchemy. Talk about legacy and consistency, and none matches Ferguson’s enormous legacy nor his consistency. Longevity and the challenges that come with it like frequent team building, loyalty is another factor where Ferguson edges out the rest. Fergie retiring in the highest level is another factor that trumps him over the rest. Ranking the best managers will always be subjective to a certain level, but when you collect the pieces of the jigsaw, it is observed that Sir Alex Ferguson does accumulates the most number of pieces or at least the biggest pieces.

Finally, Sir Alex Ferguson has retired, though to many it seemed that the day would never come. There were even stories shared by the Old Trafford faithfuls in good humour that Fergie will have to be carried out of Old Trafford in his deathbed. People would debate the timing of his departure but like all his press conferences and like all his mind games, he got this one right as well.

As he explained, the core team consists of players aged between 22-23 who are capable enough to continue for the next decade as they are yet to peak. And leaving an organisation at such a time is the best way to move forward. He has done his job, left a legacy and now it’s for his successor and the team to carry on from here and emulate his success.

26 years back in 1986, a 45 year old Alex Chapman Ferguson was signed to take United where it belonged - the top. 26 years later, as Sir Alex Ferguson has retired, what he has achieved in the course of his career cannot be put into words, numbers or figures . He was nothing but a ‘winner’. An absolute Monster in his words. ‘Cheerio’ Sir Alex Ferguson ! You will always be remembered.