Fletch: Fergie used to spy on us using Twitter

Darren Fletcher has spoken about how football is always changing and how Sir Alex Ferguson acknowledged he couldn’t treat his last team at Manchester United the same way he treated players when he first started managing.

Sir Alex used to say he couldn’t treat us like he used to treat his Aberdeen team simply because we were a different generation. We were no longer working class so had to be treated differently.

He used to deliver messages, then suddenly you find yourself thinking these things and acting differently. It’s subtle, brilliant management. Not just changing us as players but also as people. He had an iPad, too, and all the apps. He had someone at the club following players on Twitter.

So he would say to a player, “Did you have a good day out yesterday?” and the player would be, “How the hell did he know I was there?” and I would be thinking, “Well obviously you have posted a picture of yourself on Twitter haven’t you!”

He didn’t need to have spies in nightclubs any more, he could do it all from his armchair! It’s funny to think back. He was an incredible man.