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It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world – Chaos Theory
There have been similar instances in Sir Alex Ferguson’s legendary managerial reign at Manchester United, when even a slightest of the change in the events that actually transpired could have changed the entire history of the phenomenon that he is today.
Let’s have a look at ten of those moments that defined his career at Manchester United:
1) Jan 1990 – The saviour goal
It was only January, and United were already looking down towards a disappointing league campaign for the third straight year in charge under Sir Alex Ferguson. Showing their growing frustration, United faithful brandished a banner at Old Trafford, “Three years of promise, and it’s still a cr**. Ta Ra Fergie”.
The event culminated in an FA cup draw, where many believed, that a defeat to Nottingham Forest will put a full stop to Ferguson’s career at Manchester United.
The defeat, however, never came. Mark Robins scored the only and decisive goal of the match, that everyone believes, went on to save Fergie’s job. The rest, as they say, is history.
2) Nov 1992 – A call from Leeds United
In the summer of 1992, Alex Ferguson and United chairman, Martin Edwards were discussing their yearly transfer targets, when they received a call. It was Leeds United chairman, Bill Fotherby, who asked for the availability of Denis Irwin.
United declined Irwin’s approach, and instead, asked for the availability of Eric Cantona, whom Alex Ferguson lamented about missing out on earlier. Leeds chairman considered the request and promised to call back in 24 hours.
He did call back and the deal was done in no time. Eric Cantona then proved to be brooding catalyst and the missing piece in United’s jigsaw to attain that elusive Premier League title, their first in 26 years, which started an era of success.
3) Summer 1993 – Blackburn’s office staff who were away for a weekend.
In the summer of 1993, Nottingham Forest’s Roy Keane had agreed to join Blackburn Rovers after holding talks with Kenny Dalglish – but the Rovers office staff had gone home for the weekend, and hence, the paperwork could not go through until Monday.
That gave Sir Alex Ferguson a chance to hijack the deal. He called the Irishman over the weekend, who spoke to Sir Alex for the first time, and couldn’t refuse a chance to play for Manchester United. As a result, he called off his deal with Blackburn and joined United instead.
Keane would be central to the following 12 years of United success, playing as inspirational captain for eight years and winning the title six times during the process.
4) Oct 1998 – Andy Cole makes a rare start
In 1998, Sir Alex wanted to bring Patrick Kluivert to Old Trafford to partner him with Dwight Yorke, but Kluivert refused to leave Milan. Andy Cole, who wasn’t in Ferguson’s plans at that time, was handed a rare start at Southampton. He and Yorke developed the sort of chemistry and telepathy that is usually reserved for cheesy romantic flicks. They both went on to score 54 goals between them during the 1998/99 season and ended as treble winners.
5) May 1999 – Ryan Giggs’s mistimed volley
Manchester United won the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich in the most dramatic fashion ever by scoring two injury time goals, and hence, overturning a 1-0 deficit in the final three minutes of the game.
The first of those two goals was scored by Teddy Sheringham, who scored from an instinctive sweep of his right foot, after the ball had fallen for him following a scuffed volley from Ryan Giggs. Had Giggs connected that volley sweetly with his left foot, Sir Alex Ferguson would have never got a chance to lift his first European Cup.
6) July 2006 – Ronaldo stays.
Ronaldo became a villain in England overnight when he influenced referee Horacio Elizondo to brandish a red card for Wayne Rooney’s stamp on Ricardo Carvalho in their quarter-final meeting in 2006 World Cup.
If that alone was not enough, he followed it by a conspiratorial wink to team-mates that appeared to suggest that it was a case of “job done”, as his Old Trafford team-mate took the long walk in Gelsenkirchen.
This almost drew the curtain on his Old Trafford career as he could not have returned to England and play in the same team with Rooney. Sir Alex Ferguson, however, had different view on this. He went to see Ronaldo personally in Portugal and used his man-management skills to persuade him to stay at United.
Ronaldo became the darling of Old Trafford in the seasons to follow and became the world’s best player by winning the Ballon d’Or in 2008, and also helped United win a European Cup and three successive league titles during the process.
7) April 2007 – Tim Howard’s loan move to Everton.
Tim Howard, who was loaned out to Everton in 2006/07 season, displayed some fantastic performances between the sticks for the Merseyside club that boasted one of the most impressive defences during the season. The American international, however, couldn’t play against United due to the conditions of the loan move (He played every other league fixture in 2006/07 season). As a result, Everton conceded more goals to Manchester United than they had conceded to any other team in the league during the season.
Everton were 2-0 up in second half and were looking to put a serious dent on United’s title challenge. This was until Everton’s stand-in keeper Iain Turner fumbled the ball that fell to John O’ Shea, who scored first of the United’s four goals that completed a tremendous comeback, and also helped them to stay clear from Chelsea. A week later, they had secured their first league title in four years.
Jose Mourinho, whose impact at Chelsea had challenged Ferguson, lost his job at Stamford Bridge five months later.
8) May 2008 – Terry’s Moscow slip
On a rainy night in Moscow at the 2008 European Cup final, United and Chelsea couldn’t be separated even after extra time and the match went into penalties. John Terry stepped up to take the final penalty for Chelsea, after Cristiano Ronaldo of all people, had missed for United. Terry, however, slipped at the vital moment and scuffed his penalty on to the post and the match went into sudden death.
The penalty miss allowed the inevitability of United’s name on the trophy to creep into Chelsea’s mind, who couldn’t score their final penalty after United, who had grown into renewed belief and confidence after the penalty miss, had scored theirs.
The result was a second European cup triumph for Sir Alex Ferguson.
9) April 2009 – Macheda Magic.
United had lost successive matches to Liverpool and Fulham before they faced a determined Aston Villa team at Old Trafford. Brave play from the Villains saw United go 1-2 down ten minutes into the second half and stared at a third successive league defeat that would have allowed Liverpool to leapfrog United to the first place.
Sir Alex threw a 17-year-old, relatively unknown, Kiko Macheda into the mix when there were other big names available on the bench. What happened in the stoppage time was a stuff made of dreams. Macheda turned a defender inside the box and curled the ball into the bottom right corner to win the match for United.
That goal set the platform for United pipping Liverpool to their 18th league title.
10) July 2012 – Phone call to Arsene Wenger.
United had lost the league title to their bitter rivals Manchester City in the most gut-wrenching fashion by losing on goal difference. Sir Alex promised that it won’t ever happen again. And to keep up to that promise, he required that his team scored more goals.
Meanwhile, Robin van Persie, golden boot winner, refused to sign a new contract at Arsenal and it was believed that he was moving to Manchester City for a mega deal, until Sir Alex intervened. Ferguson made a personal call to Arsene Wenger, and also had a chat with Van Persie to persuade him to join United for a guaranteed Premier League winner’s medal.
Van Persie couldn’t refuse the offer and joined United within a couple of weeks. He became a phenomenon in his debut season at United, where he won the Premier League’s golden boot and his maiden Premier League title.
