Sir Alex Ferguson has been inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, becoming the first manager, alongside Arsene Wenger, to receive the honour.
With his 13 Premier League titles he’ll undoubtedly be known as the greatest manager this country has ever seen, but for all his trophies, former player Peter Schmeichel has spoken to the club’s official site about what a good person the manager is.
I would be very sad if he’s only going to be remembered by the hairdryer and ‘Fergie time’. I would say he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with. He paid an interest in me, my life, my family. He knew everything about my family before I arrived. He kept himself informed. For instance, if I needed to go back and see my parents, it was never a problem. He was so understanding in in every aspect. It was absolutely fantastic.
For me, more than anyone, he is a guy that made the Premier League. He was a manager for so long and won 13 titles. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to beat that. I think his contribution is what we see today. It’s the best league in the world and he was instrumental in that.
If you were to gamble with real money you’d bet against any manager ever equalling his tally, and Paul Scholes puts the manager’s success down to his desire to win.
The thing that was massive at the start of every season was Sir Alex’s hunger and desire. If you didn’t have that, he could sense that straight away and you were gone. So to reproduce that year on year was something he was brilliant at doing. And he was a winner. He needed to win.
Fergie always seemed to be one step ahead of the pack, like those playing the best real cash casino, and Rio Ferdinand has spoken about what impact this had on the players.
Every move he made was calculated. I don’t think there would have been many interviews in crunch times of a season that he went into where he hasn’t had a thought process going into it. Whether it be the team have been terrible or the referee’s made a small decision that maybe impacted the game a little bit, everything he does is for a reaction and that’s part of his greatness. He played that game better than anyone.
He was an animal. When you look back at his age, how long he’d been at the club – his appetite for the game, his appetite for rebuilding a team, it was crazy. Even in the last year of his time at Man United, he’s coming in earlier than everyone else.
Nine times out of 10, you walk out to the car and he’s still there. You look up at his office, he’s either swinging around in his chair with one of the papers or on his phone, putting a bet on the horses at Cheltenham or something if that’s the time of the year.
I would sit down with other players and go: ‘How is he still like this?’ By the end of my career, which was like a playing career of 15, 20 years, I was ready to just sit down and relax. This guy is just relentless. He’s relentless year after year, but that’s the addiction to winning. That’s the addiction to building great things.
