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Sir Alex Ferguson
| Category: | Special European Hall of Fame - one of the five all-time best managers from the English game based on performance in Europe |
| Year Inducted: | 2008 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of The Football Hall of Fame, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
In equalling the record for the number of European trophies lifted by a manager in the history of English football, Sir Alex Ferguson has displayed a remarkable acumen in the use of psychology as a means of motivating his players before important games.
Over a period of twenty-five years, first with Aberdeen in his native Scotland and then Manchester United, Ferguson has drawn on history, inside knowledge, national fervour, flattery, the fear of failure, fate and famous friends - to name but a few - in the cause of victory.
In 2008, the fiftieth anniversary of the Munich air crash, Ferguson invoked the memory of the lost Busby Babes during the build-up to the Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow. What better way to pay tribute, he argued, than to bring the trophy back to Manchester? Having then watched his side triumph in a penalty shoot-out, a jubilant Ferguson told reporters: ‘I said beforehand that we would not let down the memory of the Busby Babes. Perhaps it was all fate. Who knows? We had a cause and people with causes can be very difficult to barter with.'
The use of ‘mind games' in football had fascinated Ferguson since his days as a player with Glasgow Rangers in the late 1960s, when he watched Jock Stein, the great Celtic manager, ‘psyche out' his rivals. And it was to Stein that Ferguson would turn when he had his first crack at winning a European trophy - with Aberdeen in 1983.
That was the year the unfashionable and unheralded Dons took on mighty Real Madrid, a team managed by the Real's former star and multiple European Cup winner, the legendary Alfredo di Stefano, in the final of the European Cup-winners' Cup final. Di Stefano's reputation got Ferguson thinking. ‘I decided we needed a bit of presence in our party, someone whom the press would respect to counter all the attention di Stefano was bound to attract.' Ferguson explained later. ‘So I invited Jock Stein to join us.'
Together, the two friends then settled on the idea of buying di Stefano an expensive bottle of whisky as a gift. The idea was to ‘make him feel important' Ferguson later explained, ‘as if Aberdeen were thrilled just to be in final and believed, deep down, that we were only here to make up the numbers.' In the end, of course, Aberdeen won the game 2-1, causing one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history. Back in Spain, Real and di Stefano were accused of underestimating the opposition. Of having fallen into the trap.
It was in the same competition, in 1990-91, that Ferguson won his first European trophy as Manchester United manager following his move south five years earlier. The opposition was again Spanish, but this time Barcelona stood between him and success in Rotterdam. When United won the game 2-1 Ferguson emulated Dutchman Johan Cruyff by winning the competition with different clubs.
This time, though, the psychology came after the event, as a way of guarding against complacency, as Ferguson detailed in his autobiography, published in 1999. ‘ On the day after the final, I laid out my plans for the next season. “We are going to win the League,” I told the gathering hordes.' United had not won the title since 1967. ‘It was a risky declaration but an honest statement of how I felt. I had decided it was time to take the gloves off and challenged this team of mine. I told [journalist] David Meek: “It's about time I raised the stakes at this club.”' Though his team narrowly missed out on the title that season, they finally broke through in 1992-93.
Playing in Europe's most prestigious club competition - as United have every season since - captivates Ferguson because of ‘the way danger can suddenly hit you out of nowhere'. It goes both ways, of course. Just ask Bayern Munich.
Remarkably, the final of the 1999 Champions League final in Barcelona fell on another significant date for Manchester United: the 90 th anniversary of the birth of the late Matt Busby. Given the way things turned out against Bayern, it wasn't surprising to hear Ferguson say afterwards: ‘Perhaps Sir Matt was up there kicking a lot for us tonight.'
At half-time at the Nou Camp, United were a goal down. Time for another of Ferguson's psychological tricks. Just before the players left the dressing room, said: ‘Lads,' Ferguson began, ‘when you go out there, just have a look at that cup. It will be about five yards away from you, but you won't be able to touch it, of course. I want you to think about the fact that if you lose this game, you'll have been so close to it. You'll hate that thought for the rest of your lives. So just make sure you don't lose!'
Manchester United, of course, scored twice in injury time, an extraordinary denouement that left Ferguson stunned and momentarily speechless. Later, Peter Schmeichel, the giant Danish keeper, said that Ferguson's half-time message was ‘shrewdly judged and timely'.
Almost a decade on, the wily Ferguson, having celebrated his 65 th birthday in 2006, knows only too well that time is running out if he wants to go one better than Bob Paisley, the great Liverpool manager of the 1970s and 1980s, by winning a fifth major European trophy. The years, though, have done nothing to diminish his ambition. ‘Hopefully,' he said, there will be at least one more success before I ride off into the sunset.'