Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson

The Greatest Legend

I decided to write a little brief history lesson on Sir Alex Ferguson, the greatest manager to ever walk the face of the earth. I will also do some theory crafting on when Fergie might leave the club and who could actually fill his shoes, if anyone.

Early Years

Alex Ferguson was born at his grandmother's home on 31 December 1941 to Alexander Beaton Ferguson, a plater's helper in the shipbuilding industry, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Hardie. He attended Broomloan Road Primary School and later Govan High School. 

Alex Ferguson began his playing career at a small local club, Queen's Park F.C. Today, the club  is currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League and at the young age of sixteen, Sir Alex Ferguson started his playing career there as a striker. In his first match playing for the club, Ferguson is quoted to saying that his first match was "a nightmare" even though he did manage to score in their 2-1 defeat to Stranraer. 

Since Queen's Park F.C. was and is an amateur club, Alex  also worked in the Clyde shipyards as an apprentice tool-worker, where he became an active trade union shop steward.  

Perhaps his most notable game for Queen's Park was the 7–1 defeat away to Queen of the South in 1959, when Ivor Broadis, ex-England international, scored four of the Queen of the South goals. Ferguson scored the only goal of that game for his team. 

Despite scoring 20 goals in his 31 games for Queen's Park, he was unable to maintain a starting first team position and moved to St. Johnstone in 1960. Although he continued to score regularly at St. Johnstone, he was still not getting starting positions for first team play and regularly requested transfers. 

Ferguson was out of favor at the club and he even considered emigrating to Canada, however St. Johnstone's failure to sign a striker led the manager to select Ferguson for a match against Rangers, in which he scored a hat trick in a surprise victory. 

Dunfermline signed him the following summer, and Ferguson became a full-time professional footballer.

Professional Player

During his first season, his team Dunfermline, were strong challengers for the Scottish League and reached the Scottish Cup Final. Due to a poor performance against his former club St. Johnstone, Ferguson was dropped for the final, in which his team lost the final 3–2 to Celtic. Following the Cup Final, Fergie's team then failed to win the League by one point. 

The next season saw Ferguson notch up 45 goals in 51 games for Dunfermline. Along with Joe McBride of Celtic, he was the top goalscorer in the Scottish League with 31 goals.

He would later join Rangers, his boyhood club, for £65,000, then a record fee for a transfer between two Scottish clubs. 

He was blamed for a goal that they conceded in the 1969 Scottish Cup Final, in a match in which he was designated to mark Celtic captain, Billy McNeill. After the match, he was subsequently forced to play for the club's junior side instead of for the first team. Ferguson, as told by his Brother, was so furious by this, he threw away the cup loser's medal, wanting nothing to do with it. 

The following October, Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Ferguson, who was upset still by the way Ranger's were treating him, but his wife, Cathy Holding, was not keen on moving to England at that time so he went to Falkirk instead. 

He was promoted to player-coach there, but when John Prentice became manager he removed Ferguson's coaching responsibilities. Ferguson responded by requesting a transfer and moved to Ayr United, where he finished his playing career in 1974.

The Beginnings of a Manager

In June 1974, following the ending of his player career, Alex Ferguson was appointed manager of East Stirlingshire, at the young age of 32. The club did not have a single goalkeeper at the time requiring the young Scot to get to work quickly in hopes of a successful season.

 He gained a reputation as a disciplinarian, with club forward Bobby McCulley later saying he had "never been afraid of anyone before but Ferguson was a frightening bastard from the start."

After only a handful of months at East Stirlingshire, and being a head on the tables of most clubs,  Sir Alex was invited to manage St. Mirren. Even though they were below East Stirlingshire, St. Mirren was a bigger club and although Ferguson felt a degree of loyalty towards East Stirlingshire, he decided to join St. Mirren after taking advice from Jock Stein.

Sir Alex Ferguson was manager of St. Mirren from 1974 until 1978, producing a remarkable transformation of a team in the lower half of the Scottish Second Division, which would draw in crowds of just over 1,000, to First Division champions in 1977.

He discovered talent like Billy Stark, Tony Fitzpatrick, Lex Richardson, Frank McGarvey, Bobby Reid and Peter Weir while playing superb attacking football. The league winning team of 1977 had a median age of 19, with their Captain being only 20 years old. 

It would not last for Ferguson at St. Mirren though, as he was sacked from the club for breaching his contract with the club. An official report released in 1999, said the official reasoning behind the sacking of Ferguson was for various breaches of contract including unauthorized payments to players. 

He was counter-accused of intimidating behavior towards his office secretary because he wanted players to get some expenses tax free. He didn't speak to her for six weeks, confiscated her keys and communicated only through a 17-year-old assistant. The tribunal concluded that Ferguson was "particularly petty" and "immature".

 It was claimed during the tribunal by St. Mirren chairman, Willie Todd, that Ferguson had "no managerial ability".

On May 31st, 2008, The Guardian published an interview with Todd (then aged 87), who had sacked Ferguson all those years earlier. He explained that the fundamental reason for the dismissal was a breach of contract relating to Ferguson having agreed to join Aberdeen. Ferguson told journalist Jim Rodger of the Daily Mirror that he had asked at least one member of the squad to go to Aberdeen with him. He also told the St. Mirren staff he was leaving. Todd expressed regret over what happened but blamed Aberdeen for not approaching his club to discuss compensation.[Link]

Aberdeen

Sir Alex Ferguson joined Aberdeen as manager in June 1978, replacing Billy McNeill who had only managed the club for one season before he was offered the chance to manage Celtic. Although Aberdeen were one of Scotland's major clubs they had won the league only once, in 1955 under Dave Halliday. The team had been playing well, however, and had not lost a league match since the previous December, having finished second in the league the previous season.

