Top 5 spats between Sir Alex and his players

The weekend’s game between Manchester United and Wigan witnessed many milestones. One of them being Sir Alex Ferguson’s 500th home league game as manager of Manchester United. Then, just last night, Sir Alex became the first manager to win 100 Champions League matches. You don’t get to manage a club like Manchester United for more than 25 years if you have not been successful and Sir Alex has been successful all right.

The reasons for his success are many but there is one that stands out. It is the fact that Sir Alex rules with an iron fist. What he says is carved in stone. You do not cross his path. If you do, prepare to feel the wrath of “THE BOSS”. There have been quite a few who (foolishly?) crossed the boss. Some of them accepted they were wrong and others just got shipped out because the rift became too big to be solved.

5. Wayne Rooney

Recently, Wayne Rooney completed a decade in the English Premier League. Out of those 10 seasons, he has spent 8 with Manchester United and currently he is running in his 9th year as a Red Devil. Out of these 9, he has been the principal striker for the last 3 years. The year that brings him into this Top 5 list though, is the the year of 2010. The season that was his most prolific as a striker in the United shirt.

He can count himself lucky because he is one of the few to have had a fallout and still managed to stay at the club, albeit with a nice wage packet.

On 19 October 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson came out and announced that Wayne Rooney had decided that he was not going to sign a new contract. His current one was going to end at the end of the 2011/12 campaign. This was a shocking revelation. Initially it was thought that he wanted to leave Manchester United for…Manchester City.

Later on it became clear it was more about getting a better pay and not really his desperation to leave the club. He could be called greedy; and let’s be honest how many of the footballers these days are not; but not necessarily traitorous.

This greed resulted in a rift between player and manager, with Rooney openly coming out and questioning the ambitions of the club which was seen as a direct questioning of the Manager. This you do not do. Thankfully, Rooney came to his senses and realized his mistakes. He got his wage packet, Boss got his apology and everybody was happy.

Rooney went on to lead Manchester United to another League Title the same season and also scored a goal in the final of the Champions League against Barcelona, which the Red Devils lost.

4. Ruud Van Nistelrooy

He was one of the best imports the Premier League had ever seen. He scored goals galore when at Manchester United. 150 goals in 220 appearances. He was the top scorer in the Champions League 3 times out of the 5 years that he was at the club.

He made one mistake. He pissed THE BOSS off.

His war with Ronaldo started because RVN commented “go and cry to your daddy”.

Now, who he meant, was Carlos Queiroz. What made the comment insensitive was that Ronaldo had just recently lost his dad and Carlos had become a sort of father figure in his life. The comments considering the situation were uncalled for and wrong.

Even though the reports were denied, there was a rift that was growing bit by bit. SAF benched RVN for the League Cup Final. He was left on the bench for 6 consecutive games in the league.

He would on July 28, leave for Spain, signing for Real Madrid.

3. David Beckham

He was part of the “Fergie Fledglings”. He would go on to become one of the best right wingers England had produced and the World had ever seen. He was a hero, an idol to many. He was famous. He was a very good footballer, no doubt but he was also a star.

Then he did something that he would later regret. He angered the Boss. SAF was known to never have been at ease with Beckham’s star lifestyle. Then came THE tipping point.

After a 1-0 loss in the F Cup at the hands of Arsenal, Becks and SAF had a showdown. SAF, reigning down tirades at Beckham, accidentally kicked a boot into the player’s face.

Few months later Real Madrid signed David Beckham. This was a start of an interesting pattern. Apart from Beckham, Ruud, after a feud with SAF, was bought by Real Madrid. Gabriel Heinze also followed Ruud. I guess, Real Madrid were the biggest beneficiaries from these feuds.

2. Jaap Stam

This was one which SAF later stated was one of the biggest mistakes of his managerial career. After you read this, you may also nod your head. I, for one also agree, that this was a big mistake.

The fight happened when Stam published his autobiography. Stam revealed that Ferguson had been tapping him up before he made the move from PSV in 1998.

Sir Alex got this from what the papers had written. He had not read the autobiography.

While the war between the two was still waging, in came an offer of around 16million pounds. He was almost 30 and according to Sir Alex it was “an offer too good to refuse”.

Since then, SAF has admitted to making a mistake in letting go off Stam. Additionally, his plan to buy Blanc, while trying to bring in O’Shea and Brown, also backfired.

His sale went on to mark the start of a barren spell for the club, and he was never truly replaced till Nemanja Vidic joined the club.

1. Roy Keane

How they managed to work together for so long will always remain a mystery. It could possibly be termed as one of SAF’s greatest managerial works.

Roy Keane is one of the most angry people to have ever played football. On the pitch, I think, Barton probably compares to him but only in terms of anger, not in terms of what he brought to the team.

He was a leader in every sense of the word. He took no nonsense from the players and never held back from the truth. He was almost Sir Alex but the ‘playing on the pitch’ version.

He famously walked out of the ROI’s 2002 World Cup campaign after he fell out with the manager, Mick McCarthy.

He is a Manchester United hero. His performance against Juventus in the Semi Final of the Champions League is the stuff of legends. The rift between the two started with something totally baffling – Keane complaining about the poor training facilities on their pre-Season tour.

Then came an interview to MUTV which the management decided would not be aired. It included him blasting his team mates following an embarrassing 4-1 loss to Middlesbrough.

Two weeks later Keane would go on to reach an agreement with the club, which allowed him to leave immediately.

The spat with SAF though, has not ended till date. Keane, just last season, had another go at the youngsters of the club after the club failed to qualify from the group.

He stated as an ITV Pundit that Manchester United “got what they deserved”.

SAF would snipe back by mocking Keane’s managerial record and dismissing his comments. Bad blood still exists between the two.

Those who did not make the list:

Peter Schmeichel: Here is one feud that, thankfully for Manchester United and the fans of the club, did not end with the player being sold. The year was 1994, and Schmeichel had let 3 goals past him. After the game, a very heated argument between the Dane and the Boss ensued and the Dane threw some not so kind words (read: insults) the boss’ way. He was on the verge of being sacked the next day but he accepted his mistake and apologized . This earned the respect of the Boss and so he was allowed to continue playing for the Red Devils. Rest, as they say, is history.

Paul McGrath: When SAF came to the club, he was intent on correcting everything that was wrong at the club. Paul McGrath, according to SAF, represented all that was wrong at the club (off the pitch). He wanted to remove the drinking parties and as McGrath, captain of the club at that time, was the head of all of this, he had to go. Not much can be found on it, as during that time news was not reported or dug up like today, but there was disagreement and hence McGrath moved on to Aston Villa.

Carlos Tevez: In 2009, when his contract ran out, fans wanted him to re-sign. Ask the same question now and most will say: NO. He was close to the top 5 but the fact that most of his antics were pulled after he left the group, hence he does not find a place there. The “RIP” sign was a tipping point and an embarrassing one for Manchester City as a club.

So there you have it. A list of the top 5 spats between Sir Alex Ferguson and the players. In such a long career as manager, he was bound to have a few.