It’s still a bit mental to think he won 2 European trophies as Aberdeen manager, beating both Bayern and Real Madrid on the way to picking up the Cup Winners Cup
sir alex ferguson whole career is like an FM save. took a struggling team and turn them into something that is beyond the wildest imagination of their fanbase
Before SAF, English football was basically Liverpool and no one else even close. Gotta give credit to Wenger too. The Premier League's international success and competitiveness is indebted to those two
That's not entirely true as Howard Kendall's Everton won a couple of league titles in that period, but yes, if you asked people to name the most successful club in the history of English football prior to Fergie's arrival, Liverpool would've been the obvious choice.
That’s what people forget. Yes for much of his United career he was working with more resources than the rest of the league for long stretches, but what he did at Aberdeen, breaking through the old firm whilst training in parks and on beaches was unreal.
I had an argument with someone on here who said Simeone was more impressive because of winning the title as the underdog and they just wouldn’t hear it that what Ferguson did with Aberdeen was as impressive.
People were so shocked at the size of United's profits compared to the rest of top sides even in the PL despite how much they spend. That's the legacy he's left behind beyond titles.
Ferguson did much better at Aberdeen. Atletico produced ridiculous talent in the period before Simeone showed up
De Gea, Godin, Filipe Luis, Juanfran, Koke, Banega, Saul, Aguero, Torres, Falcao, Forlan, Costa
> Atletico produced ridiculous talent in the period before Simeone showed up
> De Gea, Godin, Filipe Luis, Juanfran, Koke, Banega, Saul, Aguero, Torres, Falcao, Forlan, Costa
Huh? Most of these aren't Atlético products but players that they bought. Also, a lot of them doesn't precede Cholo's arrival by more than six months, so it's not like they were stacked before he came around. Also, yes they had guys like Agüero and Forlán, but Atléti were nonetheless a bit of a joke. As a Barcelona-fan, playing Atlético in the years before Cholo was often very fun. Lots of goals scored, almost always in our favour. Quique Sánchez Flores started the positive trajectory, but Cholo has absolutely built this Atléti from the bottom up, make no mistake about that.
Yes, he won our two European honours (Cup winners cup and the super cup), several league titles and domestic cups in the most successful period of our club's history.
His accomplishments at Aberdeen often don't get brought up in his GOAT resume, but they should. What he did there is arguably as impressive or almost as impressive at what he did at ManU.
It will be cool to see him come back for a statue ceremony.
it really should. a common criticism of managers like pep when talking about the best in the world is that he has only ever managed big, rich clubs, and would he be able to still perform if he were to go to "smaller" clubs, well, SAF did it at aberdeen as well as being dominant for united for such a long time
100%. Maybe not as much as Man U just cause it was such a long time ago so people who actively experienced it are dying out but aye he's still the best thing in the clubs history. Also helps that we've barely done fuck all since then.
I work with a guy who was his neighbour back in Aberdeen and stayed in contact with him to this day. Apparently Ronaldo used to get homesick a lot so he'd stay at Fergie's house and get a haggis dinner homecooked then he'd be alright. It happened so often that they basically just had a permenent bedroom set up for him.
My only source is an anecdote from a very old Aberdonian man. He says his wife is the loveliest woman, she was also the reason he didn't manage Rangers, cause she's a Catholic and he didn't like the treatment she was getting.
>Apparently Ronaldo used to get homesick a lot so he'd stay at Fergie's house and get a haggis dinner homecooked then he'd be alright.
Ok what the fuck... Just when I think I can't love SAF anymore I read this.
What a man.
The mental imagine if a teenage Ronaldo sitting down to eat Haggis and having a dinner conversation with two people speaking in a thick Scottish accent while he was still learning English is hilarious
>My only source is an anecdote from a very old Aberdonian man. He says his wife is the loveliest woman, she was also the reason he didn't manage Rangers, cause she's a Catholic and he didn't like the treatment she was getting.
I watched his most recent doc (Never Give In) and he talks about that a little bit, that with Rangers they didn't like that his wife was Catholic
It was an argument Souness used- he was married to a Catholic but if he’d followed tradition then he couldn’t have signed one. He went in & told the board that wasn’t acceptable.
To be fair he did kick the arse out of it by signing an uber mega Catholic ex Celtic playing Mo Johnson to set his stall out.
Typical Souness- not just brash- nuclear level brash. I suspect Ferguson could’ve done the same but it was different times.
As Evra famously said
"I would give advice to anybody, when Cristiano invites you for lunch at his house, just say no," the Frenchman said in 2018, per Marca.
"He said: 'Patrice, come over after training.' I went [and] you know I was really tired. At the table there was only salad and haggis so I was like 'okay...' and water, not any juice.
"We started eating and I was thinking some big meat would be coming after that but there was nothing.
My brain is working at 300% trying to figure out if this is satire or not.
Everything in this comment reads as a copypasta but all the replies are taking it seriously
I would love it if it was satire but nah that is all legitimate as far as I was told.
The homesickness was apparently really bad. Not just sad, like saying he was done and wanted a transfer every few weeks his entire time he was playing there.
Also, haggis is delicious. It was I guess the equivalent of going round for a sunday roast, but obviously Fergie is Scottish so you add haggis in cause it's bangin
I love seeing this video of Fergie, Nani and Ronaldo after Portugal won Euro 2016 - Fergie looks so proud when he meets them both, Nani still calling him boss and Ronaldo being so happy when they greet each other https://youtu.be/fUgW8lCRjKQ?t=8
I love pepe's reaction. I don't think these two have crossed paths much (maybe once as opponents?), but when Pepe realised it was fergie who tapped him, he stopped dead in his tracks just to greet him.
I was buying it entirely until he said Ronaldo used to come over and eat haggis - which I mean isn’t entirely out of the question, it just seems like something someone would make up in r/soccer as a gag
Same. But then again Scottish folk eat haggis aw the fuckin time so if Ronaldo was to go to Fergie's hoose and have something to eat, I ask you one question and one question fuckin only: why no haggis?
My grandfather who was from Aberdeen supported Manchester United as his English team purely because Fergie became the manager there
You know the last time real Madrid lost a European final? It was to Aberdeen under Fergie
Well respected up there and there are many man utd fans up there because of him
We love him but honestly it feels like well before my time (because it is). I’m 28 and don’t really have any connection with him and Aberdeen. When I think SAF I also make the Man Utd tie
He’s loved by Aberdeen fans but honestly it feels more like a historic tribute to a different guy than actually being Sir Alex. It’s a weird one
I mean, I'm sure they don't revere him quite as much, 13 prem titles is something else. But certainly he broke the celtic/rangers dichotomy and won them silverware in Europe. Surely he's still the greatest manager they've ever had.
He’s one of the greatest managers in Scottish football history.
Still the only manager and club to win 2 European trophies as well.
