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Patrice must have been feeling brave that day. Courtesy of Stanis?aw Wiedmid’Unfortunately where the book falls down completely (alongside the aforementioned structural abomination) is the failure to conclusively check the content for accuracy, and that leads us to…
The Mistakes
The expectation in using a ghostwriter such as Paul Hayward would presumably be that he would check the contents of Fergie’s recollections with a fine tooth-comb. Without wishing to be disrespectful to Fergie, he’s a 70 year old man recalling events and incidents from 10, 20, in some cases 30 years ago and surely an experienced journalist such as Hayward would be ideal for proof reading the minutiae of the book. Sadly this hasn’t happened and I’ve had fun spotting the mistakes. Thus far, I’ve counted the following:-
Trending
1) Page 94 – When talking about Juan Veron – “There was another with Gabriel Heinze at Portsmouth. Heinze was ready to fight him.” All well and good, except that Veron was sold to Chelsea in 2003 and Heinze arrived from PSG in 2004.
2) Page 43 – Makes a point about an Irwin mistake allowing Dennis Bergkamp to score late in the game and saying to the press “he’s been with me 8 or 9 years and never made a mistake”.
Arsenal 1 United 0 5/11/95 – Bergkamp 14 mins – following Irwin mistake.
3) Page 46 – Refers to Peter Schmeichel playing upfront late on against on Wimbledon in the Cup to chase a goal and leaving Irwin back on the halfway line against John Fashanu. (Assuming he’s referring to the 96/97 Cup 4th round replay United lost 1-0 at Selhurst Park).
Fashanu signed for Aston Villa in ’94 and retired after a Ryan Giggs tackle in February ’95 which left him with a snapped Achilles tendon.
4) Page 315 - Says United scored only one goal in the second half in the 2-0 home win over Swansea at the end of 11-12. Both goals were scored in the first half.
5) Page 247 – About the Moscow Champions League Final penalty shootout. Fergie’s recollection is a complete clusterfuck. Claims “Edwin kept diving to his right. Except for the penultimate kick which Salomon Kalou took, when Edwin dived to his left”
VDS dived to his left for most of the penalties, but dived to his right for Kalou’s penalty.
