It was news that all Manchester United fans had been dreading for years. Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United for the last 27 years, decided to call time on his illustrious career. Ferguson's seismic decision to retire from the world of football has been greeted by shock, disbelief by the United faithful and perhaps sighs of relief from opposition fans.
Ferguson's life and career has been remarkable in more than one way. How a dockyard worker from Govan in Scotland became arguably the greatest manager football has seen makes for a great story. Many people, including the man himself, have tried to bring to fore the secret of Ferguson's success.
Journalist Patrick Barclay in 2010 was the latest to write a book on Ferguson. Football - Bloody Hell is not the most definitive book on the man but perhaps the most unbiased. Barclay talks glowingly about Ferguson's career but also delves into the many shortcomings. He talks in detail, for instance, about how Ferguson, early in his United career, tried to push young players to be managed by his son who was a football agent. Barclay tries hard to provide a "balanced" view of Ferguson. If there is a lot of criticism about Ferguson, the book is peppered with little-known stories of Ferguson's good side as well - how he financially helped many people when they were facing hard times or how he always spoke to any manager who lost his job and offered words of support.
Michael Crick in 2002 wrote an extremely well-researched book on Ferguson. Titled The Boss, Crick tells Ferguson's story through a lot of anecdotes and his relationships with various players including Roy Keane, Paul Ince and Eric Cantona. Although Crick does delve into the off-field side of Ferguson, there's not much you learn from this book on that issue. This is a book about Ferguson the manager and his relentless pursuit for perfection. Crick, a lifelong United fan, tries hard to come across as neutral and what makes his book an interesting read is that he also offers a fan's perspective of Ferguson and Manchester United.
The one book that actually does justice to Ferguson is obviously his autobiography. Published in 1999, just after Ferguson led United to his and the club's finest hour (a unique treble of winning the league, FA Cup and the Champions League), Managing My Life provides the real insight into the man's life. Ferguson is honest, witty and talks about how he has seen the game of football change over the years. The way he talks about managing different personalities, handling egos is a fine lesson in the art of management.
However, some of Ferguson's greatest stories are yet to be told. While what he did with United in the first half of his career has been documented by many like Barclay and a couple of others, they don't do justice to some of the fascinating stories that have unfolded in the second half of Ferguson's life. Like what he really thought of the hugely unpopular Malcolm Glazer becoming the owner of Manchester United. On the face of it, Ferguson has always been supportive and spoken highly of the owners but is that what a socialist like him thought of United being owned by some owners who rarely come to watch the team play? Or what was it like making Cristiano Ronaldo one of the greatest players in the world? Why did he sell David Beckham to Real Madrid? Which players did he want to sign but was unable to? What does he think of cash-rich owners buying clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea and the challenges he faced in overcoming them to win titles with United? These are questions that can be answered bbest by Ferguson alone. We should expect a flurry of books on him now that he has walked away from the game. But let's hope that it is written by the man himself as no one perhaps would be able to do justice to his life as a football manager.
