Things we will miss about Sir Alex Ferguson: Part I

Alex Ferguson will be missed by the Old Trafford faithful

When Sir Alex Ferguson, the most decorated football manager of all time, pulled curtains on his career at Manchester United, it sent the entire world into a state of mourning.

In the first hour following the official announcement of the news of Ferguson’s retirement, there were 1.4 million mentions of the story. The original tweet by the official MUFC Spokesperson’s twitter account was retweeted 18,000 times. The official hashtag for the announcement #thankyousiralex was used more than a million times in the first hour itself after the news broke out.

Given Lady Thatcher’s death only garnered a million mentions as opposed to Sir Alex’s retirement news going through the roof, it hardly sums up the reverence with which he is held by football fans across the globe.

For many generations of Mancunians, Sir Alex is spoken of in the same breath as the football club itself. And it is hardly surprising given the amount of glory he has brought to the club; from an English club struggling to grow out of Liverpool’s shadow to the second most valuable sports brand in the world, Manchester United have come a long way under his stewardship.

While May 8, 2013 will be looked upon as potential doomsday by many Manchester United supporters as the club prepares for life without Ferguson, they would miss the old Scot for reasons beyond football too.

Fergie’s Chewing Gum

For past and present generations of United fans, watching their team play has become synonymous with seeing their manager chewing his way through the entire match. His last chewing gum was recently sold for over half a million dollars after being recovered from the Hawthorns.

The Scotsman has even faced staunch criticism from sections of the media for the same. There has been plenty of speculation as to why Fergie goes through that many sticks of chewing gums every match. While some felt it helped him deal with the tension surrounding the game, others argued it was just an addiction. But independent of the reason, the former United manager did make chewing gums look cool.

The baby dance and the celebrations

Sir Alex Ferguson is not known to be standing by the touchline giving out instructions to his players for the entirety of a match. You would normally find him sitting in the dugout besides the coaching staff as he watched United play.

But the veteran Scot never exhibited lack of energy when it came to celebrating a goal for his side. The sudden urge to get up from his seat in anticipation of a goal, getting back down with a thud and disappointment as the chance is spurned and jumping up in joy as he bear hugs Mike Phelan or Rene Meulensteen, you will miss all of that!

The Sir Alex Ferguson stand

The angry Ferguson

“The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher’s dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn’t fit. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.”- Ferguson on referee Alan Wiley.

Of the few things that Sir Alex Ferguson is not, being a quiet character is one of them. The former United boss has had quite a few altercations during his time at Old Trafford and referees have been at the receiving end most of the time. Everytime one of his players was felled by a dangerous tackle, the wily Scot would scurry down to the touchline and made his opinions heard to the assistant referee.

You could often see him standing near the tunnel as the half time whistle is blown, impatiently waiting for the referee to give him a piece of his mind. There has been much discussion in the media over Sir Alex’s alleged aggressive behavior towards match officials and FA’s supposed lenient stance towards him. But that has never stopped the Director of Football at Manchester United to be angry; even the media faced his ire.

“But you’re a f****** embarrassment. One of these days the door is going to be shut on you permanently.”- Ferguson on the media.

Fergie Time

Sir Alex Ferguson in his usual black two-in-one zip up coat standing by the touchline as the assistant referee lifts the display board to announce the amount of added time must be a very familiar scene for fans. While the Scot stood and watched, rolling up his sleeve occasionally to glance at his famous watch, United would so often come up with a late goal to win the match.

That United often get the benefit of extra added on time when they are losing at home isn’t entirely a myth. According to a BBC report, United were awarded an average of extra 79 seconds when they were losing at home.

It is widely believed that Ferguson’s presence would often influence the referees to help the Red Devils with extra injury time.

But as a faithful, you never complained or did you?

Fergie’s Hairdryer

Ferguson’s hairdryer treatment has been so often lauded by former United footballers and cited as one of the biggest reasons behind the club’s enormous success.

Wayne Rooney, in his book My Decade, wrote : ‘There’s nothing worse than getting the “hairdryer” from Sir Alex. When it happens, the manager stands in the middle of the room and loses it at me. He gets right up in my face and shouts. It feels like I’ve put my head in front of a BaByliss Turbo Power 2200. It’s horrible.’

It is no co-incidence that Manchester United have so often gone into their dressing room at half time trailing and come back much stronger in the next half only to win.

David Beckham, who was shown the door following that famous boot-in-the-face incident, revealed that most players would be scared of receiving the hairdryer treatment and hence give their all on the field.

Although fans would not be missing his hairdryer treatment since they never had to face one, but they might as well when United once again go into their dressing room losing the match.