Sir Alex Ferguson will retire as one of the managerial greats
By BBC
Manchester
United's landscape - and that of British football - changed forever just after
9am on Wednesday, 8 May 2013.
This was when the
domestic game's towering figure called time on the successes, trials and
tribulations of 26 years at Old Trafford. Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson
announced his retirement.
The 71-year-old
Scot, with a stand bearing his name and a statue on the concourse outside, will
take charge of his final game at the self-styled Theatre of Dreams when United
face Swansea City on Sunday.
It was an
announcement that came as a seismic shock to football's system, coming so soon
after a series of bullish statements from Ferguson hinting at exactly the
opposite of walking away.
How swiftly the
scenery has been moved at Old Trafford. It was only in March, as Ferguson
prepared to face Real Madrid in the Champions League, that he wrote these words
in his programme notes:
"This is what
it is all about - a packed Old Trafford, the floodlights on, the pitch
glistening and two of the greatest and most romantic clubs in the game about to
do battle.
"People ask
me why I don't retire after so many years in the game, but how could anyone
with an ounce of passion for football in their soul voluntarily walk away from
the opportunity to be involved in this kind of occasion?"
And yet he has.
After winning 13
Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, two domestic league and FA Cup
doubles and a career spent building a monument to success at a stadium that
grew in size in line with the successes he fashioned, Ferguson will take his
leave.
From the now
demolished Manor Ground in Oxford on 8 November 1986 to The Hawthorns and West
Bromwich Albion on Sunday, 19 May 2013, Ferguson has cast a giant shadow over
all he surveyed.
From the early
years of struggle, which ended with the 1990 FA Cup win against Crystal Palace
in a Wembley replay, through all the glories at home and abroad, Ferguson concludes
his time at Old Trafford as a uniquely enduring personality. Given the quick
fix demands and impatience of the modern Premier League era, his like will
never been seen again.
Following his
aborted first retirement in 2002, there was never going to be the uncertainty
of a long goodbye but the speed with which whispers about his retirement turned
to a scream painted a picture of a stunning series of events.
At the weekend it
was announced Ferguson would require hip surgery in the summer, prompting a
rush of bets at the bookmakers in support of Everton manager David Moyes as his
successor.
Finally,
definitively, the rumours on the golf course at Dunham Massey in Greater
Manchester on Tuesday - scene of a United players versus coaches game - led to the
official announcement.
Say what you like
about Ferguson, and plenty will, but no-one can question his stellar
contribution to football and British sporting life.
Charismatic,
explosive, contrary. Love him or hate him, football in general and Manchester
United in particular will be poorer for his departure.
He was a character
of rare contrasts. Members of the media who were often on the wrong end of his
rages also found themselves receiving his kindness and support in troubled
times.
His former
assistant with Scotland, and briefly at Old Trafford, Walter Smith, once told
me: "He is so well read, interesting and great company.
"If you asked
me the old question about who you would have at your ideal dinner party, Sir
Alex would be at mine."
For all the talk
of the "hairdryer" and the fiery temper that could see players,
officials and the media verbally demolished, Ferguson was never a managerial
dinosaur sticking to old values and principles.
Ferguson, and this
was one of his greatest skills, moved with football's times. Whereas it would
be hard to imagine Brian Clough or Bill Shankly coping with some of today's
more money-driven quirks, Ferguson adapted in his management techniques and
tactically.
He was devout in
his pursuit of attacking football and trust in young players. The history and
tradition of Manchester United ran red through his veins.
Ferguson was a
moderniser but one principle never changed. He ruled, and anyone who challenged
that rule was moved on. It applied to the greatest as strictly as anyone else,
with Roy Keane, David Beckham, Jaap Stam and Ruud van Nistelrooy the prime
exhibits.
But to suggest
Ferguson simply ruled by iron fist is to do him a grave disservice. How could
his United teams play with such freedom and flair if they lived in fear of
their manager?
Players spoke of
his gift for man-management, his ability to say the right things at the right
time. In short, he is a man who deserves his place among the true greats - and
even those who support fierce rivals such as Liverpool cannot seriously argue
with that.
Perhaps there were
signs that he was getting ready to say goodbye but few detected them. Assistant
Mike Phelan admitted Ferguson was "too distraught" to face the media
after this season's Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in March, believing
Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir's decision to send off Nani with United ahead
robbed them of victory.
The pain was
obvious, particularly as Ferguson has always believed United could have
achieved more than the two Champions League wins he brought. Did he believe his
last great chance, and the opportunity to win the tournament at Wembley as Sir
Matt Busby's United did against Benfica in 1968, had gone?
If this was a low,
surely the highest high was the night in Barcelona's Nou Camp in May 1999 when
stoppage-time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turned
defeat into victory and had Ferguson uttering his now famous phrase:
"Football - bloody hell."
Ferguson has even
added to football's own lexicon with phrases such as "Fergie Time"
coined to describe those extra minutes many felt he was awarded simply by force
of character that allowed United to win so many games.
One phrase sums up
Ferguson more than any other - winner. And now United must find a man to cope
with the pressure of succession.
United infamously
botched the next move after Busby retired in the late '60s. Ferguson will
remain in the boardroom but his influence must surely be limited.
Moyes, so strongly
supported and admired by Ferguson, is the heavily-backed favourite but has no
serious European pedigree or record of success in 11 years at Goodison Park.
There are others who suggest Moyes's work at Everton has set the platform for
the sort of opportunity Old Trafford would afford him.
Jose Mourinho is
expected to be available shortly when he leaves Real Madrid, but Chelsea is his
expected destination and senior figures inside Old Trafford are known to have
reservations about his style and also his tendency to be a short-stay coach.
An outsider could
be Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp, whose masterly guidance has taken them to
an all-Bundesliga Champions League final against Bayern Munich. He is a
progressive coach and looks to have the confidence and personality to cope with
Old Trafford's unique demands.
And what of
promotion from within? Ryan Giggs is coming towards the end of his Old Trafford
playing career but it would be a gamble of epic proportions to entrust the task
of succeeding Ferguson to a managerial novice.
Whatever the next
twist in this drama, one thing is certain. Sir Alex Ferguson's power, influence
and personality means football in this country will never be the same again.