Sir Alex Ferguson adamant managers should start their careers in the lower leagues

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he believes up and coming managers should cut their teeth in the lower leagues.

The 72-year-old enjoyed an unprecedented era of success at Old Trafford during a reign that lasted longer than a quarter of a century, but is adamant that he owes some of his achievements to humble beginnings in Scotland.

In a foreword for a book penned in tribute to Cowdenbeath FC, Ferguson insisted, ”Cowdenbeath Football Club is a smashing wee club. It’s the epitome of the lower league clubs who struggle a lot and have good times and bad times. They always have great stories at their heart.

“All managers should start at clubs like Cowdenbeath, and learn their trade. You have to learn the basics about budgets and wages.

“When I started as manager at East Stirling, there were only seven signed players. I had to find another five. It was a steep learning curve,” he declared.

Ferguson went on to become on the best managers of all time, with many of his former players following his foosteps into coaching, so it is no surprise that he is keen for those aspirign to be like him begin at the bottom and work their way up.

Meanwhile, although Fergie’s infamous hairdryer treatment could silence many egotistical multi-millionaire players during his career, the Scot once met his match in the form of a tea lady.

“In one of the games at Central Park [Cowdenbeath's ground], I was up against Andy Kinnell, the Cowden centre half, who used to kick lumps out of everybody,” he wrote in a foreword to a book on Cowdenbeath FC.

“We had a running battle through the game. In the tea room after the match, I was attacked by the tea lady. ‘You hit my boy,’ she said to me. She was Andy Kinnell’s mother!

“I was rescued by Andy Matthew, the Cowden manager, who pretended there was a phone call for me,” he quipped.

Meanwhile, Louis van Gaal is the Red Devils new manager, charged with returning the club to former glories after a disastrous season under Ferguson’s successor, David Moyes.