Sir Alex Ferguson’s tremendous contribution to the success of Manchester United was recognised by naming the North Stand after him yesterday. The club has been transformed during hs 25 years in charge, but there have also been big changes in the game and not all of them for the better in his view.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s tremendous contribution to the success of Manchester United was recognised by naming the North Stand after him yesterday. The club has been transformed during hs 25 years in charge, but there have also been big changes in the game and not all of them for the better in his view.
He believes that a culture of impatience among foreign owners has bred too many risk averse coaches. He said in an interview with former keeper Fabien Barthez for French television station TFI, ‘Today everyone is “Be safe, Be safe.” Coaches are under more pressure than 20 years ago.’
‘Also we have owners from many different countries … So it creates a pressure on everyone to win. They’re not buying a club for £200 million to lose.’
He used the example of Arsene Wenger to discuss the contemporary willigness to sack managers without thinking the consequences through. He said, ‘The first thing is it’s easy to sack a manager. All you need to do is lift the phone and bring him in and say “Bye”‘. One might add that very often this involves a large payoff that means the club has even less to spend on strengthening the squad.
Sir Alec continued, ‘They don’t think, “How can I replace him? Who can we get that’s better than Arsene Wenger”‘. You have a big piece of paper there. How many names can you get? Probably none, or very few that could do that job at Arsenal’.