THE SIR ALEX TEAM TALK I’LL NEVER FORGET
IT IS hard to find an original way to pay tribute to the best manager bar none and a man who has won all there is to win in the game. Sir Alex Ferguson is a legend and it has been encouraging to hear the positive bulletins that have come through in recent days after he was taken ill last weekend. The number of good wishes he has received since then illustrates what a special person he is. I spent most of my career trying to get one over on him but in November 2015, I got a taste of what it was like to play for him in the all- star Unicef game organised by David Beckham. Sir Alex managed our Great Britain and Ireland side and the talk he gave beforehand will stay in my memory for ever. Where I was sitting in the dressing room, I had Becks, Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Andy Cole to my left and I remember looking at them as Sir Alex began to talk and tell us what we should be doing at corners and set-pieces.
Of course, this was a light-hearted occasion but the thing that struck me most was the hush that descended when he walked in — literally everyone stopped talking when we saw him — and the way those lads looked at him. Everyone was concentrating, hanging on his every word.
For a split-second, you realised what it would have been like to play with them and for him in the 1990s and it must have been some experience being in there during his heyday. There has not been another manager like him and his ability to sell big players but then rebuild title-winning sides was incredible.
He is a legend, a figure who commands instant respect and admiration. It was awful to hear that he was taken to hospital but let’s hope Sir Alex will make a full recovery. He carries everyone’s best wishes.