Sir Alex was blunt and honest and knew how to get the best out of you
United in particular, I wasn’t just learning from the manager and the coaching staff. It’s incredible how willing a lot of those players were to lend their expertise and help guide me on my career. That’s something now,atmyage,hopefullyican to in English football was West Ham v Millwall.
“We hadn’t played each other in a few years. Ithink there were three separate pitch invasions. It went to extra time and was simply outstanding at dealing with his players as individuals.
“They were blunt, they were honest and those were things I respected,” he said of the pair. “I remember I had been training and travelling with the first team. Not playing, but occasionally I was on the bench.
“There was one game when I was playing in the reserves, I think it was at Middlesbrough in midweek, and to be fair, I had a poor game. I was playing against Adam Johnson, who was flying at the time, coming through the reserves into the first team.
“I was back with the first team that weekend, but wasn’t on the bench for the game. The manager pulled me aside after the team talk and said ‘Spector, you were absolutely useless the other night’. I was like ‘Yeah, I know. It won’t happen again’. That’s all he needed to say to me.
“I know he had a reputation for really getting into players, but he never did that with me. That’s something that struck me at the time. He knew how to get the best out of each individual.
“He didn’t treat everyone exactly the same, he knew the individual, how that individual responded and, at a young age, I found that impressive from someone like that.
“I’ve never played for anyone that has understood that or enacted that better than Sir Alex Ferguson. Looking back now, as a young player I probably did not fully understand and appreciate it. But after working under a number of managers, with different styles, his approach is something that I would try to emulate if I go into management.
“I was incredibly fortunate to learn from arguably the best manager in the world – at any sport.”
Spector has yet to make his Hibs debut but he and his wife Olivia are familiar with Edinburgh and fell in love with the city during a visit a few years ago.
He said: “It’s a kind of romantic city in a lot of ways, the old town, the new town, the cobbled streets, the castle.”
Although Hibs have only eight matches remaining – three of them coming before the split by which time they’ll hope to have confirmed a topsix finish – Spector was adamant he’s determined to play as big a part as possible in achieving that goal.
He said: “Don’t get me wrong, I’m here to play. That’s my target. Obviously there are talented players already here, but all I can do is make the most of my opportunity when it comes and conribute to the team.
“If it’s a case of just pushing on other players, then that’s what I’ll do.”