Sir Alex Ferguson - Respected for his trophies, loved for his passion

It has taken me a lot of time to even get started with this piece. Not because I belong to the sentimental community but because I feel that something has died, a part of me, maybe more. The part of me which believed that Sir Alex would go on forever, that nothing was impossible and even a 2 goal deficit with 3 minutes to go could be achieved. United may still remain a force to reckon with, the hunger to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat may still be there but it just won’t be the same without the person who made United believe that they could rule. Sir Alex taught us how to dream, he had a vision, a vision to succeed, a vision to concur and he did it. Along the way, he touched and changed the lives of millions. He had become a habit that we cherished.

Writing about Sir Alex takes you years back into the early 2000s when football started grabbing eyeballs in India. 22 men running and fiercely competing to get the ball excited us more than 9 men sitting in the dressing room and others waiting for the ball to come to them.

Once you start following football, you fall in love with the game, you fall in love with the way a team plays, its players, its stars and little do you care about who owns it or manages it, because that is not what catches the eye of a young spectator. As a novice football fan, all we care about is brilliant long range goals, hard tackles and players dribbling past defenders with ease. Little do we worry about the tactics employed, the formation or even the substitutions made.

The football we see on the pitch is all what’s football to us. The manager is just a human figure occupying some space on the touchline and blurting out a few words of wisdom to his players now and then. But every once in a while there comes a genius, a man who is one of a kind, a man who demands respect and he changes the way his profession is perceived.

Sir Alex was one such great, whose magnanimous persona redefined football managers and we were left with no choice but to sit back and take notice. His passion, aggression and the way he egged on his players was a delight for the novice football fan. It was the first time that we came across a non-playing leader and that is when the managerial side of football excited us. The post match presentations made much more sense now. I also started to understand how important the mind games were before a big game.

There is a certain aura about him, the kind of leader you come across in extravagant books or movies. Not a believer of the ‘cool as a cucumber approach’, Sir Alex wore his emotions on his sleeves. This is what he was loved for because you respect a manager for his trophies and love him for his passion.

Sir Alex’s departure from Manchester United has left us all doubting the future of the club. Believe it or not, these are trying times for the club, a legacy left behind. The future seems a bit gloomy and the club seems to be passing through turbulence. The turbulence does not frighten me because it has always been there with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City breathing down our neck; what frightens me is not having our wily old Scottish man to guide our ship home.

David Moyes has been appointed as the manager of Manchester United and now I am finally trying to come to terms with Sir Alex’s perplexing decision to call it a day. Mind you, it hasn’t sunk in just yet but the people around me have been blowing the trumpet of moving on and looking at life at United beyond Sir Alex.

Now that is a tough thing to do for the 90s kids because for us, United has been almost synonymous with Sir Alex. We haven’t seen United without him. We haven’t dreamed of United without him. All those close victories, Moscow (2008), Barcelona (1999), the Manchester derbies, the FA cup finals, the rivalry with Arsenal and Liverpool, the clashes with Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea, all seem a bit off colour if pictured without Sir Alex. His dynamics on the field, the constant chewing of gum, the ‘run and jump celebration’, the ‘hairdryer’ treatment given to his players, the bold comments during press conferences; all of this would be missed and I don’t think anyone would be able to replicate what he has done for United. The trophy count is endless, the wins unparalleled but the effect he has had on fans like us is the thing that is most commendable.

Life is a long search for perfection. People try to have the perfect car, the perfect house, the perfect spouse and the perfect life. Many of us identify role models in our life in order to emulate the perfect life. They may not be perfect themselves but they have the right mix of the things you need to acquire in order to achieve perfection.

Sir Alex has been one such gentleman in my life. The passion, the hunger to succeed and the vision to become the best in something you believe are a few traits I’ve learned from him. Thank you Sir for everything, you make lesser mortals like me feel good about my existence.