Yeah definitely, I've touched on that before in terms of Fergie making average/ good players look great. Regardless of my personal opinion of the guy, Fergie was truly the best manager that's graced the game (in my opinion). I know it's still very early to be making assumptions for the end of the season but I don't think anyone can deny that this is the worse we've seen Utd look in a long time and they don't look like they're turning a corner anytime soon.
United could always rely on the "Fergie Factor" for a few points, sometimes quite a few points! It remains to be seen how much that was Fergie and how much was Old Trafford - remember United have already had an extremely dodgy decision go for them in the Crystal Palace home game. The owners must take a lot of the blame with the amount of debt that their takeover created, and subsequent lack of funds for team rebuilding. This problem with United would have shown up a couple of seasons ago if they hadn't been able to get RVP.
"This problem with United would have shown up a couple of seasons ago if they hadn't been able to get RVP." Man Utd would have won the league in 2011-12 much like they did last season. Buying RVP IMHO was only to counter Citeh (with all of Aguero / Dzeko / Bib boy delivering the goods) .
Quite an interesting read: Why fergy kicked a boot at Becks as revealed in his soon to be released autobiography http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24622989
<quote> My message would have been familiar to board members who knew me. The minute a Manchester United player thought he was bigger than the manager, he had to go. I used to say: 'The moment the manager loses his authority, you don't have a club. The players will be running it, and then you're in trouble.' David thought he was bigger than Alex Ferguson. There is no doubt about that in my mind. It doesn't matter whether it's Alex Ferguson or Pete the Plumber. The name of the manager is irrelevant. The authority is what counts. You cannot have a player taking over the dressing room. Many tried. The focus of authority at Manchester United is the manager's office. That was the death knell for him. </quote> Fergie would have been in jail for murder then if Beckham had made his own way to the team hotel used for home games.
He makes it sound like an accident. There were boots between us and went towards him and then one hit him. That Alice band was unforgivable though, in so many ways.
IMHO the really good read will be how he dealt with Cantona after the Kung Fu kick. More so given the way Eric played and conducted himself on-pitch during the 1995-95 season.
I'll address the elephant in the dressing room on this one: Wayne Rooney. Bacon Face lost his authority when Rooney publicly dictated terms for a new contract in 2010 to double his wages, which included him threatening to join Man City. Are we supposed to forget that happened?
"Are we supposed to forget that happened?" Not really "losing the dressing room" , is it. Perhaps the biog has stuff about what he said personally (or in a wider audience) to Rooney about those antics.
Or are the basis for him trying to **** things up for Rooney on is way out? From what I gather, he is quite a bitter man and would have held the grudge. I also wouldn't put it past him to want to be seen as the best and therefor wanted Moyes over someone truly world class. Imo it doesn't matter how you tart it up, if you kick something at someone who is only 12feet away because you are pissed off at them, it's not an accident.
Anyone that refers to themselves in the third person is a massive twat. PNP would never do such a thing.
Rio also played Fergie for a much better contract in public a few years prior as well, at which point you have to ask whether his issue with Beckham wasn't about nobody being bigger than the club (other than Alex Ferguson, of course...) and more due to a personal grudge.
Some real Fergie stuff on Darth Levy ... <quote> And he clearly sees Spurs chief Daniel Levy as a formidable character, saying: "You can’t discuss both sides of the issue with Daniel. It’s about him, and Tottenham, nothing more, which is no bad thing from his club’s perspective.” </quote>