I may be to blame for inventing the legend MARK HUGHES ON SIR ALEX

MARK HUGHES held his hands up and admitted he invented the legend of Fergie’s hairdryer.

‘Sparky’ was brought back to Old Trafford from an unfulfilling exile at Barcelona by Alex Ferguson in 1988, and was a key influence in landing Manchester United’s first trophies under the Scotsman’s rule.

Hughes (above), who won two titles, three FA Cups, the League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup with United, admitted: “I know it has been said that I came up with the term ‘the hairdryer’ over the blasts he would give the players.

“I honestly don’t know – I think it first came up in something the former

United correspondent for the Manchester Evening News, David Meek, wrote in an interview with me.

“Whether it was later embellished, I don’t know. I had said at first it was like standing next to a blow torch. That then became a hairdryer.

“He would stand so close to you while he was giving you a b ****** ing and I would imagine the cartoon where the character’s hair is standing on end from a blast of hot air.

“So yes, maybe I’m guilty of calling it ‘the hairdryer’. It’s certainly stuck. He wasn’t averse to giving me a few blasts. I used to frustrate him because, on occasions, I was a bit loose with possession of the ball. I could hold onto it a bit too long and get dispossessed.

“We were playing Leeds in an FA Cup game at Elland Road in 1992 and I miscontrolled a throw-in about 10 minutes into the game.

“I’ve since seen a clip and he rushed to the side of the pitch and shouted at his assistant Brian Kidd (left) to get me off. At the time I’d been oblivious to it all.

“Kiddo evidently placated him saying, ‘There’s only 10 minutes gone for goodness sake, calm down’. I actually scored the winner, but he still wasn’t happy and I had to apologise for losing the ball.”

“Sometimes it was premeditated. He would think, ‘I’m going to nail you,’ hoping for a reaction from his victim.

“You quickly learned not to be the person to lose possession just before half-time. If you did, you were getting it because that would have been the last thing he remembered before coming into the dressing room.

“It got to the stage where nobody wanted the ball if you knew half-time was approaching. I think Pally (Gary Pallister) must have got 10 times more b ****** ings than anybody because he was always first through the door.”