Sir Alex Ferguson’s trophy-laden reign at Manchester United was illuminated by his often fiery rhetoric.
From withering put-downs to sparkling praise, the Scot produced many an apposite phrase and created a catalogue of memorable quotes.
Ten years on from his final match at the helm (May 19, 2013), the PA news agency takes a look at some of the most notable.
On challenging times
“My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f***ing perch. And you can print that.”
On Manchester City’s emergence as a Premier League force
“There has been a lot of expectation on Manchester City and, with the spending they have done, they have to win something. Sometimes you have a noisy neighbour and have to live with it. You can’t do anything about them.”
On Jose Mourinho
“He was certainly full of it, calling me ‘Boss’ and ‘Big Man’ when we had our post-match drink after the first leg. But it would help if his greetings were accompanied by a decent glass of wine. What he gave me was paint-stripper.”
On Arsene Wenger
“They say he’s an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages. I’ve got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!”
On Rafael Benitez
“I think he is very concerned about his CV. He refers to it quite a lot.”
On his bust-up with Newcastle boss Alan Pardew
“The press have had a field day. The only person they have not spoken to is Barack Obama because he is busy.”
On the incident which saw former midfielder David Beckham struck on the head by a flying boot
“It was a freakish incident. If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn’t happen again. If I could I would have carried on playing!”
On the mind games employed by Italian teams
“When an Italian tells me it’s pasta on the plate, I check under the sauce to make sure. They are the inventors of the smokescreen.”
On seeing Ryan Giggs as a schoolboy
“I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.”
On Wayne Rooney’s decision to sign a new contract
“Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it’s a better cow than the one you’ve got in the field.”
On Real Madrid’s hopes of signing Cristiano Ronaldo
“Do you think I would get into a contract with that mob? Jesus Christ, no chance. I wouldn’t sell them a virus.”
On United’s dramatic Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich in 1999
“Football, bloody hell.”
On retirement
“The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time.”
On handling star players
“Superstars with egos are not the problem some people may think. They need to be winners, because that massages their egos, so they will do what it takes to win. I used to see Ronaldo, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes… practising for hours. They realised that being a Manchester United player is not an easy job.”
On his football philosophy
“Fear has to come into it. But you can be too hard; if players are fearful all the time, they won’t perform well. You play different roles at different times. Sometimes you have to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a father.”
On his supposed influence with referees
“This is a guy who has the worst record of any manager in the history of English football, fined £100,000 by them, suspended so many times. That’s some influence, I must say. It’s a little bit Walter Mitty.”
On the England manager’s job
“I don’t think the manager’s job with England is a good one. I think it’s a horrible job.”
On turning down the England job
“It took me about 10 seconds to say ‘No way’. I couldn’t manage England in a million years. Think of me going back to Scotland doing that.”
On David Beckham’s celebrity
“David is the only player I managed who chose to be famous. He thought he was bigger than Alex Ferguson.”
On his recovery from a brain haemorrhage
“I knew I was alive but, on my own, I started thinking, ‘I wonder if they’re telling me the truth?’ The operation was a success, but you’re in that loneliness. It can be frightening.”
Port Vale in deep relegation trouble after late defeat to Wycombe
Port Vale are right up against it as they battle to avoid relegation from League One following a 2-1 defeat to Wycombe at Vale Park.
Ethan Chislett cancelled out David Wheeler’s opener for the visitors before Nigel Lonwijk scored a late winner, leaving Darren Moore’s side three points from safety with two games of the season left.
Dale Taylor could have opened the scoring for Wycombe after just 40 seconds when he pounced on a defensive error and slid the ball wide from the edge of the area.
Wanderers were ahead just three minutes later, however, when Wheeler was in the right place to blast the ball home after Connor Ripley denied Sam Vokes.
The home side responded well after the early setback and would have been level in the ninth minute had Franco Ravizzoli not made a great save to push Chislett’s effort over the bar.
It was Vale who started brightest after the break and were level just two minutes into the second half when Chislett found himself in space before slotting the ball past Ravizzoli.
The closing stages saw Vale going all out for the win with Jensen Weir coming close on a couple of occasions before Lonwijk sealed victory for Wanderers with only four minutes remaining.
Paris Maghoma rescues point as Bolton’s automatic promotion hopes dashed
Paris Maghoma rescued a point but a 2-2 Sky Bet League One draw with Shrewsbury dented Bolton’s hopes of automatic promotion.
The third tier’s lowest scorers twice shocked their hosts by taking the lead.
But facing a first home defeat to their visitors for 34 years, Bolton salvaged a draw when Maghoma fired home his ninth goal of the campaign after 71 minutes.
However, Ian Evatt’s side still trail second-placed Derby by three points, with both teams having two further games to play.
Shrewsbury survived an early scare when Mal Benning deflected a Cameron Jerome effort against his own post.
Shrews goalkeeper Marko Marosi – in excellent form throughout – twice denied Aaron Collins before Tom Bloxham’s surging run and excellent delivery set up Daniel Udoh’s 21st-minute opener.
Veteran Jerome equalised after 41 minutes with his first Bolton league goal and first since scoring for Luton in October 2022.
But Jordan Shipley’s stunning left-footed effort from Elliott Bennett’s corner, two minutes later, restored Town’s lead.
In the second half, Bolton battered away in vain until Maghoma’s goal salvaged a draw.
Lincoln keep alive play-off bid with vital victory at Oxford
Lincoln kept alive their League One play-off hopes with a crucial 1-0 victory over sixth-placed Oxford at the Kassam Stadium.
Danny Mandroiu hit the winner from the penalty two minutes into the second half after Ruben Rodrigues fouled Ben House.
They held out despite having substitute Dylan Duffy sent off for a second yellow card seven minutes from the end.
It was a must-win game for the Imps after their home defeat by Wigan at the weekend and they started the better.
Paudie O’Connor forced goalkeeper Jamie Cumming into a save with a far-post header at a corner and Freddie Draper headed wide from close in.
The visitors suffered a blow when Reeco Hackett had to go off with an arm injury after what looked an innocuous challenge.
As the half wore on Oxford settled and keeper Lukas Jensen twice saved from Tyler Goodrham and Mark Harris also went close twice as the U’s turned up the heat.
But City also looked dangerous and Draper squandered another good opportunity from eight yards.
The U’s were caught cold at the start of the second half when they conceded the spot-kick, hammered home by Mandroiu to Cumming’s left.
Cameron Brannagan added an extra dimension for United when he came off the bench and he cut in from the left to hammer a fierce drive that Jensen did well to save.
But Lincoln defended resolutely for a victory that keeps their season going.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
