Manchester: Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson turned 79 on Thursday (December 31). He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time having won more trophies than any othe manager in the history of football.
During his service for 26 years at Manchester United, he has won 38 trophies which includes a record 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles before retiring from management at the end of the 2012–13 season winning the Premier League in his final season as well.
They say that fathers are like pathfinders and Sir Alex was the pathfinder for the Red Devils in every sense. His journey was full of passion, determination, excitement, controversies and no fewer achievements.
From changing the dressing room culture to having his negetivities with his players, it was all there throughout his managerial journey which is worthy of a documentary to be televised.
After playing football professionally as a forward for almost seventeen years, he took up the job of manager first at East Stirlingshire F.C back in 1974. After stints at St Mirren and Aberdeen, he was appointed as the manager of Manchester United on June 6, 1986, but little did everyone knew that what was about to come in the way of the club. After initial difficult periods, he quickly realised what was wrong and completely changed the dynamics of the club.
His main contribution to the club was to shape a group of youth prodigies who would become legends of their own later on in their career. Known as the “Fergie’s Fledglings” or the “Class of 92” the group drew inspiration from the days of Sir Matt Busby’s “Busby Babes” from the ’60s. The likes of Ryan Giggs, Garry Neville, Phill Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and a certain David Beckham transformed the Red Devils into a powerhouse of English football which dominated for years to come. With a couple of inspirational signings of Roy Keane and Eric Cantona, Sir Alex made inspired the side to win the Premier League after a long gap of 25 years.
But his memorable patch was that iconic 1998-99 season in which he won a treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. The final of the Champions League was a dramatic one which United won against Bayern Munich scoring the winning goal just before the final whistle of the game.
While his man management was something else in developing players, he had his fair share of rage with the players, the most popular of them was with Beckham as the English’s midfielder’s rather extravagant off-the-field life was the point of disgust for him. This was highlighted so much when Beckham left Manchester United for Real Madrid back in 2003.
But Ferguson saw his replacement in a young Cristiano Ronaldo whom he signed from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 before molding his raw talent into the player, the Portuguese star later became.
From technical perspective too, Sir Alex changed a few things. One of the most important was to shift his formation to 4-3-3 from the 4-4-2 which was typically associated with English football with the more emphasis on controlling the game from the middle of the park
He again set up a great squad with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Ronaldo helping the Red Devils complete a memorable campaign in the 2007-08 season in which they won both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
Even after Ronaldo’s departure, which was seen as a potential breakdown of a successful squad, Ferguson still made the most of what he had in his squad to keep the team in contention for both domestic and continental titles.
Even in his final season with the club, he won the Premier League with a side that was not belived to be a contender before the start of that season.
His impact on the game and on the players who played under him have been immense. The current United manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer was once was also under his incredible man management which evidently shows the legacy of the man who is an asset for the game.
