Sir Alex Ferguson

[theonlywayisup]

Watching the decline of Aberdeen and Manchester United in recent seasons, it just shows how good a manager SAF was. Take away his record at both clubs and these clubs wouldn't be half as 'famous' as they are considered in their respective leagues and wider across the world. Below is his record, with the value in (brackets) being how many times the club won the same competition outwith of his time managing them.

He has to be up there with the top two or three managers that the UK has produced. And to think that St Mirren sacked him as their manager, despite producing a remarkable transformation of a team in the lower half of the old Second Division watched by crowds of just over 1,000, to First Division champions in 1977, discovering talent like Billy Stark, Tony Fitzpatrick, Lex Richardson, Frank McGarvey, Bobby Reid and Peter Weir while playing superb attacking football.

At Aberdeen:
Scottish Premiership - three in 1979-80, 1983-84, 1984-85 (1)
Scottish Cup - four in 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86 (3)
Scottish League Cup - one in 1985-86 (5)
Cup Winners' Cup - one in 1982-83 (0)
UEFA Super Cup - one in 1983 (0)

So take away the Fergie years and their record would be equivalent in terms of wins to the Hibees, but with us winning the league twice more and the league cup twice less.

At Manchester United:
Premier League - thirteen in 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13 (7)
FA Cup - five in 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2003-04 (7)
League Cup - four in 1991-92, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10 (1)
Community Shield - ten in 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 (11)
Champions League - two in 1998-99, 2007-08 (1)
Cup Winners' Cup - one in 1990-91 (0)

UEFA Super Cup - one in 1991 (0)
Intercontinental Cup - one in 1999 (0)
FIFA Club World Cup - one in 2008 (0)

SAF didn't win the Europa League, but they did when he wasn't manager. Probably still better than many in England, but behind another team that play in red.

[gbhibby]

Probably his best achievement was winning his last premier league with the squad he had.

[Hibernia&Alba]

The Godfather.

[Sir David Gray]

The greatest manager of them all.

Absolutely outstanding achievements at both Aberdeen and Manchester Utd.

Unlikely in today's game that we'll see his likes again.

[Jones28]

Can we get threads like this with a (Not Dead) prefix?

[brog]

I used to do a lot of work in Aberdeen. Many of the older fans still swear Fergie's 1st successful team was really all down to Billy McNeill. IIRC B McN had highest win ratio of any Sheep manager.

[delbert]

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I used to do a lot of work in Aberdeen. Many of the older fans still swear Fergie's 1st successful team was really all down to Billy McNeill. IIRC B McN had highest win ratio of any Sheep manager.

Find that hard to believe, pretty sure McNeill is still the only manager in the English top flight to manage two different teams to relegation in the same season

[HoboHarry]

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I used to do a lot of work in Aberdeen. Many of the older fans still swear Fergie's 1st successful team was really all down to Billy McNeill. IIRC B McN had highest win ratio of any Sheep manager.

Every new manager inherits someone else's team. IIRC he changed things pretty quick, Joe Harper for example didn't last long.

[Scouse Hibee]

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The greatest manager of them all.

Absolutely outstanding achievements at both Aberdeen and Manchester Utd.

Unlikely in today's game that we'll see his likes again.

He’s certainly up there with Bob Paisley.

[Hibernia&Alba]

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He’s certainly up there with Bob Paisley.

And Jock Stein. Of course there have been other great managers in British football - Clough, Shankly, Busby, Revie and others - but I would put Fergie, Paisley and Stein at the top of the pile. Winning machines who always wanted more trophies. Fergie always says Jock Stein was the single biggest influence on his career.

[Pagan Hibernia]

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He’s certainly up there with Bob Paisley.

inherited a great side from Shankly

im joking. Paisley was one of the greats, as was Shankly, Busby and Clough

[brog]

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Find that hard to believe, pretty sure McNeill is still the only manager in the English top flight to manage two different teams to relegation in the same season

Think he was and I saw Charlton beat Villa and Man C by a total of 9 goals that season!