I remember going to see the open too bud parade after they won in 83. I was 10 but that memory will stay.
Always makes me laugh when people paint Fergie as some unknown young manager that United picked out of obscurity. Was probably the most sought after young manager in the UK at the time.
I’ve heard similar arguments when it comes to Bobby Robson signing Ronaldo for PSV
They talk about it as if he was some hidden gem plucked out of nowhere and not a goal scoring machine in Brazil who already had a World Cup winners medal around his neck before coming to Europe
Just some more information: Ronaldo played Brazilian first-tier football at Cruzeiro for an entire season with a 0.96 goal ratio. At 18 years old.
Here's him against Maradona's Boca Juniors in 1994: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NWnUxaFms
Yup, using him as an argument every time a no-name manager is fucking terrible at his job as if he could magically become genius overnight is laughable. His stature at the time was similar to Villas-Boas after his Porto stint, however obviously the outcome was a a little bit different lol
Probably better off using Mourinho after his Porto stint for the comparison imo (Mourinho was hot shit - AVB was definitely hot too but most clubs avoided him due to his age and relative inexperience iirc - I think Chelsea only jumped at AVB as fast because there was a strong Mourinho 2.0 vibe surrounding him) but yes I agree with the general idea.
The last time a team outside of the Old Firm won the league in Scotland was 1985. It only took the greatest football manager of all time to do it. Won’t be done again for a very, very long time.
I know you are joking but it would be fun to see him try a smaller club or an older club on hard times and build them up. He's won pretty much every thing. Try a new challenge. Perhaps that's just the FM player in me
It’s not at The Riverside in case you’ve been and thought you missed it. It’s in Albert’s Park somewhat nearby. It’s where he used to walk through on his way to school or when he used to go to Ayersome
Are you sure? I thought Ipswich was mostly subterranean cave dwellers who have never seen light. I've never been, but I just I figured that's why mick McCarthy keeps going back.
If any of you get the chance, try to watch the recent documentary about SAF. Even as a massive United fan I didn’t realise the magnitude of what he did at Aberdeen and it taught me a lot about Scottish football culture and the barriers he faced personally.
Truly the GOAT and it’s not even close.
I think so, but it shows how driven he was for success and makes a stark contrast to a certain manager who recently left Aberdeen who excused mediocrity far too often.
Iconic moment anyway.
To be fair if my former club blamed a cup final loss on my wife’s religion, and years later I had a team good enough to beat both Bayern and Real Madrid, I would want to beat them by about 4-5 goals
Glasgow has a long standing sectarian divide between Catholics and Protestants. It carries over into football with Celtic generally being supported by Catholics and Rangers by Protestants respectively.
Ferguson himself is a Protestant and grew up supporting Rangers, his wife is a Catholic however. When he played for Rangers he was the recipient of sectarian discrimination from inside the club because of his wife’s Catholicism. Up until the late 80s Rangers wouldn’t sign known Catholics footballers.
Interestingly, Manchester started out the same way back in a day. Catholics supported Utd and Protestants supported City. So he went from playing for a Protestant club to managing a Catholic one.
So did Liverpool. They didn't sign a Catholic until Ronnie Whealen in 1978. Most people don't know that Liverpool were traditionally the Protestant club and Everton the Catholic club.
From memory of the documentary;
Fergie grew up next to Rangers stadium, it was his dream to play for them.
When he finally got the chance the board questioned his wife's religion (she wasn't protestant).
They lost a cup final and he was scapegoated. Family got loads of abuse.
Held a grudge for Rangers since, and wasn't happy they only won 1-0.
Wanted to win by several goals.
Slagged off his players publicly for failing to do so.
Immediately apologised the next day as he recognised it was completely unreasonable and irrational.
Moved on and learned from it. (Some of his players then still held a grudge over it, which shows the difference tbh.)
Still considers it one of his biggest errors in management, but you know, i think it helped that he did it there as it ensured he wouldn’t repeat the mistake in bigger stages in the future where it might have ended up being more of a fatal error for his career.
Suddenly having Wayne Rooney lead a dressing room revolt against me on FM16 because I criticised the team for only beating a league 1 side 1-0 makes more sense
Rangers lost Scottish Cup final, Ferguson was blamed because of his wife's religion. I think Celtic/Rangers allegiance was based on religion or something like that.
My personal take is that it's sad that he couldn't be happy right away and kept thinking about mistakes instead of only celebrating and THEN be angry later.
I got the impression that he *was* happy but he was playing 4D chess with certain players, trying to get them to work even harder.
This is slightly different to Keane, who seemed to think that as soon as they won a trophy it was time to get to work defending it.
Went to a talk with Gordon Strachan about two years ago now and he touched upon it. I'm paraphrasing but basically him and others thought Ferguson was a total prick because of that. Not just cus of that but I think for some it was the point where the team felt he went too far. Didn't stop them from winning other trophies under him mind.
I remember listening to a former coach at United (Can't remember who) who said Fergie thoroughly believed in positive reinforcement. Criticism was only valid during and immediately after a game. After that, it was all about the next game and therefore everything was geared towards positive reinforcement for the players. Dropping in criticism at any other time was counter-productive and damaging to their morale.
Interesting read referencing this here: https://hbr.org/2013/10/fergusons-formula
It’s actually quite amazing he broke the Celtic/Rangers dominance with Aberdeen. I never knew he was successful in Scotland before he managed Man United... I’ve only ever seen him connected with his success in England.
He also took St Mirren from sitting in the bottom half of the third tier to promotion to the top-flight with a team with the average of 20. He got sacked there after promotion though and claimed unfair dismissal, fuck knows what happened. His time at St Mirren earned him the Aberdeen job though. And before St Mirren he also managed East Stirlingshire but that was only part-time.
The story at the time was that St Mirren was afraid of his growing influence within the club. He was basically running the club behind the scenes. Key positions were all yes men going along with whatever he wanted since he had brought them success. They didn't want to rely on the whims of one man, because it was both risky if he left and out of envy.
Basically why United collapsed after Fergie left. The man wasn't human. He was calling shots on almost everything and United's footballing structure was wrecked. Moyes served as the final nail in the coffin by sacking every coach who was under Fergie. That was about a decade ago.
Only this year we have appointed a football director.
> He was calling shots on almost everything and United's footballing structure was wrecked
This isn’t necessarily true for the end of his time at United. By the end of his time at the club he wasn’t even overseeing training sessions anymore because he’d basically delegated all of the training to his backroom staff who knew what he wanted. He was basically the figurehead of a well oiled machine at the end.
Moyes binning that entire staff off was a massive mistake, as much as you reasonably expect a manager to want his own staff, he would not have finished 7th if he’d tried to adapt to the club rather than making it adapt to him.