Ferguson had now been a manager for four years, but was still not much older than some of the players and had trouble winning the respect of some of the older players on the team. The season did not go well, with Aberdeen reaching the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup Final, but losing both matches and finishing fourth in the league.

When the 1980s came, Aberdeen had started the season poorly but their form improved dramatically during the new year and they won the Scottish league that season with a 5–0 win on the final day. It was the first time in fifteen years that the league had not been won by either Rangers or Celtic. 

Ferguson now felt that he had the respect of his players, later saying "That was the achievement which united us. I finally had the players believing in me". He was still a strict disciplinarian, though, and his players nicknamed him Furious Fergie. He fined one of his players, John Hewitt, for overtaking him on a public road, and kicked a tea urn at the players at half time after a poor first half during a match.

 He was dissatisfied with the atmosphere at Aberdeen matches, and deliberately created a 'siege mentality' by accusing the Scottish media of being biased towards the Glasgow clubs, in order to motivate the team. The team would continue their success with a Scottish Cup win in 1982. 

Ferguson was offered the managers' job at Wolves but turned it down as he felt that Wolves were in trouble and his ambitions at Aberdeen were not even half fulfilled.

After the cup win in 1982, Ferguson led Aberdeen to even greater success in Europe. They had qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup for the Scottish Cup they won the previous season, and impressively knocked out Bayern Munich, who had beaten Tottenham Hotspur 4–1 in the previous round.

After knocking Bayern Munich out, this gave the team the confidence to believe that they could go on to win the competition, which they did, with a 2–1 victory over Real Madrid in the final on the 11th of May, 1983. 

Aberdeen became only the third Scottish team to win a European trophy and Ferguson now felt that had achieved something great with Aberdeen. They also performed well in the league that season, and retained the Scottish Cup with a 1–0 victory over Rangers. 

Ferguson was not happy with his team's play in the Cup match and upset the players by describing their play as a "disgraceful performance" in a televised interview after the match, a statement he later retracted.

After a slow start to the 1983–84 season, Aberdeen's form improved and the team won the Scottish league and retained the Scottish Cup. Ferguson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1984. He was offered the managers' jobs at Rangers, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur during the season. 

Aberdeen retained their league title in the 1984–85 season, but had a disappointing season in 1985–86, finishing fourth in the league, although they did win both domestic cups. Ferguson had been appointed to the club's board of directors early in 1986, but that April he told Dick Donald, their chairman, that he intended to leave that summer.

Following the sudden death of manager Jock Stein, who had collapsed and died on 10 September 1985  at the end of the game in which Scotland qualified from their group for a play-off against Australia. 

Ferguson promptly agreed to take charge of the Scottish national side against the Australians and subsequently at the World Cup. Following their defeat in the group stages of the World Cup, Ferguson stepped down as national team manager on 15 June 1986.

During the summer following the World Cup, Alex Ferguson started to get many invites to manage big time clubs, including Rangers, Tottenham, Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers.  Ferguson was also being considered for the Liverpool manager's job after the retirement of Joe Fagan was announced, but the job was quickly accepted by Liverpool striker Kenny Dalglish.

Although Ferguson remained at Aberdeen over the summer, he did eventually join Manchester United when Atkinson was sacked in November 1986.

Manchester United

Stepping in for Atkinson in November, Manchester United were 21st in the league, and even though Alex Ferguson lost his first game against underdogs Oxford United on November 8th, losing 2-0 to them. Following that, seven days later United were held to a goalless draw at newly promoted Norwich City, and then Fergie got his first win at home against QPR on the 22nd of November, winning 1-0. 

 Results steadily improved as the season went on for Manchester United, and by the time they recorded what would be their only away win of the league campaign at title challengers and deadly rivals Liverpool, it was clear that United were on the road to recovery, finishing 11th in the middle of the table.

The next season really showed more to the fans of United how well Alex Ferguson was doing rebuilding the team, as he made several major signings, including Steve Bruce, Viv Anderson, Brian McClair and Jim Leighton. 

The new players made a great contribution to a United team who finished in second place, nine points behind Liverpool. However, Liverpool's points lead had been in double digits for most of the season and while United had lost only five league games all season, they drew 12 games and there was clearly still some way to go before United could be a match for their league rivals.

During the next season of 88-89, Manchester United were expected to do well when Mark Hughes returned to the club two years after leaving for Barcelona, but United finished eleventh in the league and lost 1–0 at home to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup Sixth Round. 

They had begun the season slowly, going on a nine-match win-less run throughout October and November with one defeat and eight draws before a run of generally good results took them to third place and the fringes of the title challenge by mid February. However, another run of disappointing results in the final quarter of the season saw them fall down to mid table.

 After the disappointing season, Ferguson further boosted his squad by paying large sums of money for midfielders Neil Webb, Mike Phelan and Paul Ince, as well as defender Gary Pallister and winger Danny Wallace. 

The new season began well with a 4–1 win over defending champions Arsenal on the opening day, but United's league form quickly turned sour. In September, United suffered a humiliating 5–1 away defeat against fierce rivals Manchester City. 

