Alex Ferguson’s greatest hits, as compiled by the Guardian’s Rob Smyth and Rob Doyle.
On Monday, Lord Ferg will have completed a mind-boggling 20 years as manager of the MU Rowdies, a feat he will celebrate before, during and after the match with Portsmouth at the GlazerBowl tomorrow. So, instead of writing a tribute to the Purple One, we decided to cut and paste some classic Fergie spraffs from the last two decades:
“Clubs come away from Anfield choking on their own vomit and biting their own tongues knowing they have been done by the referee” – revealing his love for Liverpool after the 10-man Rowdies grabbed a 3-3 draw in 1988.
“If he was an inch taller he’d be the best centre-half in Britain. His father is 6ft 2in – I’d check the milkman” – appraising Gary Neville’s parentage in 1996.
“He’s a bully, a f*****g big-time Charlie” – an impromptu paean to his former midfield stalwart Paul Ince in 1998.
“When an Italian says it’s pasta I check under the sauce to make sure” – the old charmer limbers up for a visit to Milan in 1999.
“Real Madrid – they have a nice draw, they must have picked it themselves. The Spanish or Italian teams don’t play each other, how do you think they work that out? They don’t want us in the final, that’s for sure, but I’m not listening” – after the Rowdies drew Real in Big Cup quarter-final in 2003. They lost.
“Could I have two bullets?” – when asked ‘If you had one bullet and Victoria Beckham and Arsene Wenger were in the room, what would you do?’ in 2004.
When you do a footie commentary piece do you ever use something other than the guardian?
if you have a peak under the football category, you’ll see no shortage of items culled from The Independent, The Telegraph, The Times, The Mirror and When Saturday Comes and every now and then, a source that isn’t English.
That said, guilty as charged about pulling stuff from the Guardian (and in particular, The Fiver and their blogs) a little too often. If the analysis and humor wasn’t of such a high quality, I wouldn’t bother.
dont know what my comment was about; i was being a real asshole. thats why i put myself on a weak ban from commenting. i’m sorry, i had a few too many beers, and every buffalo bills victory i make a really asshole statement. good thing its something that happens infrequently.