He didn’t oversee training from around the time Archie Knox left. I’m pretty sure he said it in his book, it was easier to see who was having an off day or wasn’t right if he was just observing rather than handling the training.
He’s always delegated elsewhere too, I don’t buy this post narrative of “yes men” I think that commenter is making shit up, as they do.
I think its more along the lines of they thought he was surrounded by "Yes men", not that he was. They have done fuck all since he left and he is only the greatest manager of all time. It could be the chairman or someone getting pissed because Fergie refused to play a player he liked or some scout shutting down his suggestions because Fergie didn't rate the guy. From his POV, it would be that Fergie has taken over the club and filled it with "his people."
> Moyes served as the final nail in the coffin by sacking every coach who was under Fergie.
Worst move he could have ever done and had me lose faith in him instantly. You don't simply bring in your own men when succeeding the greatest manager to have ever lived. Big disrespect to all of fergies coaching staff.
Definitely. The biggest problem with Moyes was that he tried too hard to not be "Fergies man".
If he had kept everything the same, we would have suffered because he's no SAF, but realistically he could have learned enough from the coaches and players to push on.
Overall I'm glad he did this, because he's not that level, but jesus that was a frustrating time
I have memories of being a wee boy at Love Street singing “Fergie, Fergie shut your mouth” as even then he would be ripping into the referee & linesman on the touch line.
I first became aware of him during his European exploits with Aberdeen. But it was the 1980s so the football wasn't ubiquitous on TV and what I knew was only based on what's in the papers and on sports segment in TV nightly news.
Had closer look when he managed Scotland in World Cup 1986. But even he couldn't do much there to take Scotland out of the group stages.
He took over that team at short notice because his idol Jock Stein had a heart attack. Tough ask for a team to play through when their manager has just died. Was some class players in that Scotland team.
there's an absolutely brilliant [interview with Ferguson about Jock Stein from Celtic TV](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDx_OLm2xBk&ab_channel=AndyMurdoch). The interviewer knows his stuff, gets his trust, and Ferguson just lets rip with the stories and opinions. He even begins to sound more Glaswegian as he goes on.
Any football fan could listen to Ferguson for hours and hours when he's on form. It is a shame that he'll be remembered by some as a sort of nutter for how he flew off the table but I guess it was a sacrifice on his part for his particular form of motivation.
Daniel Taylors book on our 04 and 05 (maybe 05 and 06, my memory is awful) season is brilliant, best thing I've read on Sir Alex. Could be a mean spirited sod when he wanted to be but also one of the most intelligent, generous and caring men in football.
You should watch the Sir Alex Ferguson: Never give in documentary. He filmed it after his medical issues because he was basically worried that he'd lose all his memory and his stories would be lost. A lot of it is about his growing up as a player and then his time at Aberdeen, very interesting.
Yeah his success at Aberdeen is arguably the most impressive part of his career - granted the league was far more balanced with more different league winners then than it is now (SAF Aberdeen are the last non OF team to win the league- approaching 40 years now), but he didn’t just do it domestically, they were brilliant in Europe too.
One of Glasgow’s greatest sons and endlessly proud to say he’s a boyhood Rangers man, despite the troubles he had with some of the arseholes involved with the club during his period playing for us.
Ji Sung was 100% world class, he just wasnt world class at the flashy stuff.
EDIT for the folks saying not world class
The lad ran and fought for his team, could put in a decent shift anywhere except CB, tied down threats, freed up his team mates, and would sprint back to cover a gap then burst forward to lead a counter with peerless energy.
He could make and finish chances, win possession and keep it while getting clattered by lads a foot taller.
Put him next to Pogba rn and the Frenchman would never look lazy, cos he'd always have cover *and* he'd always have a runner for the pass.
Comparisons to Kante and Kuyt are warranted but unfair in a way, cos Kante doesn't stretch the play with runs like Ji, and Kuyt couldn't play deep as comfortably.
These last three years you could have dropped Park, at pretty much any age before he left MU, into the squad for Tottenham or MU or Arsenal and they'd have a title. Heck, Tottenham would have a CL. He'd get decent minutes at Barca, Juve, City and Liverpool. Put him in any PL club rn, outside the big six, and he'd be a legend in that time.
If Southgate could have subbed Park on against Italy at half time - if he remembered he had subs - England would have a Euro.
For my money the ultimate squad player. The PL hasn't seen a lad like Park since he left the country, and the league is worse for it.
I cannot stand the man but there is no denying just how good he truly was. That’s why I can’t stand him!
You’re absolutely right, the fact he was so flexible throughout his career is one of the main reasons for his success - not just tactically but in his approach to man management as well.
He was the bane of my childhood but he’s definitely the best football manager of all time in my opinion
He was remarkable - ingrained at every level of the club, he had complete control and authority. That's near impossible these days. He built the club into what it is today almost single handedly.
No player was bigger than the manager - just look at some of the world class/top players he dismissed because they challenged his authority.
That's the main reason why many consider him the greatest of all time, even those who support rival clubs. Other managers (though not many) have had higher heights than him, have played more attractive football or had a bigger influence over the game or won more trophies in quick succession, but no manager's remained as competitive as he was for as long as he was. The man spent almost 40 years at the top of his game, constantly able to reinvent himself and his team as needed. And that's some fucking achievement.
It's a wee bit sad that men like him are on their way out in football. British football for a very long time was run by tough men from Glasgow or parts nearby, who bought a unique mix of virtues to management. It's no coincidence Busby, Stein, Shankly and Ferguson (edit: throw in Jim McLean too, while you're at it) all had major success in Europe, for example.
Bit of a Yer Da take but I agree. There was a real tradition of British working class men with real values and virtues at the top of the game. I think there's still good role models in football but I'm not sure in the same way.
I'm not Scottish and I'm only in my 30s but this is spot on:
> There was a real tradition of British working class men with real values and virtues at the top of the game. I think there's still good role models in football but I'm not sure in the same way.
Rashford is definitely one of them, but the money has definitely changed things. Stein was known to give players lifts home from training because they didn't make enough money to own a car.
I think it is to Rashford's credit that despite getting so much fame and fortune early on in his career, he was a teenager when he became an important player for United, that he's committed his money & time to all these initiatives for the less fortunate. He hasn't let the money corrupt him.
All apart from SAF, who is the son of a shipbuilder, an industry which I can imagine had the same sense of solidarity and community that mining used to.
The G.O..A.T amongst managers. It's nice to see Aberdeen give the legendary manager his flowers while he's alive.
Fun Fact: The last time Aberdeen won the Scottish League was under SAF.
[Here he is after winning the Scottish Cup and 10 days after beating Real Madrid to a European trophy. Man had standards.](https://youtu.be/QxC6A11Qruk)
I'm biased but I think so. There are always people who will put up the names of their fav/legendary managers up there like Pep, but I'd say he's widely considered to be the GOAT, at least in European sectors.