Following this and an early run of six defeats and two draws in eight games, a banner declaring "Three years of excuses and it's still crap...ta-ra Fergie." was displayed at Old Trafford, and many journalists and supporters called for Ferguson to be sacked.

Regardless of the fans and media's demands, the board of directors had assured Ferguson that they were not considering dismissing him. Although naturally disappointed with the lack of success in the league, they understood the reasons for the sub-standard results (namely the absence of several key players due to injury) and were pleased with the way that Ferguson had reorganized the club's coaching and scouting system.

Following a run of seven games without a win, Manchester United were drawn away to Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup. Forest were performing well that season and were in the process of winning the League Cup for the second season running, and it was expected that United would lose the match and Ferguson would consequently be sacked, but United won the game 1–0 thanks to a Mark Robins goal and eventually reached the final.

 This cup win is often cited as the match that saved Ferguson's Old Trafford career, even though it has since been stated that his job was never at risk.

United went on to win the FA Cup, beating Crystal Palace 1–0 in the final replay after a 3–3 draw in the first match, giving Ferguson his first major trophy as Manchester United manager. United's defensive frailties in the first match were unilaterally blamed on goalkeeper Jim Leighton, forcing Ferguson to drop his former Aberdeen player and bring in Les Sealey.

During the 1990-91 season, Ferguson and United stepped up their game, working harder and looking overall way better, but they were still inconsistent and finished sixth.  

There were some excellent performances that season, including a 6–2 demolition of Arsenal at Highbury, but results like an early 2–1 loss at newly promoted Sunderland, a 4–0 September hammering by Liverpool at Anfield, and a 2–0 home defeat by Everton in early March, also the first game 17 year old Ryan Giggs made his senior debut, showed that United still had some way to go.

During the 91-92 season, Ferguson made two major signings – goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and defender Paul Parker – to bolster his side. There was much anticipation about the breakthrough of the young Ryan Giggs, who had played twice and scored once during the last season, and the earlier emergence of another impressive young winger in the shape of Lee Sharpe, who despite their youth had made Ferguson feel able to resist plunging into the transfer market and buying a new player to take over from the disappointing Danny Wallace on the left wing. 

He had also added the Ukrainian Andrei Kanchelskis to the right wing, giving him a more attacking alternative to older right footed midfielders Mike Phelan and Bryan Robson.

Sadly though, the season did not live up to Ferguson's expectations and, in Ferguson's words, "many in the media felt that my mistakes had contributed to the misery". United won the League Cup and Super Cup for the first time, but lost out on the league title to rivals Leeds United after leading the table for much of the season. 

A shortage of goals and being held to draws by teams they had been expected to beat in the second half of the campaign had proved to be the undoing of a United side who had performed so well in the first half of the season.

Before the start of the next season, 1992-1993, Ferguson went on the hunt for a new striker. He first attempted to sign Alan Shearer from Southampton, but lost out to Blackburn Rovers. He also made at least one approach for the Sheffield Wednesday striker David Hirst, but manager Trevor Francis rejected all offers and the player stayed put.

 In the end, he paid £1 million for 23-year-old Cambridge United striker Dion Dublin – his only major signing of the summer. 

Even with all of the hope, the season yet again started off slow for Manchester United, and it looked as though United would miss out on the league title yet again.

 However, after the purchase of French striker Eric Cantona from Leeds United for £1.2 million, the future of Manchester United, and Ferguson's position as manager, began to look bright. Cantona formed a strong partnership with Mark Hughes and fired the club to the top of the table, ending United's 26-year wait for a League Championship, and also making them the first ever Premier League Champions.

 United had finished champions with a 10-point margin over runners-up Aston Villa, whose 1–0 defeat at Oldham on 2 May 1993 had given United the title. Ferguson was voted Manager of the Year by the League Managers' Association.

The 1993–94 season brought even more success for Manchester United. Ferguson added Nottingham Forest's 22-year-old midfielder Roy Keane to the ranks for a British record fee of £3.75million as a long term replacement for Bryan Robson, who was nearing the end of his career.

United led the league for the entire season, winning easily as they marched on for another title. Cantona was top scorer with 25 goals in all competitions despite being sent off twice in the space of five days in March 1994. 

United also reached the League Cup final but lost 3–1 to Aston Villa, managed by Ferguson's predecessor, Ron Atkinson. In the FA Cup final, Manchester United achieved an impressive 4–0 scoreline against Chelsea, winning Ferguson his second League and Cup Double.

The next season was a harder season for Ferguson. 

Cantona assaulted a Crystal Palace supporter in a game at Selhurst Park, and it seemed likely he would leave English football. An eight month ban saw Cantona miss the final four months of the season. He also received a 14-day prison sentence for the offence but the sentence was quashed on appeal and replaced by a 120-hour community service order. 

On the brighter side, United paid a British record fee of £7million for Newcastle's prolific striker Andy Cole, with young winger Keith Gillespie heading to the north-east in exchange. The season also saw the breakthrough of young players Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, who provided excellent cover for the long periods that United were left without some of their more experienced stars.

However, the championship slipped out of Manchester United's grasp as they drew 1–1 with West Ham United on the final day of the season, when a win would have given them the a third successive league title. United also lost the FA Cup final in a 1–0 defeat to Everton.

