Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBEis a former Scottish football manager and player who managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is regarded by many players, managers and analysts to be one of the greatest and most successful managers of all time...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth31 December 1941
CityGovan, Scotland
mistake two focus
We are very focused this time and our preparation has been better. We maybe made one or two mistakes last time, but not this time.
boys scotland normal
He's a normal, likable, straightforward boy. (on David Beckham)
player air scotland
Well he's only 20. Without question, he's the best youngest player I've seen in my time... If he keeps developing and matures ? goodness knows what he will become. At the moment he's a breathe of fresh air. (on Wayne Rooney)
team player thinking
I think his team are mirroring Stuart Pearce as the player he was. (on Manchester City)
team thinking scotland
In any normal season, most of the teams below Chelsea would think they are doing quite well.
football team scotland
Evolution happens. There's no football team in the world that has stayed together for time ever more.
play consistency levels
If we can play like that every week well get some level of consistency.
morning jobs lying
I was lying in bed on a Saturday morning, reading the paper, when my phone went. The caller was Rangers director, Jack Gillespie, and he offered me the manager's job at Ibrox. I was flattered but declined with thanks. John Greig was a good friend of mine and I had no intention of being involved in ousting him.
simple player thinking
Everywhere I go the coaches all tell me that Scholsey is the player they admire. But if they think they'll get him they're wasting their time! Paul is a Manc lad pure and simple. He loves the club and there's no chance of him leaving here. If ever he decided to go there would be a stampede, but he won't be going, he's here for life.
football player goal
Funnily enough we have never had one enquiry for Paul Scholes. You know why? Because they all know he will never leave. in my time he would be in the top six or seven (best United players ever) without a doubt. His contribution and quality have been great, even without the fantastic goals he has scored. [ . . . ] He has that wonderful velvet touch on the ball. When he gets it, it goes stone dead. It is wonderful to see that amidst all the mayhem that can happen in a football match.
player thinking air
Ronaldo could play for Millwall, QPR, Doncaster Rovers or anyone and he'd score a hat-trick. I'm not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo's got two feet, he's quick, he's good in the air and he's brave, though Messi's brave too of course. I just think Messi is a Barcelona player.
team league expectations
I never worried about teams who spend what they want to spend. It never bothered me. At the moment we have a lot of Middle Eastern owners, we have American owners of course, Russian owners. It never bothered me one bit. All I was concerned about was that we at United maintained our level of expectation, be competitive, be at the top part of the Premier League.
loyalty believe opportunity
I realized I was good at developing young people. Eventually I started to believe in young people. I think when you give a young person an opportunity, he always believes who gave him his first chance. You create a loyalty that lasts a lifetime.
football determination successful
I do like to try and see myself in football players. Everybody is different and express themselves in different ways. There are different kinds of talents of course and there are many who I would never have had the talent that they have when I was a player. But I still had that determination to be successful and try my best.