Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the greatest managers of all time and his second book, Leading, has come out today which has leaked more of his lessons and behind the scenes action from his days as Manchester United manager.
When Rooney’s salary was to be boosted in 2010 to around £200 thousand a week, Ferguson has said that he and David Gill decided that no player should earn more than the Scotsman:
“When the Glazers and David Gill agreed to a big increase in Wayne Rooney’s salary in 2010, they wanted to know how I felt.”
“I told them I did not think it fair that Rooney should earn twice what I made and Joel Glazer immediately said, ‘I totally agree with you, but what should we do?’”
“It was simple. We just agreed that no player should be paid more than me.”
Promoting his book, and speaking to BBC Sport, the Scotsman has revealed that it was his advice that helped Leicester perform their great escape last season. He told, then manager, Nigel Pearson to be more passionate and less dull:
“I felt he was a little bit too casual,”
“I said ‘Your team is bottom of the league and you have to show your anger a little bit. The fans want to see you care.”
“He improved after that and so did his team. He did a great job.”
He’s also revealed that David Moyes’ fate was sealed from his first day as United boss, when he sacked the backroom staff. Ferguson’s successor’s move shocked everyone as he was replacing the highly credited and current champion staff with his Everton rabble, replacing people like Mike Phelan with coaching rookie Phil Neville. Sir Alex wrote:
“I’m sure there are things that David would do differently if he had the opportunity to relive his time at Old Trafford,” the Scot wrote in his new book Leading.”
“Such as keeping Mike Phelan who would have been the invaluable guide to the many layers of the club that Ryan Giggs is to Louis van Gaal today.”
“There is no point suddenly changing routines that players are comfortable with. It is counterproductive, saps morale and immediately provokes players to question the new man’s motives.”
“A leader who arrives in a new setting, or inherits a big role, needs to curb the impulse to display his manhood.”
The ex-United boss has also revealed the reason that one of the best midfielders I the world left Manchester United. Sir Alex has said that Paul Pogba’s agent was a major influence on his departure:
“There are one or two football agents I simply do not like, and Mino Raiola is one of them. I distrusted him from the moment I met him.”
“We had Paul under a three-year contract, and it had a one-year renewal option which we were eager to sign. Raiola suddenly appeared on the scene and our first meeting was a fiasco. He and I were like oil and water.”
“From then our goose was cooked because Raiola had been able to integrate himself with Paul and his family and the player signed with Juventus.”
Another revelation that has been revealed in Leading is that Moyes wasn’t Ferguson’s first choice to succeed him. He actually wanted Pep Guardiola to take the helm at Old Trafford:
“I asked Pep to phone me before he accepted an offer from another club but he didn’t and wound up joining Bayern Munich in July 2013,”
“Life is such that the best of theories, or the best of intentions, sometimes don’t translate into practice. Believe me, the United board wanted nothing more than to select a manager who would be with the club for a long time.”
“When we started the process of looking for my replacement, we established that several very desirable candidates were unavailable.”
Sir Alex Ferguson’s second book is available now for about £12.00 and is well worth a read.