Ferguson was heavily criticized in the summer of 1995 when three of United's star players were allowed to leave and replacements were not bought. First Paul Ince moved to Internazionale of Italy for £7.5 million, long serving striker Mark Hughes was suddenly sold to Chelsea in a £1.5 million deal, and Andrei Kanchelskis was sold to Everton.

It was widely known that Ferguson felt that United had a number of young players who were ready to play in the first team. The youngsters, included Gary Neville, Phil Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who would all go on to be important members of the team. The season began for United without a major signing, at a time when the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United were making the headlines with big money signings.

When United lost the first league match of the season 3–1 to Aston Villa, the media swooped upon Ferguson with undisguised glee. They wrote United off because Ferguson's squad contained so many young and inexperienced players. 

Match of the Day pundit, Alan Hansen proclaimed that "you can't win anything with kids".

However, the young players performed well and United won their next five matches, exacting their revenge over Everton for the FA Cup defeat with a 3–2 win at Goodison Park and achieving a 2–1 away win over defending champions Blackburn Rovers who were now looking rather like relegation battlers than title contenders.

Cantona's return from suspension was a boost, but they found themselves 10 points behind Newcastle United by Christmas 1995. A 2–0 home win over the Tynesiders on the 27th of December, narrowed the gap to seven points and a subsequent win over struggling QPR narrowed it to four points, but a 4–1 defeat for United at Tottenham on New Year's Day and a 0–0 home draw with Aston Villa saw the Magpies re-establish their wide lead and it looked certain that the league title was Newcastle's.

However a series of good results starting in mid January saw the gap close, and when United traveled to Newcastle and won 1–0 on 4 March, the gap was down to a single point.

United went top of the league soon after the win at Newcastle, who continued to drop points in crucial games. 

United's Premier League title success was confirmed on the final day of the season, when they defeated a Middlesbrough side managed by former United captain Bryan Robson in a game which ended in a 3–0 win despite strong displays by Boro confounding pre-match reports that Robson would give his old team an easy ride.

They played Liverpool in that year's FA Cup final, winning 1–0 with a late goal by Cantona. This made them the first team in English football to repeat the double of the league title and FA Cup, and more impressive was the fact that it had been achieved with a similar set of players to the ones who achieved the first double.

The next season saw Sir Alex Ferguson guide Manchester United to their fourth Premier League title in five seasons.  At the end of the season, Cantona surprisingly retired from football.

The season also saw two Norwegian signings, striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær (the club's top scorer that season) and defender Ronny Johnsen, who were bargain buys as they were little known outside the Premier League on their arrival the previous summer but went on to be key factors in United's fourth Premier League title.

The 1998–99 season saw Manchester United winning an unprecedented treble of the Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League. The season was characterized by highly dramatic matches. 

In the Champions League semi-final second leg, United conceded two early goals away to Juventus; however, inspired by Roy Keane, who would later miss the final through suspension, United came back to beat Juventus 3–2, and reach their first European Cup final since 1968.

 In the FA Cup semi-final, United faced close rivals Arsenal and appeared to be heading for defeat when Keane was sent off and Arsenal were awarded a last-minute penalty. Peter Schmeichel saved the penalty, and in extra time Ryan Giggs ran the length of the pitch to score perhaps the most memorable goal of his career to win the match. 

They then defeated Newcastle United 2–0 in the FA Cup Final at the Wembley Stadium, thanks to goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. 

The European triumph was the most incredible of all. With 90 minutes on the clock, they were 1–0 down to Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, following a Mario Basler free kick, but in three minutes of injury time allowed by referee Pierluigi Collina, Teddy Sheringham, a substitute, equalised and extra time looked certain. But with just seconds left on the clock, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, also a late substitution, scored the winning goal and history was made.

On 12 June 1999, Ferguson received a knighthood in recognition of his services to the game.

Manchester United ended the 1999–2000 season as champions with just three Premier League defeats, and a cushion of 18 points. The massive gap between United and the rest of the Premier League, although they had faced stiff competition from the likes of Arsenal and Leeds United until the final weeks of the season, caused some to wonder if the club's financial dominance was developing into a problem for the English game.

In April 2000, it was announced that Manchester United had agreed to sign Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy from PSV Eindhoven for a British record fee of £18million. But the move was put on hold when van Nistelrooy failed a medical, and he then returned to his homeland in a bid to regain fitness, only to suffer a serious knee injury which ruled him out for almost a year.

28-year-old French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was signed from Monaco for £7.8million—making him the most expensive goalkeeper to be signed by a British club, and United won the title again, becoming only the fourth side in history to win the English league title three seasons in succession. 

They also matched Liverpool's record (set in 1991) of 10 successive top two finishes.

However, the press largely saw the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 campaigns as failures as United had failed to win the European Cup, falling at the quarter final stages to Real Madrid in 2000 and Bayern Munich in 2001.

During the 2001 close season Ruud van Nistelrooy joined, and soon after Manchester United again broke the British transfer record—this time paying Lazio £28.1million for Argentine attacking midfielder Juan Sebastián Verón, although he failed to live up to the high expectations his transfer fee suggested and he was sold to Chelsea for £15million only two years later.

By 8 December 2001, after a terrible run of form which saw one win and six defeats on a period of seven league games, Manchester United were ninth in the Premier League — 11 points behind leaders Liverpool who had a game in hand. There were widespread fears that they might not even qualify for Europe, let alone win the league title.