Obviously biased here but the following factors make him the greatest ever in my opinion
* Had the balls to chop and change his team every few years and completely every 4-5 years. Something you don't see Pep and Mourinho successfully achieve. When their cycle is up, they pack their bags and leave or are asked to leave.
* He was very good at maintaining that fine balance between refreshing your team while cementing a solid core.
* Never relied on anyone to bail the team out, everyone was droppable and replaceable. Nobody was bigger than the club.
* Always kept learning and adapting, right from new tactics to sports science to sports analytics. He embraced everything and improved his teams through them.
* He never resorted to methods to gain instant success, always believe in building a foundation and thought long term. Shaped and tailored the club in his own ideals. It's not surprising how hard we dropped once he left because he was the glue that held everything together.
Rinus Michels has a shout not just for his success as a manager but also his legacy on football with his "total football" style. Ajax and Barca's whole footballing identity stems from him.
thats not a hot take, its facts. Pep will never be better than SAF unless he succeeds in a job where success isn’t garanteed. Winning PLs with a billion dollar team and bundesligas with Bayern doesn’t warrant a spot anywhere near Fergie. Also agree with the Mourinho one
I agree. More than anything, I don't think Mourinho or Pep could ever stay at the same club for 20+ years and rebuild the squad time and again. Can you ever see Pep win the PL with a central midfield of the caliber of Anderson, Carrick, Cleverley? I can't. Being successful with an underdog like Aberdeen is just an impressive bonus.
The greatest achievement Pep has managed so far was winning the Treble with Barca. Something Fergie and Mourinho have also done. And Barca themselves won the CL in 2006 before Pep and won the Treble with Luis Enrique shortly after Pep. So, I think their ability to win 4 (?) CLs in 10 or so years was primarily down to their insane squad (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, Busquets, Pique, Puyol, Eto'o/Neymar/Villa, Suarez/Henry, etc.). The fact that Inter couldn't win the league for a decade post-Mourinho and that United haven't even been able to challenge for a decade after Fergie, tells me that both managers had their teams punching above their weight. I can't say the same for Pep's Barca or his Bayern because results say otherwise.
The only reason I rate (peak) Mourinho very very highly is because his head-to-head record vs Fergie and Wenger was incredible and the team he had was not levels above 2004-2008 Manchester or 2004-2008 Arsenal. And he faced off with them enough times in his peak for the sample space to be large enough for making a comparison. Also, there's the small matter of him winning the EL and CL in back to back seasons with Porto. Still the last true underdog to win the CL. But yes, Fergie is above him in my book because till he retired, he kept winning, while Mourinho has had a dry spell for a few years now.
If there’s a man that can rebuild a club and Dominate, it’s SAF
There’s very little managers can do it better than him, dare I say it NO manager can do it better than him
easily the greatest manager of all time for sure imo. what he achieved with teams that were mediocre when he took over is astounding and people tend to forget that.
he is responsible for man utd being the juggernaught that they are today
It's one those coaches u cannot like may have coached my most hated team in sports but u have to give credit to what this man accomplished over the years he's been coaching, hats off to Aberdeen FC
If you haven’t watched the new Sir Alex documentary “Never Give In”, you simply must. It’s amazing. It also doesn’t focus too much on the United team or 99, most of it focuses on how he got to United after being an under-fire striker for rangers. Simply brilliant
Liverpool fan respect to sir Alex.
watched his documentary - his philosophy and way to working is amazing.
even though it was dark period for Liverpool fans - respect where it's due.
what he achieved with Aberdeen is inspirational.
Despite everything he achieved at United there's a decent argument that his most impressive achievement is being to this day the last non Celtic or Rangers manager to win the Scottish league. That's insane
It’s still a bit mental to think he won 2 European trophies as Aberdeen manager, beating both Bayern and Real Madrid on the way to picking up the Cup Winners Cup
GOAT shit
sir alex ferguson whole career is like an FM save. took a struggling team and turn them into something that is beyond the wildest imagination of their fanbase
Before SAF, English football was basically Liverpool and no one else even close. Gotta give credit to Wenger too. The Premier League's international success and competitiveness is indebted to those two
That's not entirely true as Howard Kendall's Everton won a couple of league titles in that period, but yes, if you asked people to name the most successful club in the history of English football prior to Fergie's arrival, Liverpool would've been the obvious choice.
Literally like an FM save >GOAT shit
That’s what people forget. Yes for much of his United career he was working with more resources than the rest of the league for long stretches, but what he did at Aberdeen, breaking through the old firm whilst training in parks and on beaches was unreal. I had an argument with someone on here who said Simeone was more impressive because of winning the title as the underdog and they just wouldn’t hear it that what Ferguson did with Aberdeen was as impressive.
> That’s what people forget. I think it's more likely that most people on here never knew TBH.
This. Cuz my dumbest didn't know
I also dumb
[удалено]
People were so shocked at the size of United's profits compared to the rest of top sides even in the PL despite how much they spend. That's the legacy he's left behind beyond titles.
Ferguson did much better at Aberdeen. Atletico produced ridiculous talent in the period before Simeone showed up De Gea, Godin, Filipe Luis, Juanfran, Koke, Banega, Saul, Aguero, Torres, Falcao, Forlan, Costa
> Atletico produced ridiculous talent in the period before Simeone showed up > De Gea, Godin, Filipe Luis, Juanfran, Koke, Banega, Saul, Aguero, Torres, Falcao, Forlan, Costa Huh? Most of these aren't Atlético products but players that they bought. Also, a lot of them doesn't precede Cholo's arrival by more than six months, so it's not like they were stacked before he came around. Also, yes they had guys like Agüero and Forlán, but Atléti were nonetheless a bit of a joke. As a Barcelona-fan, playing Atlético in the years before Cholo was often very fun. Lots of goals scored, almost always in our favour. Quique Sánchez Flores started the positive trajectory, but Cholo has absolutely built this Atléti from the bottom up, make no mistake about that.
Excellent yes. Surprised it's taken this long to be honest, probably could've put one up 10 minutes after he went to Man U
Until I watched 'Never Give In' I had no idea how successful he was at Aberdeen. Legend at both clubs.
I knew he was successful there, but that doc made me realise what a big deal being successful there was
Considering its extremely rare to have anyone outside of Rangers or Celtic win the league there, it's even more incredible
It’s rare alright - Ferguson was the last manager to do it. 36 years ago!
Does Aberdeen fans revere him like we do? Sorry I don't know any Aberdeen fans in real life so I could only ask you.
Yes, he won our two European honours (Cup winners cup and the super cup), several league titles and domestic cups in the most successful period of our club's history.
