Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography
Hachette India
Pages: 402
Price: Rs 1,299
"Regeneration was an everyday duty,” writes Sir Alex Ferguson in his latest book, Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography. Of course, Ferguson would know all about regeneration: he lorded it over English football with Manchester United and became one of the world's greatest football managers during his 27-year reign.
Even Ferguson’s biggest detractors – and there were, predictably, legion – will admit to his genius and the fact that he is a hard act to follow. His successor at the club, David Moyes, is discovering that. In much the same way, the follow-up to his first autobiography also falls short. Managing My Life, written in 1999, soon after he steered Manchester United to a historic treble, was a brilliant book. It was written from the heart and captured the essence of the man and his management principles.
Nevertheless, My Autobiography is an intriguing book that should not be overlooked, at least by football aficionados. Ghost-written by Paul Hayward, a football journalist with The Telegraph, this book doesn't pick up where the other one left off; it is a more considered exposition of his outlook and management philosophy. It talks about various important episodes and people that shaped Ferguson’s latter years as manager of Manchester United. So there are chapters on Roy Keane (the abrasive but inspirational United skipper with whom Ferguson had a fallout), Liverpool (United’s bitter rivals; Ferguson calls them "a great tradition"), Cristiano Ronaldo (the best player Ferguson said he managed) and the Class of ’92 (a talented bunch of players nurtured by the club's youth system who came through under Ferguson).
Like all good autobiographies, you can almost hear Ferguson speak when you’re reading this book. There are no shocking revelations here, however. Ferguson talks at length – in almost every chapter – about how being in control at a club of United’s stature was of the essence.
The thing with Ferguson is that he has seen the game of football change dramatically over the last two decades. His opinion on the media, agents and the mentality of players and fans is instructive. For instance, in the chapter titled “A World of Talent”, in which he talks about various players he signed and managed, he says fans were sometimes hard to fathom. “We would sign a player for 2 million pounds and some fans would consider it a sign of weakness and believe we had lowered our standards,” he writes.
The chapter on the media should be read by managers across the world. “There’s an art to not exposing the weaknesses of your team, which is always your first priority,” Ferguson writes of managing the media.
All the same, there are some issues that I personally felt he could have addressed better. The hugely controversial and unpopular takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer that plunged the club deep into debt is one. Although Ferguson does talk about the impact, he skims the surface of an issue that roiled the club not so long ago.
That Ferguson is erudite about football is an understatement, but it comes as a refreshing surprise to read about him on subjects outside football. He takes great pride in his horses and talks about his passion for horse racing. He talks about the books he likes to read — books on Rockefeller, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Scottish history, etc. His fascination with John F Kennedy also gets a mention, and he says that his reading on Kennedy brought him into contact with some “wonderful literature”.
Ferguson is a public supporter of the Labour Party, but says becoming an active member wasn’t on his agenda. He was close to Gordon Brown, Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair. He writes how he once told Blair, “If you keep your government in one room and lock the door you’ll have no problems. The problem with government is that they all fly off on their own, they have ... their own media contacts.”
Indeed, Blair respected him so much that he even consulted him over the possibility of sacking Gordon Brown — or at least Blair asked him how he controlled superstars and it’s no surprise to read that Ferguson’s buzzword comes into the answer: control. “The most important thing in my job is control. The minute they threaten your control, you get rid of them.”
Of course, it’s this urge to retain control that saw David Beckham leave United (after being at the receiving end of a hurled football boot) or, for that matter, Roy Keane or Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
His chapter on Cristiano Ronaldo is by far the best tribute to the Portuguese superstar. Greater praise perhaps will never come to Ronaldo’s door than in these words from a man who was sparing with his praise: “Cristiano Ronaldo was the most gifted player I managed. He surpassed all the other great ones I coached at United.”
The other brilliant bit in the book is the chapter on psychology. Ferguson was famous for playing mind games. Every season, for instance, he would say, “Wait till the second half of the season, we are always stronger then.” It worked like a twin-edged sword: it crept into the minds of the opposition as well as his own players.
Tapping his watch to indicate the time elapsed was another ploy he used. “Seeing me tap my watch and gesticulate, the opposition would be spooked.” United has a glorious habit of scoring late goals – it came to be known as "Fergie Time" – and the opposition would feel besieged seeing Ferguson tapping his watch. He talks about the psychological dimension of handling players. “Endless praise sounds false. They see through it…I would tell a player what the club demanded of them,” he writes.