Then came a dramatic turn around in form: between mid-December and late January, as eight successive wins saw Manchester United climb to the top of the Premier League and put their title challenge back on track. Despite this, United finished third in the League as rival Arsène Wenger clinched the title for Arsenal at Old Trafford with a 1–0 win in the penultimate game of the season after United dropped points in a couple of other crucial games during the run-in.

United were also unsuccessful in Europe, losing the Champions League semi-final on away goals to Bayer Leverkusen. Early exits from the League Cup and FA Cup meant that the season ended trophy-less  As they were third in the league and had not reached a cup final, it was the first time since 1989 that they had finished a season without being winners or runners-up of a major competition.

The 2001–02 season was to have been Ferguson's last as Manchester United manager, and the looming date of his retirement was cited as a reason for the team's loss of form. Ferguson himself admitted that the decision to pre-announce his retirement had resulted in a negative effect on the players and on his ability to impose discipline. 

But in February 2002 he agreed to stay in charge for at least another three years.

Manchester United won their eighth Premier League title yet just over two months before the end of the season they were eight points behind leaders Arsenal. But an improvement in form for United, and a decline for Arsenal, saw the Premier League trophy gradually slip out of the Londoners' grasp and push it back in the direction of Old Trafford.

 Ferguson described the 2002–03 title triumph as his most satisfying ever, due to the nature of a remarkable comeback. The excellent run-in had produced 10 wins and a draw (including 4–0 home win over Liverpool and a 6–2 away demolition of Newcastle United) from the final 11 games, and no defeats since Boxing Day.

Not for the first time, Ferguson had proven to be a master of managerial mind-games, successfully rattling the composure of Arsenal and their otherwise unflappable manager Arsène Wenger.

Ferguson guided Manchester United to their eleventh FA Cup at the end of the 2003–04 season, but it was a disappointing season which had seen them finish third in the Premier League (which was won by an undefeated Arsenal side) and suffer Champions League elimination at the hands of eventual winners FC Porto.

At the beginning of the 2004–05 season, teenage striker Wayne Rooney and Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze joined United while Cristiano Ronaldo continued where he had left off the previous season by putting in more match-winning performances. But the lack of a striker after van Nistelrooy spent most of the season injured saw the club finish third for the third time in four seasons.

 In the FA Cup they lost on penalties to Arsenal. 

A second round exit from the European Cup at the hands of AC Milan and a semi-final exit from the League Cup at the hands of eventual winners Chelsea (who also clinched the Premier League title) meant that 2004–05 was a rare instance of a trophyless season for United.

The 05-06 season was one of transition. On 18 November, Roy Keane officially left the club, his contract ended by mutual consent.

 United failed to qualify for the knock-out phase of the UEFA Champions' League. 

In the January transfer window Serbian defender Nemanja Vidić and French full-back Patrice Evra were signed, and the side finished in second place in the league, behind runaway leaders Chelsea.

 Winning the League Cup was a consolation prize for lack of success elsewhere. Ruud van Nistelrooy's future at Old Trafford seemed to be in doubt after not starting in the League Cup final, and he departed at the end of the season.

During the summer of 2006, Michael Carrick was captured to replace Roy Keane in the middle of the field to give United that extra power they needed. It paid off as Manchester United subsequently won their ninth Premier League title but sadly were denied a unique fourth double by Chelsea's Didier Drogba scoring a late goal in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.

For the 2007–08 season, Ferguson made notable signings to reinforce United's first team. 

Long-term target Owen Hargreaves joined from Bayern Munich, bringing an end to a year of negotiations. Ferguson further bolstered the midfield with the additions of young Portuguese winger Nani and Brazilian playmaker Anderson. The last summer signing was of West Ham United and Argentina striker Carlos Tévez after a complex and protracted transfer saga.

United had their worst start to a season under Ferguson, drawing their first two league games before suffering a 1–0 defeat to local rivals Manchester City. However, United recovered and began a tight race with Arsenal for the title. After a good run of form, Ferguson claimed that throughout his time at Manchester United, this was the best squad he had managed to assemble thus far.

On the 11th of May, Ferguson led Manchester United to a tenth Premier League title, exactly 25 years to the day after he led Aberdeen to European glory against Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners' Cup. 

Nearest rivals Chelsea – level on points going into the final round of matches, but with an inferior goal difference – could only draw 1–1 at home to Bolton, finishing two points adrift of the champions. United's title win was sealed with a 2–0 win over Wigan Athletic, managed by former United captain Steve Bruce, who before the game blew the whistle on suggestions that he would give his old club an easy ride – just as Bryan Robson had done 12 years earlier.

Following their Premier League win, on the 21st of May, Ferguson won his second European Cup with Manchester United as they beat Chelsea 6–5 on penalties in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the first ever all-English UEFA Champions League Final.

 A penalty miss from Cristiano Ronaldo meant that John Terry's spot-kick would have given the trophy to Chelsea if successfully converted, but Terry blew his chance of glory and in the end it was Edwin van der Sar's blocking of a Nicolas Anelka penalty which gave the trophy to Manchester United for the second time under Ferguson and for the third time overall.

In 2008-09 season, Sir Alex Ferguson won the Premier League again, as well as the Football League Cup.

In the 2009-10 season, United won the Football League Cup, but wound up losing the Premier League title to Chelsea who won it on the last matchday.

In the 2010-2011 season, Ferguson brought home to Old Trafford the Community Shield and Manchester United's 19th Premier League, taking over top spot from Liverpool on most league championships. 

