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”What he did is what he has been doing all his life, winning..”
-Jose Mourinho on Sir Alex Ferguson after Manchester United won the Premier League one of the innumerable times.
No Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City fan can ever deny the greatness of Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Alex Ferguson has built Manchester United into a footballing giant that few teams can now compete with and as a Liverpool fan myself, it came to me as a shock to me to hear that Sir Alex is retiring. I did not believe the news initially , and so I checked the official site only to find out that what no one expected to happen had happened, at least not expecting it like this.
It takes me back to that season when Sir Alex Ferguson knocked Liverpool off their perch, after leading Manchester United to their 19th league title in the 2010/2011 English Premier League Season. Sir Alex deserves respect and the fact that SAF on the sidelines chewing his gum will no longer be there sends across a sense of emptiness and I know exactly how Manchester United fans must be feeling now.
Everyone bleats on about who’s been the greatest manager. Different times lead to different requirements for every club. The trick is to sustain a club at the very top throughout irrespective of whatever comes your way and for me Sir Alex fits this description. I always envied United for having a manager of that caliber and why would I not? He has simply taken Manchester United to heights never imagined by fans before his reign. If, on the brink of being sacked, United would not have won the FA Cup Final against Crystal Palace in 1990, we would have missed out on a great manager but they won and he emerged as the greatest manager in the history of modern day football and this is a man that has consistently delivered results over decades. Very few leaders in the world carry such results oriented credentials.
The more you think about it, the more you can’t help but respect him.
It will definitely be a long time before another manager can repeat, or even come close to what Sir Alex has been able to achieve over his 26 years in charge. No matter how bad the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United is, there is always time to give respect where it is due. Thank you Sir Alex for making football so interesting.
And, at last, the ‘Fergie Time’ is finally going to stop.
