Dear Sir Alex Ferguson… sir,
How are ya old whiskey nose? It’s been a while. I see you’re still farting around Old Trafford and, oddly enough, you seem to be looking younger by the day. Fair play to you.
Now, before we begin, I’d just like to put everything out in the open so that we’re both on the same page. As a Manchester United supporter, there was a time when I looked up to you like a God. I’m not going to start listing your achievements or anything as I’m sure you still whisper them to yourself before you go to sleep at night but, you did a bang up job. Again, fair play.
Having said all that however, Fergie me old flower, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that, at this current moment in time, I’m starting to think that you’re a bit of an ar*e.
Since you ‘retired’ from your managerial post at Old Trafford, I have realised with each passing comment that you make that, despite your consistent claims that ‘no man is bigger than the club’, there was always one man in your own mind who was exactly that; Eric Djemba Djemba.
I joke of course. The man I am referring to is you; Sir Alex Ferguson the great.
And great you were. However, since retiring, every single word you have uttered has, in some way or another brought to the forefront your obsession with two words. Words that you yourself have uttered on countless occasions in your anthology of biographies; power and control.
Power and control are all well and good, and your total stranglehold over those exact two traits while manager of Manchester United certainly worked out in the club’s favour but, now that you’ve retired, your clear desperation to clutch onto your two borderline psychopathic obsessions has frankly become a tad bit of an annoyance.
You see Fergie, you cannot control the team from way up there in the stands and you most certainly shouldn’t be attempting to control the manager.
Now I know some might read this and call it blasphemy to tarnish your good name with such accusations but, in the words of Rafa Benitez, let’s take a look at the ‘facts’.
When you decided to do the unthinkable and hang up the managerial reins at Old Trafford, I felt an overwhelming sense of panic and bewilderment. I was lost… and I couldn’t help but feel that your departure would inevitably turn into a disaster for Manchester United.
I was wrong. It turned out to be far worse than that.
In leaving, you elected to nominate Everton manager David Moyes as your replacement. A decision that some may argue had logic behind it but in actual fact, what little logic that decision had, was twisted from the outset.
You see Fergie, although I’m sure you had the best of intentions, rather than choosing a manager who had the qualities that you yourself possessed, instead, you chose a man who satisfied your one and only requirement; submission. A man that you could dictate instructions to. A man that could be controlled.
Watching you watching us for the past two and half years, I cannot help but get the feeling that you are deriving pleasure from our failure. That you are loving each and every minute of United’s fall from grace simply because it embellishes your own legacy.
That may seem absurd to many but, can anyone really put forward a legitimate argument as to why a middle of the table Premier League manager was more qualified to take over the self-proclaimed biggest club in the world than a man who had already won multiple League titles around Europe along with two Champions Leagues?
Even now as Louis van Gaal is quite clearly drowning in the Old Trafford hot-seat, reports have suggested that, although several members of the board would be more than willing to appoint Jose Mourinho, you are standing in their way as you fight to ensure that Ryan Giggs is given the position once the Iron Tulip makes way.
Ryan Giggs – a man who, bar a mediocre spell as interim boss, has never managed a Premier League team in his life. Ryan Giggs – a man who seemingly has absolutely zero qualifications that would make him eligible to manage the biggest club in the world except… submission.
Here we go again.
The problem with Jose Mourinho taking over at Old Trafford is that the man actually has a better Premier League record than you do yourself. The problem with Jose Mourinho taking over at Old Trafford is that the man actually has a better Champions League record than you do yourself. The problem with the Special One is that he, like you, has an ego that would not allow anyone to dictate to him how he should manage his team, while Giggs… Well, Giggs will do what he’s told.
And in the mind of a man that strives for power and control with every inch of his being, that will do just fine.
Fergie’s legacy lives on, while Manchester United’s crumbles at the seams.