Liverpool, which was the dominant force in English football when Ferguson took over at United, gets praise and contempt in equal measure. The contempt, actually, is reserved for former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. Ferguson has always been an admirer of legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. He is frank enough to admit that maybe he was lucky to have joined United during a troubled phase for Liverpool. He is spot on – and even Liverpool fans would grudgingly agree – in his assessment that during the early nineties Liverpool made unusual purchases and Graeme Souness’ “impetuosity cost him”. There is also this charming anecdote about how Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish came to him seeking advice about a job in management. Dalglish didn’t tell him the name of the club and Ferguson didn’t ask. “Is it a good club?” Ferguson asked. “Aye, it’s a good club,” Dalglish replied. That club was Liverpool, of course.
One hilarious incident involves Wayne Rooney. In 2004, United approached Everton to buy the striker and, halfway through the discussions, Everton chairman Bill Kenwright said he wanted to phone his mother. “They’re stealing our boy, they’re stealing our boy,” is what Kenwright told his mother, tears streaming down his face. Contrary to most reports, Ferguson is full of praise for Rooney, though he does say there is perhaps a “stirring of old resentment”.
Rival managers Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho get a chapter each as well. Mourinho comes in for a lot of praise — understandably, because he is a lot like Ferguson. Ferguson calls him very helpful and someone “who had experienced all the emotional extremes in the game”. With Wenger, his famous rival, he writes, “We had conflicts down the years but we survived together and respected each other’s efforts to play good football.” Benitez, on the other hand, you can see is not someone who would be getting a Christmas card from Ferguson. “He made our rivalry personal, that was a mistake,” Ferguson writes in a Don Corleone-like tone.
Throughout his career, Ferguson knew and appreciated great competitors and none came bigger and better than Barcelona of 2008-11. “They were the best team ever to line up against my Manchester United sides. Easily the best.” He admits he made mistakes in the two Champions League finals against Barcelona in 2009 and 2011. His description about their passing movement and football philosophy is fascinating. “You put the bait in the river and a fish goes for it … Xavi would pass the ball to Iniesta at a pace that encouraged you to think you were going to win it.”
At 402 pages, the book appears too short to allow the reader to delve into the last 14 years of Ferguson’s eventful career; it does read like a rush job. Nevertheless, as an insight into how one man managed to stay on top for more than two decades in one of the world's most fiercely competitive businesses, the book has few parallels.
Hachette India
Pages: 402
Price: Rs 1,299
"Regeneration was an everyday duty,” writes Sir Alex Ferguson in his latest book, Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography. Of course, Ferguson would know all about regeneration: he lorded it over English football with Manchester United and became one of the world's greatest football managers during his 27-year reign.
Also Read
Even Ferguson’s biggest detractors – and there were, predictably, legion – will admit to his genius and the fact that he is a hard act to follow. His successor at the club, David Moyes, is discovering that. In much the same way, the follow-up to his first autobiography also falls short. Managing My Life, written in 1999, soon after he steered Manchester United to a historic treble, was a brilliant book. It was written from the heart and captured the essence of the man and his management principles.
Nevertheless, My Autobiography is an intriguing book that should not be overlooked, at least by football aficionados. Ghost-written by Paul Hayward, a football journalist with The Telegraph, this book doesn't pick up where the other one left off; it is a more considered exposition of his outlook and management philosophy. It talks about various important episodes and people that shaped Ferguson’s latter years as manager of Manchester United. So there are chapters on Roy Keane (the abrasive but inspirational United skipper with whom Ferguson had a fallout), Liverpool (United’s bitter rivals; Ferguson calls them "a great tradition"), Cristiano Ronaldo (the best player Ferguson said he managed) and the Class of ’92 (a talented bunch of players nurtured by the club's youth system who came through under Ferguson).
Like all good autobiographies, you can almost hear Ferguson speak when you’re reading this book. There are no shocking revelations here, however. Ferguson talks at length – in almost every chapter – about how being in control at a club of United’s stature was of the essence.
The thing with Ferguson is that he has seen the game of football change dramatically over the last two decades. His opinion on the media, agents and the mentality of players and fans is instructive. For instance, in the chapter titled “A World of Talent”, in which he talks about various players he signed and managed, he says fans were sometimes hard to fathom. “We would sign a player for 2 million pounds and some fans would consider it a sign of weakness and believe we had lowered our standards,” he writes.
The chapter on the media should be read by managers across the world. “There’s an art to not exposing the weaknesses of your team, which is always your first priority,” Ferguson writes of managing the media.
All the same, there are some issues that I personally felt he could have addressed better. The hugely controversial and unpopular takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer that plunged the club deep into debt is one. Although Ferguson does talk about the impact, he skims the surface of an issue that roiled the club not so long ago.