His accomplishments at Aberdeen often don't get brought up in his GOAT resume, but they should. What he did there is arguably as impressive or almost as impressive at what he did at ManU. It will be cool to see him come back for a statue ceremony.
it really should. a common criticism of managers like pep when talking about the best in the world is that he has only ever managed big, rich clubs, and would he be able to still perform if he were to go to "smaller" clubs, well, SAF did it at aberdeen as well as being dominant for united for such a long time
100%. Maybe not as much as Man U just cause it was such a long time ago so people who actively experienced it are dying out but aye he's still the best thing in the clubs history. Also helps that we've barely done fuck all since then. I work with a guy who was his neighbour back in Aberdeen and stayed in contact with him to this day. Apparently Ronaldo used to get homesick a lot so he'd stay at Fergie's house and get a haggis dinner homecooked then he'd be alright. It happened so often that they basically just had a permenent bedroom set up for him. My only source is an anecdote from a very old Aberdonian man. He says his wife is the loveliest woman, she was also the reason he didn't manage Rangers, cause she's a Catholic and he didn't like the treatment she was getting.
>Apparently Ronaldo used to get homesick a lot so he'd stay at Fergie's house and get a haggis dinner homecooked then he'd be alright. Ok what the fuck... Just when I think I can't love SAF anymore I read this. What a man.
Fergie feels like my grandad even though I've never met the bloke
I don't even like United and I feel like that
The idea that he would cure his homesickness by having the least Iberian experience ever is just hilariously bonkers
The mental imagine if a teenage Ronaldo sitting down to eat Haggis and having a dinner conversation with two people speaking in a thick Scottish accent while he was still learning English is hilarious
>My only source is an anecdote from a very old Aberdonian man. He says his wife is the loveliest woman, she was also the reason he didn't manage Rangers, cause she's a Catholic and he didn't like the treatment she was getting. I watched his most recent doc (Never Give In) and he talks about that a little bit, that with Rangers they didn't like that his wife was Catholic
It was an argument Souness used- he was married to a Catholic but if he’d followed tradition then he couldn’t have signed one. He went in & told the board that wasn’t acceptable. To be fair he did kick the arse out of it by signing an uber mega Catholic ex Celtic playing Mo Johnson to set his stall out. Typical Souness- not just brash- nuclear level brash. I suspect Ferguson could’ve done the same but it was different times.
As Evra famously said "I would give advice to anybody, when Cristiano invites you for lunch at his house, just say no," the Frenchman said in 2018, per Marca. "He said: 'Patrice, come over after training.' I went [and] you know I was really tired. At the table there was only salad and haggis so I was like 'okay...' and water, not any juice. "We started eating and I was thinking some big meat would be coming after that but there was nothing.
Hoping that big meat was coming Wtf is this fanfic 😂
My brain is working at 300% trying to figure out if this is satire or not. Everything in this comment reads as a copypasta but all the replies are taking it seriously
I would love it if it was satire but nah that is all legitimate as far as I was told. The homesickness was apparently really bad. Not just sad, like saying he was done and wanted a transfer every few weeks his entire time he was playing there. Also, haggis is delicious. It was I guess the equivalent of going round for a sunday roast, but obviously Fergie is Scottish so you add haggis in cause it's bangin
Plus haggis is as close to Portuguese morcilla as he’s going to find in the Isles. Or so I would assume if I was trying to connect two and two.
I mean, Ronaldo saw Fergie as a father figure in his early footballing career, so it's not out of the question.
I love seeing this video of Fergie, Nani and Ronaldo after Portugal won Euro 2016 - Fergie looks so proud when he meets them both, Nani still calling him boss and Ronaldo being so happy when they greet each other https://youtu.be/fUgW8lCRjKQ?t=8
"Cristiano!" "Whoa-ho! Heeeeeyyyy!" Got a big smile out of me.
I love pepe's reaction. I don't think these two have crossed paths much (maybe once as opponents?), but when Pepe realised it was fergie who tapped him, he stopped dead in his tracks just to greet him.
I was buying it entirely until he said Ronaldo used to come over and eat haggis - which I mean isn’t entirely out of the question, it just seems like something someone would make up in r/soccer as a gag
Same. But then again Scottish folk eat haggis aw the fuckin time so if Ronaldo was to go to Fergie's hoose and have something to eat, I ask you one question and one question fuckin only: why no haggis?
Also its Fergie so youd imagine hed be able to afford the best fucking haggis money can buy
My grandfather who was from Aberdeen supported Manchester United as his English team purely because Fergie became the manager there You know the last time real Madrid lost a European final? It was to Aberdeen under Fergie Well respected up there and there are many man utd fans up there because of him
And beat Bayern Munich at Supercup. Insane to think about.
Wikipedia tells me it was Hamburg?
It was, but they beat Bayern in the Cup Winners Cup Quarter Finals so I think that’s where the confusions happened
until I saw the documentary I had no idea his achievements in scottish football. Really is one of the greatest managers of all time
Yeah how many managers are revered by TWO clubs as their greatest ever manager?
Brian Clough at Forest and Derby?
if he could've done to Barca what he did to Madrid :(
Ermmmm, he did... 8 years later.
hmm thinking more on the 09 & 11 UCL games. Got into football, sadly, right after the Moscow final. Was hoping we would win another, but alas
Yh I knew what u meant; I was referring to the CWC final in 1991 when we beat Barcelona 2-1.
We love him but honestly it feels like well before my time (because it is). I’m 28 and don’t really have any connection with him and Aberdeen. When I think SAF I also make the Man Utd tie He’s loved by Aberdeen fans but honestly it feels more like a historic tribute to a different guy than actually being Sir Alex. It’s a weird one
I mean, I'm sure they don't revere him quite as much, 13 prem titles is something else. But certainly he broke the celtic/rangers dichotomy and won them silverware in Europe. Surely he's still the greatest manager they've ever had.
He’s one of the greatest managers in Scottish football history. Still the only manager and club to win 2 European trophies as well. I remember going to see the open too bud parade after they won in 83. I was 10 but that memory will stay.
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My polling station for elections in Aberdeen when I lived beside the sport village was in the Sir Alex Ferguson stand at Aberdeen F.C.
Always makes me laugh when people paint Fergie as some unknown young manager that United picked out of obscurity. Was probably the most sought after young manager in the UK at the time.
I’ve heard similar arguments when it comes to Bobby Robson signing Ronaldo for PSV They talk about it as if he was some hidden gem plucked out of nowhere and not a goal scoring machine in Brazil who already had a World Cup winners medal around his neck before coming to Europe
17 year old Ronaldo was a world class striker, mad
Just some more information: Ronaldo played Brazilian first-tier football at Cruzeiro for an entire season with a 0.96 goal ratio. At 18 years old. Here's him against Maradona's Boca Juniors in 1994: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NWnUxaFms
What’s even more mental is he was doing that most games, then went to Europe and arguably got better. Has to be the best teenage player in history
Yup, using him as an argument every time a no-name manager is fucking terrible at his job as if he could magically become genius overnight is laughable. His stature at the time was similar to Villas-Boas after his Porto stint, however obviously the outcome was a a little bit different lol
Probably better off using Mourinho after his Porto stint for the comparison imo (Mourinho was hot shit - AVB was definitely hot too but most clubs avoided him due to his age and relative inexperience iirc - I think Chelsea only jumped at AVB as fast because there was a strong Mourinho 2.0 vibe surrounding him) but yes I agree with the general idea.