[brog]

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Find that hard to believe, pretty sure McNeill is still the only manager in the English top flight to manage two different teams to relegation in the same season

I checked, it's true. Billy Mc had win percent of 61, Fergie was 58. Billy was only in charge for 36 games though, Fergie for 8 seasons!

[He's here!]

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The greatest manager of them all.

Absolutely outstanding achievements at both Aberdeen and Manchester Utd.

Unlikely in today's game that we'll see his likes again.

Agree 100%. He and Andy Murray are the greatest 'sporting Scots' of all time IMHO.

[Lancs Harp]

As an Englishman I thought he did his finest work in Mexico 86 :)

[A Hi-Bee]

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The Godfather.

Aye he acted like the godfather the day he broke young Alec Cropley's leg, one of the dirtiest players I ever seen in 60 years watching the game.

[brog]

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Aye he acted like the godfather the day he broke young Alec Cropley's leg, one of the dirtiest players I ever seen in 60 years watching the game.

And then he ran away into the dressing room to try and get away from Shades!

[CyberSauzee]

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Agree 100%. He and Andy Murray are the greatest 'sporting Scots' of all time IMHO.

And Jocky Wilson

[A Hi-Bee]

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And then he ran away into the dressing room to try and get away from Shades!

[OldEast]

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Aye he acted like the godfather the day he broke young Alec Cropley's leg, one of the dirtiest players I ever seen in 60 years watching the game.

Undoubtedly a good manager, but always thought he was a bit of a prick after his angry outburst at his own players when Aberdeen won the Scottish cup in '83

[He's here!]

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Undoubtedly a good manager, but always thought he was a bit of a prick after his angry outburst at his own players when Aberdeen won the Scottish cup in '83

He apologised for that, realised it was out of order (think they'd won the Cup Winners Cup in midweek and were understandably jaded). In saying that, he knew he had to set the highest of standards if his team were to be the best in the country.

[James70]

Jim McLean has to be mentioned as well. To achieve what Dundee United managed with such limited resources was nothing short of remarkable. He was a bit of a tyrant by all accounts and tied youngsters down to very long deals but his record particularly in Europe was incredible and could have even been better had it not been for a corrupt referee.

[Hibernia&Alba]

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Undoubtedly a good manager, but always thought he was a bit of a prick after his angry outburst at his own players when Aberdeen won the Scottish cup in '83

That was due to the standards he set. He was very unhappy with the performance and felt they didn't deserve to win on the day.

[CyberSauzee]

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Undoubtedly a good manager, but always thought he was a bit of a prick after his angry outburst at his own players when Aberdeen won the Scottish cup in '83

In his recent documentary he hinted that this was a bit of one upmanship over Rangers. Due in part to the way he was treated by the stickies after they got well beaten in the 69? Cup final by Celtic. 4-0? Fergie was at fault for a MacNeill header but took a lot of stick.

Maybe the stick was also in part due to his wife. a director of the old club asked him about marrying a Catholic - "in a chapel?" asked the director - no in a registry office was AFs reply. " Good" said the director. There's a pause in the documentary, then Ferguson says "I should have told him to f*** off".

AF does like to hold a grudge, sometimes legitimately.

[HH81]

Great manager for both clubs. Pretty much created the clubs history.

Both will be middle of the road for many years to come now.

[Hibernia&Alba]

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Great manager for both clubs. Pretty much created the clubs history.

Both will be middle of the road for many years to come now.

You wish. Once United get their act together, they will be back. I hope Ten Hag is the man to do it.

[Pagan Hibernia]

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Great manager for both clubs. Pretty much created the clubs history.

Both will be middle of the road for many years to come now.

alex ferguson created Manchester United’s history?

[OldEast]

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Great manager for both clubs. Pretty much created the clubs history.

Both will be middle of the road for many years to come now.

Maybe you're a lot younger than me or I'm picking you up wrong, but if we're talking Man united history the first name must be Matt Busby

[Hibernia&Alba]

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alex ferguson created Manchester United’s history?

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Maybe you're a lot younger than me or I'm picking you up wrong, but if we're talking Man united history the first name must be Matt Busby

He's trolling as per about United.