That Ferguson is erudite about football is an understatement, but it comes as a refreshing surprise to read about him on subjects outside football. He takes great pride in his horses and talks about his passion for horse racing. He talks about the books he likes to read — books on Rockefeller, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Scottish history, etc. His fascination with John F Kennedy also gets a mention, and he says that his reading on Kennedy brought him into contact with some “wonderful literature”.
Ferguson is a public supporter of the Labour Party, but says becoming an active member wasn’t on his agenda. He was close to Gordon Brown, Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair. He writes how he once told Blair, “If you keep your government in one room and lock the door you’ll have no problems. The problem with government is that they all fly off on their own, they have ... their own media contacts.”
Indeed, Blair respected him so much that he even consulted him over the possibility of sacking Gordon Brown — or at least Blair asked him how he controlled superstars and it’s no surprise to read that Ferguson’s buzzword comes into the answer: control. “The most important thing in my job is control. The minute they threaten your control, you get rid of them.”
Of course, it’s this urge to retain control that saw David Beckham leave United (after being at the receiving end of a hurled football boot) or, for that matter, Roy Keane or Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
His chapter on Cristiano Ronaldo is by far the best tribute to the Portuguese superstar. Greater praise perhaps will never come to Ronaldo’s door than in these words from a man who was sparing with his praise: “Cristiano Ronaldo was the most gifted player I managed. He surpassed all the other great ones I coached at United.”
The other brilliant bit in the book is the chapter on psychology. Ferguson was famous for playing mind games. Every season, for instance, he would say, “Wait till the second half of the season, we are always stronger then.” It worked like a twin-edged sword: it crept into the minds of the opposition as well as his own players.
Tapping his watch to indicate the time elapsed was another ploy he used. “Seeing me tap my watch and gesticulate, the opposition would be spooked.” United has a glorious habit of scoring late goals – it came to be known as "Fergie Time" – and the opposition would feel besieged seeing Ferguson tapping his watch. He talks about the psychological dimension of handling players. “Endless praise sounds false. They see through it…I would tell a player what the club demanded of them,” he writes.
Liverpool, which was the dominant force in English football when Ferguson took over at United, gets praise and contempt in equal measure. The contempt, actually, is reserved for former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. Ferguson has always been an admirer of legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. He is frank enough to admit that maybe he was lucky to have joined United during a troubled phase for Liverpool. He is spot on – and even Liverpool fans would grudgingly agree – in his assessment that during the early nineties Liverpool made unusual purchases and Graeme Souness’ “impetuosity cost him”. There is also this charming anecdote about how Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish came to him seeking advice about a job in management. Dalglish didn’t tell him the name of the club and Ferguson didn’t ask. “Is it a good club?” Ferguson asked. “Aye, it’s a good club,” Dalglish replied. That club was Liverpool, of course.
One hilarious incident involves Wayne Rooney. In 2004, United approached Everton to buy the striker and, halfway through the discussions, Everton chairman Bill Kenwright said he wanted to phone his mother. “They’re stealing our boy, they’re stealing our boy,” is what Kenwright told his mother, tears streaming down his face. Contrary to most reports, Ferguson is full of praise for Rooney, though he does say there is perhaps a “stirring of old resentment”.
Rival managers Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho get a chapter each as well. Mourinho comes in for a lot of praise — understandably, because he is a lot like Ferguson. Ferguson calls him very helpful and someone “who had experienced all the emotional extremes in the game”. With Wenger, his famous rival, he writes, “We had conflicts down the years but we survived together and respected each other’s efforts to play good football.” Benitez, on the other hand, you can see is not someone who would be getting a Christmas card from Ferguson. “He made our rivalry personal, that was a mistake,” Ferguson writes in a Don Corleone-like tone.
Throughout his career, Ferguson knew and appreciated great competitors and none came bigger and better than Barcelona of 2008-11. “They were the best team ever to line up against my Manchester United sides. Easily the best.” He admits he made mistakes in the two Champions League finals against Barcelona in 2009 and 2011. His description about their passing movement and football philosophy is fascinating. “You put the bait in the river and a fish goes for it … Xavi would pass the ball to Iniesta at a pace that encouraged you to think you were going to win it.”
At 402 pages, the book appears too short to allow the reader to delve into the last 14 years of Ferguson’s eventful career; it does read like a rush job. Nevertheless, as an insight into how one man managed to stay on top for more than two decades in one of the world's most fiercely competitive businesses, the book has few parallels.