The Future for Fergie

As we carry on during the current season, 2012-2013, we all have to wonder how much time is left for Sir Alex Ferguson and his managing career.

With so many wins, so many records broken and set, and Ferguson being 70 years old, surely he only has so much time left? 

He has stated a handful of times he was going to retire at the end of different seasons, but then turns around and always comes back. I don't blame him at all,  for one as a United fan I fear the day he steps down from being United's manager and I see no reason why he should yet.

I can see Ferguson managing for at least five more years if he so chooses to, and his health holds up, which he looks way more healthy than most 70 year olds.

I also believe, Ferguson has no real plans on retiring, for when he does he will be sitting around at home wondering what to do next. He is someone who is always chasing a goal, working hard towards it. 

Why would he want to give up on managing the greatest football team on the world? Especially with our young players slowly gaining age to start playing on the first team, he could have a chance to repeat what he did during the 90's with his young squad of Scholes, Giggs, Beckham, Neville, etc. 

It'll be a very dark day when Fergie decides enough is enough, so who would be our choices to replace him? Well, as we have no definitive window of time when he might leave, it's really up in the air. Some people that have been hinted are Pep Guardiola, ex-Barcelona manager who led them to many seasons of success, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has recently started winning as a manager for Molde, winning back to back titles. 

There are many more choices, and maybe even some we do not know about right now, but one thing is for sure.

It's still Fergie's Time.

A lot of this information comes from Sir Alex Ferguson's different books that he has written or someone else has. If you need exact citations, feel free to message me. 

Glory Glory, Manchester United!!

United's Winning Ways

For United supporters, like myself, Christmas could not get any better as we have guaranteed our spot on top of the Premier League after today's win against Sunderland. 

I am excited about how great our team has come together, working well and their passing is nearly master class compared to other teams. 

Derby Match

Every football fan in the city of Manchester knew that on the 9th of December, it was going to be one of the most important matches for both teams that reside within' the city.

Going in this game, United sat on top of the League by only a handful of points against second place City, who wanted to catch United on points. 

City had an unbeaten record at home at the Etihad Stadium and were looking to push the record on, as they have made their home a pure footballing fortress. 

Start of the match, City pushed hard for fifteen minutes, really testing United defense  which has had a run of bad form with many injuries plaguing the back line, but they held the Blue advance, and on a brilliant piece of counter attacking, struck first against the home side with an amazing piece of play between Evra, Young, and Rooney.

After this goal, City took another blow as Captain and main defender, Vincent Kompany came off for Kolo Toure as he picked up an injury and had to get it checked out. 

 A bit over ten minutes saw United really start to take control of the game as Rafael and Valencia, a partnership that has proven itself over and over already for United, began their one-two run down the side lines.

As City defenders looked to close down the pair running down the wing, Rooney slowly crept into the box, getting a pass from Rafael to punt into the box, giving him a brace of goals and United a two to nill lead. 

The game went into half time, with United leading 2-0 and City left with nothing but questions, no answers. United were completely in form, dominating when they had the ball and defending really well, only allowing a couple of chances from City.

The second half started off with a bang, with United almost getting two more goals when one hit off the wood work by RVP, bouncing to Young who was deemed offside, and the other coming when Evra was clipped inside City's Box, but it was not called to much objection from United fans.

City came back though, with hunger in their eyes not to be swept under the rug so easily. City pounded on the door of the Red Wall, as United tried to defend that clean sheet, De Gea making great saves, but it was City who scored their first goal at the 60th minute by Yaya Toure from the center of the box, giving hope to all Blue supporters.

I could not get any gifs of the Manchester City goals, so I apologize.

At the 86th minute, after much pressure from Manchester City, hoping to get another goal and draw the game, Pablo Zabaleta followed up Yaya Toure's strike by pounding it home, giving them the goal they needed to tie up the game.

Then, in the third minute of injury time, Rafael was pushing up the wing, then started to press down into the box when Carlos Tevez came from behind and clipped his heels, drawing a free kick for United.

RVP and Rooney stood next to each other, covering their mouths as they chatted about who was going to take it. After the game, RVP mentioned to Sky Sports News when interviewed that he told Wayne Rooney that he wanted to take it, he could make it. 

It wound up with him being right, as Manchester City made their wall, RVP ran up and took the kick, it brushed on Nasri's leg and went soaring in, the Etihad Stadium erupting as United fans went wild, as well as City fans.

After this, City tried for the handful of seconds they had the ball, then the Ref called the game with Manchester United's 3 goals beating Manchester City's 2.

United players celebrated with each other, beating their most bitter rivals and getting revenge for last year's losses to City. The City Fans went absolutely crazy, throwing huge amounts of coins and missiles at all of the players, with Ferdinand getting clipped above the eye, giving him a nasty wound. 

A Manchester City Fan also stormed the field, going after Rio but only to be stopped by Manchester City Goal Keeper, Joe Hart, who grabbed the fan and held him till officials came and wrestled the fan off the pitch.

It was a massive win for United, obviously it is not the number one most important match since we aren't even halfway through the Premier League Season, but it is a huge boost for United, to be able to go away to City and grab all three points. 

It was a shame the game ended in the way it did, both teams did very excellent but after an emotional game like that, it's hard to not imagine something like this happening, but come on, drawing blood from a player because your team failed you is just down right silly. 

