| Product: |
Managing My Life - Alex Ferguson |
| Date: |
31/07/02 (278 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: great insight into the man , very addictive
Disadvantages: none
The smell of hamburgers and horse manure swept through the air. People chatted to each other, rubbing their hands to keep themselves warm. It was March, and the spring air bit into the skin, even though the sun tried bravely to break through the clouds. An excited eight-year-old boy stood patiently with his father, waiting to go into the football ground that was just a few people away. Then finally the father and son made their way through the metal turnstiles and into another world. The young boy walked up the steps from the concourse and on to the terrace. He was inside Old Trafford. From that moment on the boy's life would never be the same again.
That was 1985, and I was that boy. Football was the only thing that mattered and Manchester United were the only team that mattered. The bug had bitten me (and it's still biting now). But as 1985 became 1986, United started to find indifferent form and in October of that year flamboyant boss Ron Atkinson was fired. The board had seen enough already as the 86/87 season had started so badly, it was time for someone else to try and turn the club's fortunes round. My dad was in no doubt who he wanted; "Alex Ferguson from Aberdeen" he said. The directors of United were already on it. Ferguson was installed as the new manager almost straight away. Things didn't start to well for Ferguson. A 2-0 defeat away at Oxford in his first game proved to the Scot how hard his job would be, but with time and an unbreakable determination the man would become a legend.
Almost Thirteen years on and the impossible dream came true. United won the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup and with those honours came a knighthood for Alex Ferguson from the Queen. It was also time for him to document his life story in his much-anticipated autobiography, Managing My Life. This was one book that I had to buy. I had to try and get to know what made this great man tick. The media has always got o
pinions on Ferguson, mainly negative ones but there is no doubt they respect him and some might say, fear him. By reading this book, you realise that it’s not just the media that respect and possibly fear him.
The book begins with his early life with his family in Govan, an area of Glasgow. It is here at the very beginning we start to learn about Ferguson’s character. His qualities such as loyalty and determination are clear from an early age, along with stubbornness. Ferguson showed football talent himself as a youngster and tried to juggle a job while training and playing. Eventually he went professional but not before some run-ins with his father, work and the clubs themselves. After an average playing career he decided to take up management with St. Mirren, his toughness being tested while running a pub in Glasgow. After leaving St. Mirren under a cloud, we find him moving to Aberdeen, a modest club in the Scottish top division starved of success, which was mainly because of the two Glasgow clubs, Rangers and Celtic. Could Alex Ferguson shape these under achievers into a footballing force? The book then charters his time at Aberdeen and Ferguson gives us an insight into his life at the club, talking about different matches, off field events and the characters he had to deal with. Meanwhile his growing management reputation had not gone unnoticed South of the Border.
Manchester United offered Alex Ferguson the job as stated earlier and he accepted, leaving behind a legacy at Aberdeen that he had built and had succeeded beyond everyone’s expectations. Although the job at Old Trafford looked glamorous, there were a lot of internal problems hiding behind this sleeping giant called Manchester United. Could Alex Ferguson shake the club up and get them back to being a side challenging for trophies, both in England and on foreign soil? It wasn’t going to happen overnight and Ferguson needed to change a lot of what he had inher
ited, including the whole culture that the players had come to expect. Unfortunately things didn’t go to plan early on and with pressure mounting on Ferguson, the terraces started to call for him to be replaced. He had brought in his own players and replaced crowd favourites like Norman Whiteside. The paying public were not happy with the results.
Thankfully Ferguson turned the club’s fortunes around and his book continues from his early dark days to his first trophy at United, the FA Cup in 1990 until the remarkable treble season of 1998/99. With every page we learn more about his character, and how he deals with difficult situations both on the field of play and off it. In his time at United he has dealt with some explosive personalities and Ferguson gives his honest assessment of people. If he doesn’t like a person, he makes it clear and in this book he criticises many well-known people in the game, and not just former United players either. He talks about his relationship with all the personnel at the club, including high profile players like Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and former United Chief Executive Martin Edwards. He speaks about some of the glory nights he has experienced, and you can feel the pride he has at the success of his team. He recognises that he didn’t have it easy at the beginning at United, but knew that given time he could turn things around. He has proved himself and then some.
I highly recommend this book, but not only to United fans. I found it very hard to put down and even people with a passing interest in football should really take to it. The important thing is to take notice of his early life as it really does show you how he became what he is today. And that is a legend.
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