http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/sir-alex-ferguson-brands-manchester-4169557 I think even Fergie is shocked at the amount of money we've spent this summer.
Fergie made his name by competing on the pitch with big spenders throughout his reign including Blackburn, Newcastle, Chelsea and finally City. Now he's gone United have had to out spend all in the last 2 windows to try and catch up. As the months go by, Fergies' legacy continues to be enhanced. He must be loving it.
Even I have to admit, as much of an obtuse twatbollock as he was....he was a ****ing awesome manager.
Yeah he was brilliant. Many a United fan I know wouldn't have it that it was only because of him they competed year on year and now they've been proven wrong. He needed a bit of time at the start, had a lot of luck with the class of 92 coming through but had the nuts to play them all, bought Cantona for peanuts, Keane, Stam, RVN etc. He recycled that United team a few times and continued to be successful. As shown with Moyes though, that'll never happen again. If United weren't even prepared to give their next manager a full season, just proves THE shortermism in football now. Funny thing is, some of the United fans on here tell us they don't need C.L money and can afford to spend 150 million every year regardless yet bombed out Moyes the second he failed to make C.L and fearer even a small time outside the elite to allow him to rebuild.
Interesting that you now shout this from the rooftops when at the time you and other chavs and ABUs pilloried him and didn't give him any praise...funny that... Not that any credible fan will disagree with your assessment now as he was arguably the best football manager in the history of the game. And you are talking BS as no one here has ever disputed that United competed year in year out because of him. And most here realised that the club culture of cultivating youth AND staying at the top was LARGELY down to him and with him going there was no way that was going to continue. At least in the short term. And I and most fans have said last season that the squad at the time was really not good enough and needed a massive injection of cash. I am not surprised that Ferguson is shocked by the amount being spent. This is because he has never done this and that under him United will probably not have needed to do this. But he is also responsible as he has not reinforced and planned for the future for the defence and the midfield. Have we adequately or even tried to replace the likes of Keane, Ronaldo? Have we made preparation for replacing Vidic, Evra and Rio? Smalling and Jones were good but were they good enough?
Thats what brasses them off HRH, now the FFP has kicked in, only United and Arse can compete. All the lesser clubs do not generate the income, and Wenger is too stubborn to spend big.
Your first sentence is absolute ****e unless you can prove otherwise what I apparently said about Fergie. I always thought he was a brilliant manager in England. He wasn't as good in Europe but the best domestic manager England has seen. As for the BS comment, I clearly said United fans I know i.e not people on a football forum. I think Fergie did plan for the future but most of the youth brought through or you bought in simply weren't ultimately of the desired standard i.e Cleverly, Smalling, Zaha, Welbeck, Evans, Raphael etc. Maybe he lost his touch a little regarding spotting youth in his last few years. He also let some top class youth leave in Pogba, Rossi and Pique. As I say though, the last 18 months at United has only enhanced his reputation.
The most amazing thing, aside from idiots thinking that the manager does nothing and it's all down to the players, are those that are now slating Ferguson for leaving United in a mess. Yes, he was frugal and the squad crumbled in his final year but without him we would be nothing. Zip, jack, **** all. It's ALL down to him. All of it. And, putting a positive spin on him tightening the purse strings and being a Glazer apologist. Had he not done that they wouldn't have the money to carry out the mad spending splurge they are right now. Fergie bought them that time. He's a ****ing legend.
I agree with you about the status of Fergie aand his contribution to this club. The club's position in football, its wealth, the trophies, the youth culture is all down to him. But what I couldn't understand is whether his hands were tied by the GGs or whether he voluntarily spent as little as he could. The rarified market at the very top was inhabited by Chelsea, City, Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Monaco. It seems he almost took pride in never wanting to join these clubs and showing he could buck the trend and that he could win trophies without having to spend insane sums of money. Of course his genius meant he could do it. Who the f** else could have won the title by 11 points with that squad??
A lot of it was down to his skills as manager. He got more than the most out of average players, had the skill to wind other managers up, especially Keegan , Wenger and the Fat Spanish Waiter. The only manager he never got the better of in mind games was Jose. He was very close to the bullet, but an FA cup win perhaps saved him. After that, it was the Fergie style that won so much. If you wants to compare season starts, SAF's record was pretty abysmal, but it took time to get his team together. The same should be allowed for LVG. Also remember its only Sir Matt and Alex that have been knighted for managing English clubs. That alone should say how successful they both were.
Its was everyone. Its a team game afterall. No one man, player or manager does it all on their own. It is impossible. However, its pretty ****ing clear that fergie held it all together.
Held it all together? Without him they're is no 'it'. Without him that 'team' doesn't exist. Those players are at another club. What he gave us doesn't happen. I'm pointing out the glaringly obvious but yes, it was ALL down to him. I'm not saying he kicked every ball but no Fergie = no era of 20 years dominance.
There would have been titles but there would have been the usual dip and another club taking over. The sustained period of dominance with constant renewal of a top team is very unlikely to have happened without Fergie.
I never thought about that until you mentioned it. bloody hell, we probably wouldn't of got Di Maria and Falcao.
Yes. Impossible to know. But I think that even if Malcolm glazer was around there is no way he wouldn't have taken drastic steps to redress the situation. Most other fans (and even some united fans) don't get it. With the owners and executives it has never been about trophies, the CL or even the financial rewards of playing in it. For them it has always been and always will be the brand. The reputation of United as one if the biggest club (if not the biggest) in the world and one of the most valuable instantly recognisable trade names. The purchasing of di Maria and loaning of Falcao should be seen in that context. They have created massive publicity and has kept the club in the news and in the papers . The shares have gone up, massive number of shirts will be sold all over the world. Replacing Welbeck by Falcao was a no brainer in that context. I honestly believe the executives when they said that if Ronaldo was available at >£120m United would buy him back. In investment and marketing terms it is a win-win situation. United are locked now in the battle with Madrid to be the biggest club in the world. You can't do that with a mediocre team. That is why I believe that United will keep on spending big, changing managers if necessary, until that title is won again.
Absolutely agree. Tbh, it's hard to argue the squad crumbled in his final year, given how good we were and how many young players we had progressing under him. I think no matter what squad he left behind we were always going to struggle, as no manager develops decent young players into important members of the squad with a winning mentality like he did. Had he retired in 2002 like he originally planned, I reckon we'd have gone the same way - we were third at the time, Stam gone, Irwin, Johnsen, Cole, Yorke and Keane all struggling a bit, Veron and Forlan flopping. Reliant on Scholes, Solskjaer and RVN, with Silvestre and Fortune being the Smalling and Cleverley of the time. Yet he managed to build that back into a triple title winning team and CL winners in six seasons. Like Bodanki and chelsea say, our last two seasons have just enhanced SAF's reputation as arguably the greatest manager in history
