Sir Alex - The G.O.A.T …
Is Sir Alex Ferguson the greatest manager of all time?
As United’s helmsman celebrates 20 years in the Old Trafford hot seat, debate has been renewed as to Ferguson’s record, legacy and his place in the history of British football.
Ferguson’s achievements at United pit him against other distinguished managerial talents such as the revered Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough, Jock Stein and Arsene Wenger.
In 25 years, Sir Matt Busby transformed United into a worldwide institution. An enormous debt of gratitude is owed to this man for establishing United’s football traditions and the template upon which every United manager and team must be judged.
Managers reveal themselves and their football philosophies through the sides they construct. Busby’s impressive managerial record and the great teams he assembled, featuring Mitten, Carey, Byrne, Taylor, Edwards, Coleman, Law, Best, and Charlton, guarantee the Scotsman a lasting appreciation.
Stein and Shankly were giants of their era too, who by sheer force of personality and football intelligence, launched Celtic and Liverpool respectively towards sustained dominance at home and abroad. Their trophy success however, does not stand comparison with Sir Alex’s glittering haul.
Wenger too, is a remarkable manager whose greatest achievement perhaps is to have made foreign coaches employable and advanced European methods more widespread on these shores. Wenger, a relative unknown apart from a brief flurry at Monaco, won the double in his first full season at Arsenal and has changed the image of his club to one that is anything but boring. His team is slick, easy on the eye and cast in the image of a genuine football aesthete. Under Wenger’s guidance, Arsenal were invincible for a season, an astonishing achievement in the world’s toughest league.
For all the credit that Wenger is due, he will not convince too many beyond north London that he is the greatest manager of all time. A European Cup victory would lift him into the exalted company of Busby, Stein and Shankly. Two or more European triumphs and Wenger would earn the respect of the football heavyweights who head the list of British football’s best.
Brian Clough would certainly feature on any such shortlist. His league triumph with Derby County was outstanding. Yet it was quickly upstaged by the two European Cups, a Division One league title and League Cup success Clough attained at unheralded Nottingham Forest.
Then as now, Nottingham Forest did not possess the financial muscle to challenge the leading lights of England and Europe and owed all their good fortune to a rare, blunt-speaking manager with an astute appreciation of the footballing arts. Clough took Forest out of the old Second Division and turned them into the kings of the continent within three years, an unheard of accopmplishment, borne of good players made better by extraordinary tactical acumen.
Clough’s success with two clubs helps to establish the ground upon which the truly great managers are judged. Equally important is the ability to build and rebuild teams. Here, ‘Uncle’ Bob Paisley is revealed as a manager of the highest class. Liverpool were well-set when he took over from Bill Shankly in 1974 but few would have predicted that the apprentice would outstrip his master over the next nine years.
Liverpool’s dominance at home and abroad was a tribute to the tactical genius of Paisley’s Anfield ‘Boot Room’ and the manager’s ability to integrate players into the Liverpool system.
Epoch greats like Kevin Keegan and John Toshack were soon surpassed by Kenny Daglish and Ian Rush in fans’ affection. Midfielders of the quality of McDermot, Heighway and Case, gave way to Souness, MacMahon, Nichol, Whelan and Sammy Lee, without arresting Liverpool’s run of triumphs. Defenders Phil Thompson and the late Emlyn Hughes would be stone legends on Merseyside were it not for the fact that the very next era gave the club Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson.
During Paisley’s spell as manager, Liverpool collected six League Championships, three European Cups, three League Cups and a Uefa Cup. Liverpool fans are not alone in believing that Paisley’s achievements would have earned far greater acclaim in today’s environment of round-the-clock media coverage.
The Clough and Paisley eras had ended by the time Sir Alex took over ‘the impossible job’ at United. The club was a by-word for underachievement, with a fitful team capable of the odd cup win but lacking the determination and talent to challenge Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton consistently for the title.
Ferguson’s first four years were spent ridding United of a culture of complacency. It proved to be a root and branch rebuilding of an institution, providing the platform for a period of sustained domestic domination and the renewal of respect in Europe.
The Ferguson years will be forever feted by the United faithful. Eight Premiership titles. One European Cup. One Uefa Cup Winners Cup. Five FA Cup victories. Two League Cups. This is the stuff of legend at Old Trafford and around the world.
But is it enough for Ferguson to stand head and shoulders above Paisley and Clough?
Sir Alex’s supporters proudly cite success with Aberdeen as tipping the scales in his favour. During an eight year period, Ferguson smashed the Rangers–Celtic duopoly of Scottish football, collecting league titles, cup victories and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983 after defeating Real Madrid.
Brain Clough’s mesmeric ability to lift ordinary teams towards extraordinary feats, demands that he be given very serious consideration as British football’s best-ever manager. Clough was brilliant but happiest being the brightest candle on the cake. He rarely experienced the daily pressures, the intense media scrutiny or the dizzying expectation of being first every year that Ferguson has endured, until he went to Leeds and exploded.
The sheer volume and concentration of Paisley’s success convince many that the Liverpool master should be crowned king of the club bosses. Paisley has a record in Europe to leave Ferguson envious but if hairs have to be split, Sir Alex comes out just ahead because of his longevity and the fact that he succeeded at one unfashionable club and then did even better in another country and in a much harder league. Paisley inherited a team of winners and improved it considerably. Ferguson took over a team of drinkers and within seven years had created the decade’s best unit.
History will surely applaud Sir Alex as the greatest British manager of all time. Ferguson’s achievement is all the more astonishing given that he works at the most closely observed club in the world and in the most volatile of industries. That’s not to mention the fans, who rate him as a God one week and a fool the next!
Sir Alex should be honoured all the more so, for successfully translating the traditions established by Busby to the modern era whilst re-moulding United in his own image. Ferguson has rebuilt United again and again, producing two outstanding teams playing attractive, flowing football with a blend of home-grown young players and top-quality imports.
Sir Alex’s achievements will appear ever-more spectacular when he has retired from United. This is the very essence of greatness. Respect the G.O.A.T - Sir Alex Ferguson! AU
A.U’s SEVEN FROM HEAVEN
1) Sir Alex Ferguson
2) Bob Paisely
3) Brian Clough
4) Sir Matt Busby; Jock Stein; Bill Shankly
7) Arsene Wenger