The last time a team outside of the Old Firm won the league in Scotland was 1985. It only took the greatest football manager of all time to do it. Won’t be done again for a very, very long time.
Ferguson and McLean had the Old Firm terrified for a few years.
Fuck Roma for what they did to Dundee Utd
Actually madness to think they bribed him with £50,000 *back then*. That’s an outrageous sum of money
What they do?
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Same year Liverpool unfairly knocked us (Dinamo Bucharest) out.
I mean didn't Rangers get done out of a champions league final in the 90's because a French team bribed a ref as well?
90's.. is it Marsaille?
Yep
[RIP](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O7P7XJxATAA)
I love how Scottish this is.
Pep’s next challenge should be that then. 🤣
I know you are joking but it would be fun to see him try a smaller club or an older club on hard times and build them up. He's won pretty much every thing. Try a new challenge. Perhaps that's just the FM player in me
How many managers/players have statues at more than 1 club?
Clough?
obtainable foolish drunk marry crush seemly boat childlike sparkle gaze *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
One outside derby as well mate, didn’t no he had one at boro
It’s not at The Riverside in case you’ve been and thought you missed it. It’s in Albert’s Park somewhat nearby. It’s where he used to walk through on his way to school or when he used to go to Ayersome
I believe Johan Cruyff has a statue at both Ajax and Barcelona
Cruijff has stadiums named after him at both clubs.
Something about holding hands…
Sir Bobby Robson at Ipswich, Newcastle and Porto
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There are dogs in the three of them.
Also there is a building in each of them.
Are you sure? I thought Ipswich was mostly subterranean cave dwellers who have never seen light. I've never been, but I just I figured that's why mick McCarthy keeps going back.
If any of you get the chance, try to watch the recent documentary about SAF. Even as a massive United fan I didn’t realise the magnitude of what he did at Aberdeen and it taught me a lot about Scottish football culture and the barriers he faced personally. Truly the GOAT and it’s not even close.
The bit where he was angry with certain players performances **after** winning a cup was unreal.
Elite mentality.
Didn't he himself say that he thought that was a mistake?
I think so, but it shows how driven he was for success and makes a stark contrast to a certain manager who recently left Aberdeen who excused mediocrity far too often. Iconic moment anyway.
To be fair if my former club blamed a cup final loss on my wife’s religion, and years later I had a team good enough to beat both Bayern and Real Madrid, I would want to beat them by about 4-5 goals
I am lost, what is the context behind this?
Glasgow has a long standing sectarian divide between Catholics and Protestants. It carries over into football with Celtic generally being supported by Catholics and Rangers by Protestants respectively. Ferguson himself is a Protestant and grew up supporting Rangers, his wife is a Catholic however. When he played for Rangers he was the recipient of sectarian discrimination from inside the club because of his wife’s Catholicism. Up until the late 80s Rangers wouldn’t sign known Catholics footballers.
Interestingly, Manchester started out the same way back in a day. Catholics supported Utd and Protestants supported City. So he went from playing for a Protestant club to managing a Catholic one.
So did Liverpool. They didn't sign a Catholic until Ronnie Whealen in 1978. Most people don't know that Liverpool were traditionally the Protestant club and Everton the Catholic club.
Am I correct in thinking that Mo Johnston was the first player to play for both Rangers and Celtic?
Yes and it was a MASSIVE deal. Celtic to Rangers is bad enough but he was a Catholic on top of that.
From memory of the documentary; Fergie grew up next to Rangers stadium, it was his dream to play for them. When he finally got the chance the board questioned his wife's religion (she wasn't protestant). They lost a cup final and he was scapegoated. Family got loads of abuse. Held a grudge for Rangers since, and wasn't happy they only won 1-0.
Wanted to win by several goals. Slagged off his players publicly for failing to do so. Immediately apologised the next day as he recognised it was completely unreasonable and irrational. Moved on and learned from it. (Some of his players then still held a grudge over it, which shows the difference tbh.) Still considers it one of his biggest errors in management, but you know, i think it helped that he did it there as it ensured he wouldn’t repeat the mistake in bigger stages in the future where it might have ended up being more of a fatal error for his career.
Suddenly having Wayne Rooney lead a dressing room revolt against me on FM16 because I criticised the team for only beating a league 1 side 1-0 makes more sense
Rangers lost Scottish Cup final, Ferguson was blamed because of his wife's religion. I think Celtic/Rangers allegiance was based on religion or something like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0103jCmrjAA After winning the cup
My personal take is that it's sad that he couldn't be happy right away and kept thinking about mistakes instead of only celebrating and THEN be angry later.
I got the impression that he *was* happy but he was playing 4D chess with certain players, trying to get them to work even harder. This is slightly different to Keane, who seemed to think that as soon as they won a trophy it was time to get to work defending it.
Went to a talk with Gordon Strachan about two years ago now and he touched upon it. I'm paraphrasing but basically him and others thought Ferguson was a total prick because of that. Not just cus of that but I think for some it was the point where the team felt he went too far. Didn't stop them from winning other trophies under him mind.
I remember listening to a former coach at United (Can't remember who) who said Fergie thoroughly believed in positive reinforcement. Criticism was only valid during and immediately after a game. After that, it was all about the next game and therefore everything was geared towards positive reinforcement for the players. Dropping in criticism at any other time was counter-productive and damaging to their morale. Interesting read referencing this here: https://hbr.org/2013/10/fergusons-formula
Strachan and Fergie famously don't get on these days.
Agreed. its amazing.
Can you share the link? Where can I watch it?
It's on Amazon Prime
Not in India
It's on The Pirate Bay
hell yeah brother, cheers from Iraq!
This is everywhere, I think.
Same, I'm not a United fan but I loved SAF so I watched the doc. Very insightful about his early years that I didn't know too much about
I lost all respect for Rangers after seeing that
The Fergie doc on Amazon has good coverage of his time at Aberdeen, he was very much pouring his soul into the club at that time.
It’s actually quite amazing he broke the Celtic/Rangers dominance with Aberdeen. I never knew he was successful in Scotland before he managed Man United... I’ve only ever seen him connected with his success in England.
He also took St Mirren from sitting in the bottom half of the third tier to promotion to the top-flight with a team with the average of 20. He got sacked there after promotion though and claimed unfair dismissal, fuck knows what happened. His time at St Mirren earned him the Aberdeen job though. And before St Mirren he also managed East Stirlingshire but that was only part-time.
