Sir Alex Ferguson and changing managerial tenures

Sir Alex Ferguson addresses the crown from an open-top bus at the start of their Barclays Premier League Trophy Parade through Manchester on May 13, 2013 in Manchester, England. (Getty Images)

I think it would be best if I declare my loyalty to the red half of Merseyside before saying anything regarding Sir Alex Ferguson. Why? So that I’m not taken for another crazed Manchester United supporter, shedding a veritable river of tears as the gum-chewing, watch-tapping, human hair-dryer hangs his boots; bellow out how the man was greatness personified – the granddaddy of all managers, the G.O.A.T. Yes, I will praise the man, but talking in absolutes only invites ridicule.

Over the past week – and frankly, over the last fifteen years – one could not have visited a football related website and not come across a blog/article/poll which debated or proclaimed that Sir Alex was the greatest manager of all time. His achievements are well documented, so we can leave that aside and tackle the issue at hand. No, I am not going to say that Messrs Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan are ‘’better’’ than him (even though Paisley won 20 trophies in 9 years at Liverpool, along with six Manager of the Year awards. See what I did there?) Even addressing the debate of who is the greatest manager of all time would be senseless, leave alone actually dissecting the achievements and weighing and comparing them over a period of more than a hundred years. Like I said previously, I am not interested in being ridiculed.

All I can say about Sir Alex is that we will never see the like of him again. However, before I am accused of dealing in absolutes and digging my own grave, let me add a caveat: we will never see the like of him again unless there is a marked change in the way club football is run.

Seems like a very obvious statement, doesn’t it? But I don’t say it because of his genius, but because the game itself does not, and will not, allow a legend like his to form.

Let us go back to early November, 1986. Ferguson is appointed manager, with United last having won the league in 1967. It takes three and a half years for the first piece of silverware to arrive. What happened after that is – as everyone says – history. But those initial three and half years of his reign will never be seen again. True, nothing new about that revelation. Owners and fans want immediate success, with success being what is deemed appropriate for each club. United would consider the league title as success, while QPR would be more than happy to see the week end without Jose Bosingwa getting abused by all and sundry.

To trust a manager even though the results are unsatisfactory takes more than just plain old courage in today’s times. And it’s not because money has become the raison d’être, the essence, of the game today. Money would have entered the game in the volumes we see irrespective of the fair play controls and regulations that FIFA and UEFA could have placed, and will continue to do so post the “implementation” of the FFP. Once a form of entertainment is in demand – and with respect to English football, that’s putting it euphemistically – there is nothing to stop the inflow of currency.

What has broken the game, ensured that there will always be an element of disgust when players like Bosingwa do what they do, and hammered the proverbial nail in the coffin for managers is the Bosman ruling of 1995. Without getting into the details, it can safely be said that the ruling led to rising wage bills for clubs. This, in turn, meant that if clubs paid top buck for players who were able to negotiate high wages, the return on the investment had to follow quickly. If that didn’t occur, on-field performances would be the least of the club’s concerns.

European football can, then, be divided into a pre-1995 and post-1995 era. Ferguson faced eight years without having to worry about ballooning wage bills. To put things into perspective, Manchester United’s wage bill when he took over in 1986 was a full £3 million for the entire year.

Between 1987 and 1995, all that the Manchester United directors were concerned about was success on the pitch. Yes, the wage bill rose according to the salaries paid and newly transferred players, but these would not reach the exorbitant levels seen in the post-1995 era. In short, managers had to worry about balancing the team’s performances, and not the club’s accounts.

Sir Alex Ferguson lifts the Barclay Premier League trophy during the Manchester United Premier League Winners Parade at Manchester Town Hall on May 13, 2013 in Manchester, England. (Getty Images)

Will we ever see someone like Ferguson in the future? Well, no, because no club going after the league title would keep a manager after 42 fruitless months. And this isn’t to praise the United boardroom for their courage, faith and patience in the face of adversity. It’s just that they were working under circumstances we might never see again. True, other clubs could have followed the same blueprint. Arsenal had George Graham for close to a decade around the same time, and his dismissal coincided with the Bosman ruling and the non-achievement of league success. Chelsea chopped and changed, as did Liverpool once Kenny Dalglish resigned. Leeds United stuck with Howard Wilkinson for eight years, but never managed to win the title. And we all know what happened to Leeds in the new millennium. Blackburn turned to Dalglish and money for success, and he delivered. But King Kenny was sacked from his directorial role along with the new manager when the title success of 1994-95 wasn’t replicated the following year.

There is no doubt Ferguson is a great manager. I may be a Liverpool supporter, but I’m not foolish. He will rightfully go down as a legendary figure, not just for his Manchester United days, but for his success at Aberdeen too. But will David Moyes be given three and a half years to put his own team into place without having won anything in the meantime? No chance.