Opinion A life in football

It’s easy to be hyperbolic about one of the most decorated managers in footballing history. His retirement is an inevitability no one at Old Trafford liked to contemplate,for good reason. Ferguson is a force of nature,and in his tenure at United he defied age,infirmity and the influx of unlimited roubles and dirhams to continually triumph in one of the more competitive leagues in Europe. On the way to collecting 38 trophies across different competitions — including 13 Premier League and two Champions League titles — his gum-chewing,abrasive visage came to be thoroughly disliked by opposition managers and fans,because a United side with Ferguson at the helm were always,always contenders,even at a goal down and into “Fergie time”,as Bayern Munich discovered that famous evening in 1999.

This love story didn’t have a fairytale beginning,however. Ferguson took over in 1986 from Aberdeen,a Scottish Premier League side,at a time when United had not won the First Division in 20 years and were second from the bottom. Under Ferguson,United recovered enough to finish 11th,but silverware proved elusive. The 1988-89 season marked the nadir of Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford. Fans had run out of patience and were calling for him to be replaced until,reportedly on the verge of dismissal,he won the FA Cup in 1990. The tenacity that enabled him to extract victory from the jaws of defeat was to become a hallmark of his years at the club. He instilled this determination and temperament into his players and as long as there were seconds on the clock,you could count on United to give it a jolly good shot.

Football changed in the years after. Much like cricket underwent the Kerry Packer treatment,the inception of the Premier League and the millions of pounds of television money that flooded football had an impact on the game. Ferguson was at the vanguard of this moment; a constant in the turbulent years of the transformation of club football into a globally attractive entertainment product,not unchanging,per se,but endlessly adaptive,like the sport itself. Ferguson embodied the modern football club: the shift towards the continent,foreign players,the marquee stadium and overseas ownership. Where lesser managers might have stumbled and been left behind,Ferguson was a master of reinvention,brilliant at absorbing what he needed,adapting it,and tossing the rest aside. He built a sporting powerhouse at Manchester United,yes,but he also built a brand and a successful business,one of the most profitable in the world.

His critics will argue that the United model is destroying football; that the Chelsea and Manchester City formula of buying the best team is only a logical extension of the profligacy United first introduced to the English game. This ignores all the players who came through United’s famed youth system — Paul Scholes,Gary and Phil Neville,David Beckham and the indefatigable Ryan Giggs,to name only a few. Indeed,research group Sporting Intelligence found last year that United produce more first-team players for clubs in Europe’s top five leagues than any other team in England. Ferguson won the most romantic of his Premiership titles in 1995-96 with a young team few tipped for glory. His commitment to and pride in the club’s youth programme is inarguable. Then there is the statistic that compares United’s spending with its noisy neighbours’,finding that City have spent more in five years than United had since the Premier League began. To argue that Ferguson and United “bought” success is as much a fallacy as the idea that money isn’t important in the modern game.

The story of Manchester United in the Premier League era is the story of Alex Ferguson. He sculpted the club in his image,falling in love with his creation like a modern-day Pygmalion. He was not,perhaps,the most likeable figure on the touchlines. The rows he got into with the media,horse-owning millionaires,club executives,rival managers and even his own players,are legendary. Tales of his “hairdryer” treatment — where he would register his displeasure so strongly that the force of it would blow the unfortunate receiver’s hair back — abound. But his devotion to the club endeared him to United fans,for whom he became untouchable. He inspired such faith and loyalty in both fans and players — even the ones he evicted from Old Trafford when he deemed them to pose an impediment to his quest for renewal and supremacy — that they always conceded to his superior wisdom,trusting that he had a plan. Ferguson will be notable in his absence,the force of his charisma leaving behind a negative space United will continue to revolve around.

yamini.lohia@expressindia.com