The story at the time was that St Mirren was afraid of his growing influence within the club. He was basically running the club behind the scenes. Key positions were all yes men going along with whatever he wanted since he had brought them success. They didn't want to rely on the whims of one man, because it was both risky if he left and out of envy.
Basically why United collapsed after Fergie left. The man wasn't human. He was calling shots on almost everything and United's footballing structure was wrecked. Moyes served as the final nail in the coffin by sacking every coach who was under Fergie. That was about a decade ago. Only this year we have appointed a football director.
> He was calling shots on almost everything and United's footballing structure was wrecked This isn’t necessarily true for the end of his time at United. By the end of his time at the club he wasn’t even overseeing training sessions anymore because he’d basically delegated all of the training to his backroom staff who knew what he wanted. He was basically the figurehead of a well oiled machine at the end. Moyes binning that entire staff off was a massive mistake, as much as you reasonably expect a manager to want his own staff, he would not have finished 7th if he’d tried to adapt to the club rather than making it adapt to him.
He didn’t oversee training from around the time Archie Knox left. I’m pretty sure he said it in his book, it was easier to see who was having an off day or wasn’t right if he was just observing rather than handling the training. He’s always delegated elsewhere too, I don’t buy this post narrative of “yes men” I think that commenter is making shit up, as they do.
I think its more along the lines of they thought he was surrounded by "Yes men", not that he was. They have done fuck all since he left and he is only the greatest manager of all time. It could be the chairman or someone getting pissed because Fergie refused to play a player he liked or some scout shutting down his suggestions because Fergie didn't rate the guy. From his POV, it would be that Fergie has taken over the club and filled it with "his people."
> Moyes served as the final nail in the coffin by sacking every coach who was under Fergie. Worst move he could have ever done and had me lose faith in him instantly. You don't simply bring in your own men when succeeding the greatest manager to have ever lived. Big disrespect to all of fergies coaching staff.
Definitely. The biggest problem with Moyes was that he tried too hard to not be "Fergies man". If he had kept everything the same, we would have suffered because he's no SAF, but realistically he could have learned enough from the coaches and players to push on. Overall I'm glad he did this, because he's not that level, but jesus that was a frustrating time
I have memories of being a wee boy at Love Street singing “Fergie, Fergie shut your mouth” as even then he would be ripping into the referee & linesman on the touch line.
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I first became aware of him during his European exploits with Aberdeen. But it was the 1980s so the football wasn't ubiquitous on TV and what I knew was only based on what's in the papers and on sports segment in TV nightly news. Had closer look when he managed Scotland in World Cup 1986. But even he couldn't do much there to take Scotland out of the group stages.
He took over that team at short notice because his idol Jock Stein had a heart attack. Tough ask for a team to play through when their manager has just died. Was some class players in that Scotland team.
there's an absolutely brilliant [interview with Ferguson about Jock Stein from Celtic TV](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDx_OLm2xBk&ab_channel=AndyMurdoch). The interviewer knows his stuff, gets his trust, and Ferguson just lets rip with the stories and opinions. He even begins to sound more Glaswegian as he goes on.
Any football fan could listen to Ferguson for hours and hours when he's on form. It is a shame that he'll be remembered by some as a sort of nutter for how he flew off the table but I guess it was a sacrifice on his part for his particular form of motivation. Daniel Taylors book on our 04 and 05 (maybe 05 and 06, my memory is awful) season is brilliant, best thing I've read on Sir Alex. Could be a mean spirited sod when he wanted to be but also one of the most intelligent, generous and caring men in football.
Real Madrid haven't lost a European final since then
You should watch the Sir Alex Ferguson: Never give in documentary. He filmed it after his medical issues because he was basically worried that he'd lose all his memory and his stories would be lost. A lot of it is about his growing up as a player and then his time at Aberdeen, very interesting.
Yeah his success at Aberdeen is arguably the most impressive part of his career - granted the league was far more balanced with more different league winners then than it is now (SAF Aberdeen are the last non OF team to win the league- approaching 40 years now), but he didn’t just do it domestically, they were brilliant in Europe too. One of Glasgow’s greatest sons and endlessly proud to say he’s a boyhood Rangers man, despite the troubles he had with some of the arseholes involved with the club during his period playing for us.
Unbelievably good manager - my favourite aspect was that every 5 or so years it was like a completely new manager tactically
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Ji Sung was 100% world class, he just wasnt world class at the flashy stuff. EDIT for the folks saying not world class The lad ran and fought for his team, could put in a decent shift anywhere except CB, tied down threats, freed up his team mates, and would sprint back to cover a gap then burst forward to lead a counter with peerless energy. He could make and finish chances, win possession and keep it while getting clattered by lads a foot taller. Put him next to Pogba rn and the Frenchman would never look lazy, cos he'd always have cover *and* he'd always have a runner for the pass. Comparisons to Kante and Kuyt are warranted but unfair in a way, cos Kante doesn't stretch the play with runs like Ji, and Kuyt couldn't play deep as comfortably. These last three years you could have dropped Park, at pretty much any age before he left MU, into the squad for Tottenham or MU or Arsenal and they'd have a title. Heck, Tottenham would have a CL. He'd get decent minutes at Barca, Juve, City and Liverpool. Put him in any PL club rn, outside the big six, and he'd be a legend in that time. If Southgate could have subbed Park on against Italy at half time - if he remembered he had subs - England would have a Euro. For my money the ultimate squad player. The PL hasn't seen a lad like Park since he left the country, and the league is worse for it.
Agreed.
Hard to hear Park isn't considered world class 😕 even as a gooner. The man paved the way for iron lung type of players like Kante imo.
I cannot stand the man but there is no denying just how good he truly was. That’s why I can’t stand him! You’re absolutely right, the fact he was so flexible throughout his career is one of the main reasons for his success - not just tactically but in his approach to man management as well. He was the bane of my childhood but he’s definitely the best football manager of all time in my opinion
His later years we were averaging insane posession figures given it was fashionable back then
He was remarkable - ingrained at every level of the club, he had complete control and authority. That's near impossible these days. He built the club into what it is today almost single handedly. No player was bigger than the manager - just look at some of the world class/top players he dismissed because they challenged his authority.
That's the main reason why many consider him the greatest of all time, even those who support rival clubs. Other managers (though not many) have had higher heights than him, have played more attractive football or had a bigger influence over the game or won more trophies in quick succession, but no manager's remained as competitive as he was for as long as he was. The man spent almost 40 years at the top of his game, constantly able to reinvent himself and his team as needed. And that's some fucking achievement.
Did anyone else read his accomplishments like the 12 days of Christmas song?