Sunderland

Today's game saw Sunderland travelling away to Old Trafford to face Manchester United at home. After coming off a huge Derby match win, there were a few pundits who wondered if United could keep carrying on their brilliant form, and today The Red Devils proved that they can.

It only took sixteen minutes before Robin Van Perise, the big summer signing for United, booted home the first goal for United, giving them an early lead.

A few minutes later, Thomas Cleverley came and slotted home a beautiful ball after receiving from Carrick, with this middle of the field partnership proving to work really well together in today's match. 

First half ended with United sitting comfortably in the game, two nill ahead.

The Blackcats tried hard to get a goal that would get them in the game, and came close many times, but eventually it was United again, who scored. RVP, who kept trying to pass the ball and get more assists, dodged two Sunderland defenders while setting up Rooney, who would tap home United's 3rd goal. 

Frazier Cambell would score a nice header after another United defense blunder, but from that the game ended 3-1, with Vidic, who was injured for a while, came on and played out the rest of the game. 

The Way Manchester United Is Playing

It's amazing to think about how many problems we had last season are seemingly not that visible lately, minus our continuing problem of keeping the ball out of the net. 

Manchester United is setting up brilliant counter attacking players, a lot of the time holding onto possession and dominating in a lot of the areas. 

Since the start of the season, United's main line up was never really known, with every game having a different line ups then the previous game. It wasn't till late October/early November that United found it's main line up, and it breaks down like this:

RVP sits comfortably out front, doing what he does best.

Rooney sits behind him, feeding him and the wingers balls all day, while managing to sneak into the box and get glorious goals

On the wings we have had the consistent line up of Young (LM) and Evra(LB) working together, while on the other side we have Valencia(RM) and Rafael(RB) working together. 

Then down the middle, we are offered with plently of options, which include today's line up of Carrick and Cleverley, working well together. We also have Fletcher, Scholes, Nick Powell, and Giggs, all who are fit right now and able to play.

Now, with Vidic playing a bit in today's match, we have our defenders almost sorted. We can have a great rotation of Rio, Vidic, Jones, Evans, and Smalling, all fighting for time to play and all, hopefully, giving their best games. 

It breaks down to a pretty fluid 4-2-3-1 which has worked out great for United and keeps proving itself over and over with every game.

Theory Crafting

One has to wonder what is next for Manchester United, with the Winter Transfer Window coming up soon and some problems still showing up in some matches, who can United bring in to fix those? 

Right now, we have Anderson, Kagawa, and Nani all out with injuries.

 Anderson has really stepped up his game and has been a beautiful player in the central midfield role, and I cannot wait to see him play again with Carrick and the others, giving Sir Alex Ferguson and United supporters faith that we won't have to worry about a shaky midfield anymore.

Kagawa, was and is an very interesting but neat buy that Fergie picked up. He played in the early stages of the season and after playing six matches, had two goals and as assist for United. 

But I am not sure how he is going to fit in, bearing in mind that he usually plays in the CAM role, which is being filled by Rooney.

I am of the opinion that Kagawa, if he wants to be playing first team a lot, will either have to adapt to another position, such as being a winger, which will make more sense for the way he plays and his build, or even trying to drop back in the CM role, which has a lot of contenders already fighting for first team play. 

He could obviously play in his more natural role at CAM, if RVP is having a bad game and Fergie feels like moving Rooney up to his spot and bringing Kagawa on, but that means he is a super sub, which isn't bad for some players but I believe he deserves more play.

It's either he changes, or the team changes and right now I do not see that happening unless this formation stops producing results for us. 

Then we end up with Mr. Problematic, Nani. There are so many rumors about him, we all really cannot be sure if he is going to stay with United throughout the rest of the season and then go, or will he go during the Winter Transfer window? He had about a half of a game that he played like himself, but otherwise he has not produce any good form since last season, and it is a bit depressing to watch. 

I am of the opinion that it is time for Nani and United need to part ways to benefit for both parties. If Nani stays, and Kagawa is able to play in a winger role, then that means Nani is going to be dropped even farther back on the pecking order and that can cause a row within' the team, which we do not need right now while our emotions are flying high.

Nani deserves to be playing every game, and maybe he just can no longer produce brilliant games for United anymore, so a move away can help him continue his great career. Especially now that Ashley Young has proven that he can play consistently and his partnership is solid with Evra. 

I really am enjoying United's style right now of play, between their formation, the players, and the fluid play is beautiful to watch and I am glad to see United bring this kind of play back to the Premier League, after struggling in the past couple of seasons with so many problems and injuries. 

Next for United, in of course my opinion, is to find Ryan Giggs replacement(s). Nick Powell is a young kid, who has gotten a couple of matches under his belt with United and is proving that he will grow into a great midfielder, but it does not help that we are still relying on our two old guard players, Ryan Giggs (39) and Paul Scholes (38). 

Both are supreme legends at Manchester United, and I believe their skills can be used better as midfield coaches to raise players like Nick Powell and others up. 

They both still posses their brilliant passing and crossing skills, but they lack the pace and stamina to last long at all. Right now, they either play in not so important matches with the kids to give them veteran experience, or they are brought on late to give United that last few minutes of brilliance and to hold the midfield. 

Michael Carrick is also 31 years old, which isn't bad but if he got a really bad injury it could be career ending at this point. Buying a more experienced CM to come in and bring support, we can make sure Ryan Giggs can have his retirement at the end of this season. 

