Sir Alex Ferguson hated one aspect of being Man Utd manager and it left him with regrets

Sir Alex Ferguson spent 27 years at Manchester United and built a successful dynasty with the club amid a reputation for being a relentless and ruthless manager

Sir Alex Ferguson found time during the 2007/08 season (

Image: IAN KINGTON/AFP via Getty Images)

To put it mildly, Sir Alex Ferguson was never afraid to make big decisions as Manchester United manager.

World class players like Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jaap Stam, club legends such as David Beckham and Roy Keane, the message to all players was abundantly clear. Once you crossed the notoriously ruthless boss, then irrespective of ability, there was rarely any way back.

But for all his hard-nosed demeanour, and often acid tongue when lamenting the performance of officials, there was a softer side to the iconic Scot. And while no shortage of talent left Manchester during his 27 years in charge, actually letting players go was an aspect of the job he detested.

Indeed, the squad that ultimately sealed his first two Premier League titles was soon broken up, and 11 more league crowns would follow. However, having to move on players who initially set him on the road to an era of unprecedented success still rankles hard.

“In terms of the regrets, the 1994 team I had, the back four all seemed to grow old together, and that’s a terrible thing to happen to the manager because these guys were fantastic for me,” Ferguson said back in 2021, while promoting his documentary Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In .

“Paul Parker, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin. Fantastic players. They gave me nine or 10 years and the evidence is always on the football field. They don’t see it. I see it. The problem for me is ‘What do I do about it?’ I managed to organise a move for them, and they did well out of it, but telling them is (was) very, very difficult.”

And he also outlined the gut wrenching actions that accompanied telling younger players their Old Trafford dream was over: “The same when having to let young players go. The process was the youth coach and the welfare chap would come in with the player you’re going to let go.

Ferguson won two Champions League titles with United (

Image:

BRADLEY ORMESHER)

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“Maybe he’s only 17, 18 years of age. The way we’d explain it is we’d try and get him a team. We’d try and get him a club and ‘We’re sorry we’re having to do this.’ That’s terrible. That is the worst thing, having to let a young player go.

“All his ambitions and hopes and desires are about playing for Manchester United in front of 75,000 people and going to Wembley in a final. That’s the ambition of every young kid that comes to Manchester United, and when you take that away from him, it’s a sore, sore thing. So I hated that. I hated that.”

Of course, many of the youngsters Ferguson did keep on would later go down in club folklore. The famous ‘class of 92’ included Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes – all of who would go on to lift a Champions League with United.

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