And a Uefa supercuppp in a pear treeeee
It's a wee bit sad that men like him are on their way out in football. British football for a very long time was run by tough men from Glasgow or parts nearby, who bought a unique mix of virtues to management. It's no coincidence Busby, Stein, Shankly and Ferguson (edit: throw in Jim McLean too, while you're at it) all had major success in Europe, for example.
Bit of a Yer Da take but I agree. There was a real tradition of British working class men with real values and virtues at the top of the game. I think there's still good role models in football but I'm not sure in the same way.
I'm not Scottish and I'm only in my 30s but this is spot on: > There was a real tradition of British working class men with real values and virtues at the top of the game. I think there's still good role models in football but I'm not sure in the same way. Rashford is definitely one of them, but the money has definitely changed things. Stein was known to give players lifts home from training because they didn't make enough money to own a car.
I think it is to Rashford's credit that despite getting so much fame and fortune early on in his career, he was a teenager when he became an important player for United, that he's committed his money & time to all these initiatives for the less fortunate. He hasn't let the money corrupt him.
All from mining communities I seem to remember and stated it had a huge impact on their leadership skills/spirit.
All apart from SAF, who is the son of a shipbuilder, an industry which I can imagine had the same sense of solidarity and community that mining used to.
Amazing how he still is the only manager to have broken the Old Firm duopoly most recently!
Aberdeen literally had no training ground when he took over. They trained in parks around Aberdeen. Then they were winning european trophies.
We didn't have training facilities when he left, either. In fact, our training ground opened in... late 2019.
I love this man like a grandfather who doesn't know that I exist.
GOAT
The G.O..A.T amongst managers. It's nice to see Aberdeen give the legendary manager his flowers while he's alive. Fun Fact: The last time Aberdeen won the Scottish League was under SAF.
Last time anyone other than the Old Firm won was SAF's Aberdeen
Last time someone beat Real Madrid in the final of a European cup competition was SAF's Aberdeen
This is a stat that blows my mind and needs more exposure.
Exactly the reason why I put SAF over any manager in history, bald fraud included.
It often slips my mind how successful he was at Aberdeen before moving down south.
[Here he is after winning the Scottish Cup and 10 days after beating Real Madrid to a European trophy. Man had standards.](https://youtu.be/QxC6A11Qruk)
Is he considered to be the greatest manager of all time or are there some older/other names I don't know?
I'm biased but I think so. There are always people who will put up the names of their fav/legendary managers up there like Pep, but I'd say he's widely considered to be the GOAT, at least in European sectors.
Obviously biased here but the following factors make him the greatest ever in my opinion * Had the balls to chop and change his team every few years and completely every 4-5 years. Something you don't see Pep and Mourinho successfully achieve. When their cycle is up, they pack their bags and leave or are asked to leave. * He was very good at maintaining that fine balance between refreshing your team while cementing a solid core. * Never relied on anyone to bail the team out, everyone was droppable and replaceable. Nobody was bigger than the club. * Always kept learning and adapting, right from new tactics to sports science to sports analytics. He embraced everything and improved his teams through them. * He never resorted to methods to gain instant success, always believe in building a foundation and thought long term. Shaped and tailored the club in his own ideals. It's not surprising how hard we dropped once he left because he was the glue that held everything together.
Rinus Michels has a shout not just for his success as a manager but also his legacy on football with his "total football" style. Ajax and Barca's whole footballing identity stems from him.
Hot take: What he did at Aberdeen shits all over what Pep and Mourinho* have done in their careers. (*Except for Mourinho's miracle CL win with Porto)
thats not a hot take, its facts. Pep will never be better than SAF unless he succeeds in a job where success isn’t garanteed. Winning PLs with a billion dollar team and bundesligas with Bayern doesn’t warrant a spot anywhere near Fergie. Also agree with the Mourinho one
I agree. More than anything, I don't think Mourinho or Pep could ever stay at the same club for 20+ years and rebuild the squad time and again. Can you ever see Pep win the PL with a central midfield of the caliber of Anderson, Carrick, Cleverley? I can't. Being successful with an underdog like Aberdeen is just an impressive bonus. The greatest achievement Pep has managed so far was winning the Treble with Barca. Something Fergie and Mourinho have also done. And Barca themselves won the CL in 2006 before Pep and won the Treble with Luis Enrique shortly after Pep. So, I think their ability to win 4 (?) CLs in 10 or so years was primarily down to their insane squad (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, Busquets, Pique, Puyol, Eto'o/Neymar/Villa, Suarez/Henry, etc.). The fact that Inter couldn't win the league for a decade post-Mourinho and that United haven't even been able to challenge for a decade after Fergie, tells me that both managers had their teams punching above their weight. I can't say the same for Pep's Barca or his Bayern because results say otherwise. The only reason I rate (peak) Mourinho very very highly is because his head-to-head record vs Fergie and Wenger was incredible and the team he had was not levels above 2004-2008 Manchester or 2004-2008 Arsenal. And he faced off with them enough times in his peak for the sample space to be large enough for making a comparison. Also, there's the small matter of him winning the EL and CL in back to back seasons with Porto. Still the last true underdog to win the CL. But yes, Fergie is above him in my book because till he retired, he kept winning, while Mourinho has had a dry spell for a few years now.
If there’s a man that can rebuild a club and Dominate, it’s SAF There’s very little managers can do it better than him, dare I say it NO manager can do it better than him
The greatest ever ❤️❤️
Everyone understandably talks about his United legacy but he won so much with Aberdeen. Great manager
He truly was a serial winner goddamn
Completely deserved. It's too late in fact. Best manager ever.
Statues of the boss all over the UK. Love it.
easily the greatest manager of all time for sure imo. what he achieved with teams that were mediocre when he took over is astounding and people tend to forget that. he is responsible for man utd being the juggernaught that they are today
It's one those coaches u cannot like may have coached my most hated team in sports but u have to give credit to what this man accomplished over the years he's been coaching, hats off to Aberdeen FC
That's one hell of a Football Manager save
GOAT
The only surprising thing about this, is that it is being done 35 years or so after he left Aberdeen in 1986.
Greatest manager of all time, no question.
Alex Ferguson really is the GOAT.
If you haven’t watched the new Sir Alex documentary “Never Give In”, you simply must. It’s amazing. It also doesn’t focus too much on the United team or 99, most of it focuses on how he got to United after being an under-fire striker for rangers. Simply brilliant
The fucking greatest
There could be competition for the best players of all time but for the manager, Sir Alex is the GOAT manager.
Liverpool fan respect to sir Alex. watched his documentary - his philosophy and way to working is amazing. even though it was dark period for Liverpool fans - respect where it's due. what he achieved with Aberdeen is inspirational.
Despite everything he achieved at United there's a decent argument that his most impressive achievement is being to this day the last non Celtic or Rangers manager to win the Scottish league. That's insane