Sadly, United missed out on some big targets this past transfer window, people like Lukas Modric and Eden Hazard, which would have really been great for United, but there are other options, including Wesley Sneijder, who United almost picked up last season and is going through contract disputes with his current club.

There are also players like Kevin Strootman, Victory Wanyama, and even Theo Walcott. The options are there, all of them very good options for United to let Giggsys off after this season. I would say let us hold onto Paul Scholes for one more season, giving us to have him as a super back up and an Veteran that we can rely on during our desperate times. 

And the Reds go marching on, on on!

Right now, I could not ask for much more from Manchester United. Their play is beautiful  we have seemingly created a solid and brilliant midfield, all of our strikers are on fire, and our two wing partnerships are working like a smooth machine. 

With the return of Vidic and De Gea working every game to better himself as a GK, the future looks great for Manchester United. 

Robin and Rooney

         Robin and Rooney

         The best problem for Sir Alex

      It's been a interesting past few months with Manchester United coming up short for the Premier League title last season, then getting some great improvements for the team with new players Shinji Kagawa and Robin Van Perise stepping up to the plate and dominating.

        Sir Alex Ferguson had to make a very important decision on the first match day against Everton away, and he decided to trust his main stay striker, Wayne Rooney. It turned out to be the wrong decision, as the game was played out to a 0-1 loss for United, with Rooney staying in the entire length of the game and Robin bringing brought on as a sub late game. 

The only good thing received from that game, was Shinji Kagawa who played a beautiful game, dictating the midfield completely, but to no avail. Next match was our home opener against Fulham. Fergie decided against using Rooney, keeping him on the bench and bringing on RVP to start. It turned out to be the right decision as Kagawa and Robin worked so well together they both netted a goal each, with the game eventually finishing 3-2 for United but gave Wayne Rooney a injury that would leave him out of the game up to four weeks. 

Today, marked the third Premier League match of the season for United and it wound up being too close to call. South Hampton grabbed a early goal by a Rickie Lambert header, but it would be only a few minutes later that Robin slots home a goal, to tie the match up at 1-1.

The game kept that score line up till half time and a few minutes into the second half, till another cross from South Hampton got them a beautiful header, making the game 2-1 in the favor. Robin would eventually get taken down in the 69' minute, but tried to be too clever on the penalty take and the GK was able to stop the shot.

The game continued, with minutes flying down the timer as the boss of South Hampton seemingly was about to pull off a great upset, one that his team really could have benefited from. With the introductions of some new players, United's attack started to pick up in the 80th minute, the red wall of South Hampton standing strong against United but corner after corner it was bound to happen. 

Nani lined up for the corner, crossing the ball into the middle of the pack and Rio Ferdinand managed to get his head on it, clearing the crowd as the ball headed for the goal only to smash against the far left post, but it bounced right to a waiting Robin who smashed the ball home, giving Fergie and United fans a chance to breath, with the game tied up at 2-2. 

It wasn't enough though, United seemed hell bent on getting the winning goal, and their diligence paid off when again, Robin Van Perise scored the match winner, giving the game to United 3-2. It looked completely certain it was South Hampton's game, and it left many fans questioning what happens as yet again, a team from Manchester crawled back against them to win. 

After today's game, it leaves many United fans not even questioning who should be starting, with RVP already 4 goals in his new season as a United player, and this leaves the question, What about Wayne Rooney?

When the deal was made, 24 million pounds for RVP from Arsenal, many people speculated that Sir Alex would fall back to some sort of a 4-4-2 system, with Rooney and Robin together out front. After the Everton game, the formation seemed to have strayed away from that and to a 4-2-3-1 system, which has worked very well with Nani, Kagawa, Valencia dominating right behind RVP. 

So, what happens to Rooney, who is still sitting out with an injury? It's in my opinion that both the injury and RVP in such great form, will only push Rooney back into the goal scoring machine that he once was when he first started playing for United.

Rooney's form has always been in question, even more so lately, as the striker only managed to tie with RVP last year for the Premier League Golden Boot. His position started with him out front but he has slowly crept back into the midfield, playing a sort of CF position, wanting to always feed the balls and sometimes take that shot.

Now with RVP, either Rooney can fight for the striker position and that can only benefit United if he can actually produce a good fight for it, or we'll see him drop back and play behind RVP with Kagawa, Nani, and Valencia. It could mean he may even get less playing time if that was the case, with Young and Cleverly both showing some sort of form to give them a chance to play.

Rooney has to step up his game and give Ferguson the only best kind of headache a manager could ask for, which one of our great strikers gets the start? Javier Hernandez is always biting at the chomp to get playing time, as well as Dany Welbeck.

Before the end of the transfer window, there was some rumors rushing around England about a transfer involving Wayne Rooney and his depture from the club. At this point, it would be silly. RVP has only a few more good years before he becomes the way of Berbatov, who left the club this transfer season for Fulham ( :( ), while Rooney has many years left in his life to continue building on this impeccable skills he has shown in the past. 

No one can complain about RVP, scoring his first United hat trick already in his second game starting, making this problem of two great strikers a happy problem that any fan would be glad to take on. Rooney still has time, and I am sure he won't get a start right away but he'll be coming back soon with some passion in his game that he's been lacking, if he wants to prove to the team and to Sir Alex Ferguson he is worth it. 

Who will win in the end? Only time will tell, but for now let's hope they both continue scoring!