Glory, Glory Man Utd. Harry Harris
at the time saying he was “dumbfounded” and 48 hours later, Rooney signed a new five – year deal. United went on to win the title that season, and Rooney later said it was the best decision of his career to stay. This time Rooney did not submit a formal transfer request, but personally asked Sir Alex to leave.
Hours before Moyes announcement as manager and just 24 hours after Sir Alexʼs retirement, United chief executive David Gill told MUTV, “It is a dream job. The new manager will inherit a great squad and infrastructure off the pitch, with a great staff. He will be walking into a difficult situation in terms of the number of trophies, but the positive of also having the support of the Manchester United family.”
Moyes quit Everton after 11 years in charge at Goodison Park, the 50 – year – old Scot agreed a six – year deal. Sir Alex commented, “We unanimously agreed on David Moyes. David is a man of great integrity with a strong work ethic. Iʼve admired his work for a long time and approached him as far back as 1998 to discuss the position of assistant manager here. There is no question he has all the qualities we expect of a manager at this club.”
Moyes described it as “a great honour” to be appointed. “I am delighted that Sir Alex saw fit to recommend me for the job. I have great respect for everything he has done and for the football club. I know how hard it will be to follow the best manager ever, but the opportunity to manage Manchester United isnʼt something that comes around very often and Iʼm really looking forward to taking up the post next season.”
Moyes paid tribute to Everton. “I have had a terrific job at Everton, with a tremendous chairman and board of directors and a great set of players. Between now and the end of the season, I will do everything in my power to make sure we finish as high as possible in the table. Evertonʼs fantastic fans have played a big part in making my years at Goodison so enjoyable and I thank them wholeheartedly for the support they have given me and the players. Everton will be close to me for the rest of my life.” In a statement, Everton said, “The chairman, on behalf of the club, would like to place on record his thanks to David for the massive contribution he has made to Everton since his arrival in March 2002. He has been an outstanding manager.”
So not The Special One but The Chosen One. Sir Alex has enjoyed a close relationship with the new boss throughout his managerial career and even considered appointing him as his assistant when Moyes was manager at Preston. While Moyes has worked on a tight budget at Goodison Park, he failed to win a single trophy and has very limited experience in Europe, which is a big gamble for the United board, but the key to his appointment is that he is a safe pair of hands, he will continue in the Ferguson mould and retain the stability that Sir Alex created by his sheer longevity in the job at Old Trafford.
Much has been made of the error in the United boardʼs judgement in retaining Sir Matt Busby in 1971 as a succession of his successors tried and failed while his larger than life figure was retained in the background. Many of the remaining players felt that Busby was their father figure and he was an intimidating force behind the scenes, the reverse is likely to be true in the modern ear, as the game has changed unrecognisably.
When Busby left the United hot – seat, they were already an anachronism. Poor training facilities, outdated training methods and non – existent tactics were glossed over by the geniuses of Law, Best and Charlton. The 1968 European Cup triumph allowed supporters to believe that the United way was superior when in fact, it was probably the last flourishing of an approach to football that died out in the late fifties. The years following Busbyʼs retirement saw United decline. George Best, once hailed the greatest player in the world, typified the depths to which the club sank. Relegation just six years after that European triumph seemed inevitable.
The modern United by contrast is a well-run, forward thinking institution. The care of its players is first class, how else to explain the apparently endless career of Ryan Giggs? Yes, the club has been dominated by the patriarchal Ferguson for the past few decades, but he leaves behind an incredible legacy that stretches from boardroom to canteen staff.
Back in 2011 two former Manchester United managers Tommy Docherty and Wilf McGuinness told me that Sir Alex Ferguson was the greatest manager of all time in British football. Sir Alex surpassed Sir Matt Busbyʼs record as the longest serving Manchester United manage, and in the opinion of the Doc and McGuinness he was now the undisputed No 1. In fact the Doc goes as far as to declare that with Lionel Messi the best player in the world, Sir Alex is the best manager in the world.
Unitedʼs record 19th English League title was his 12th League honour at the club. Little wonder he was named Manager of the Year by his fellow League managers and also picked up a special merit award for having passed 2,000 matches as manager. Speaking at the LMA awards dinner in London via video link from Old Trafford, Ferguson said, “Itʼs a wonderful honour – it has been a fantastic season for us in the most difficult league in the world.” Ancelotti, sacked by Chelsea the same day, attended the dinner and Ferguson said to him: “Carlo you are a fantastic man and you have showed great courage in coming to the dinner, well done.”
In a chapter on the title victory in 1956, McGuinness declared that Sir Alex has established his credentials as the all-time No. 1 Boss in British football. The Doc, as you would expect, is far more colourful in the way he describes Sir Alex.
The Docherty era at United lasted five exciting and enormously entertaining seasons from December 1972 until July 1977. Weeks after his greatest feat, defeating Liverpool 2 – 1 at Wembley to lift the FA Cup, the manager with the most one-liners in the game was sacked following his affair with the wife of his physiotherapist, Laurie Brown. Many believe that, had he survived, he would have built a title winning team, but the ever irrepressible and irascible Doc isnʼt so sure.
“I never got the chance to win the League, and might never have in any case even if I stayed because I needed a goalkeeper and although they were willing to pay Stoke £200,000 for Peter Shilton, they wouldnʼt pay him £200 – a – week in wages. I am not saying I would have won the League, but we were always good to watch, it was always a pleasure for me to watch such an attacking team, and who knows we might have gone on to win it. I was sacked, and we all know why, but it was hypocrisy, there were things going on that we now know about too. The game has changed immensely and I donʼt like the present game – the money, the salaries, the players, itʼs not as I knew it. The game has gone as far as I am concerned. Yes, I resent what happened to me at United. Chelsea are wonderful to me, they sent me a £200 Harrods hamper every Christmas, but when I asked for a couple of tickets to take my daughter on her 21st birthday to Old Trafford, they sent me two tickets and invoiced me for £88.”
Sometimes it is hard to separate the jokes from the facts, but the mind seems as sharp as ever, and the wit as pointed. Even so The Doc loved his time at Old Trafford and despite a fall out with Ferguson when he was Scotland manager, he has nothing but praise for the United boss, the highest possible praise. “He has got to be the greatest manager of them all. He is world class. Messi is the best player in the world at the moment, and Fergie is the best manager in the world at the moment. Cloughie did fantastic with a small club like Forest, Revie and Bill Nicholson were among the very best, but Fergie is the best.”
The Doc, being a former manager, cannot register a vote in the Playersʼ Player poll, but for the record he selects a trio of players in his own era as his personal favourites, Martin Buchan, Steve Coppell, Gordon Hill, Lou Macari, Jimmy Greenhoff and Stuart Pearson, but added that “Roy Keane was world class.”
Gordon Strachan knows how Liverpool are feeling in pursuit of an elusive first title for 12 years as he suffered similar frustrations with United. It took United 26 years to break down the barriers for a title triumph, although it eluded Strachanʼsʼ era. Liverpool will be anxious that it isnʼt such a long wait as that. Strachan told ʼ20|13ʼ, “It drags on each year, and each year it gets worse and worse, you know itʼs a long time since the last one and you get the feeling its never going to come. You know you are at a great club, as we did during our time at United without a title, but you rely on the other players, you rely on reputations and you end up living off the legends, the names of the past, and the longer it goes on the more you feel you are