Sir Alex Ferguson Tribute Thread

Thought this was more appropriate here than the twitter thread. Regarding the current spending compared to the Ferguson years under the glazers:

Is this accurate? I feel it for Fergie, I never knew I could appreciate him more-but I just did.



That is absolutely incredible. I guess the question is was Ferguson denied the massive war chest or did he truely believe the squad was good enough, or... Being the best long term planner in football, did he purposefully hold back knowing that in a few years when he left, FFP would finally kick in and we'd be in a position of real strength, making life for the managers that followed him a hell of a lot easier?

If the last scenario is true then that could well have been his greatest achievement or perhaps better put, his greatest gift to the club. To keep us competitive and successful during the dodgey initial glazer years, in a climate where Chelsea and City could spend endless amounts, cementing our status as the biggest club around and ensuring deals like Adidas will continue to come our way.

Perhaps I'm getting carried away somewhat, I dunno. I just really miss the man.

He didn't allow the team to regress to mid-table level though. He'd just walked he league. If he had stayed another year we'd still be in the CL. Same group of players. Moyes was just a bigger disaster than anyone could have predicted. Including Fergie and sir bobby. I won't say anymore though since this is the wrong thread. Will copy my original post over to the Fergie one.

I believe Fergie felt he left behind a good squad. Not great, but certainly workable given the improved financial position we find ourselves in. Certainly not a mid-level side.

In a similar way Wenger planned long term with Arsenal during the stadium build and the impending restraints that City, PSG etc eventually find themselves under. Perhaps Fergie felt spending £150m plus was too big a risk considering the amount of debt the club was under between 2005-2012?
 
Agree with you.

Completely agree.



Just sign Coentrao along with De Rossi/Strootman and Herrera/Thiago and a quality wide player while selling Nani and Rooney even last window and it's not a problem at all along with a bonus of Mata in January. (Could've let Rio go and gotten Garay too which was on the cards at the beginning of the season.)

Except for Scholes who was phased out anyway the season before, all of those players were still there last season too. Everybody could predict Evra decline. Criminal we went next season with him as starting left back and midfield addition just being Fellaini.
Assuming the manager could organize the team well all could have played a part again as well. Mourinho is getting last legs out of Terry. Vidic still is younger and last season was left too exposed in a unstructured team. Same with Carrick who looked worse than he is last season partnered with dross in unfamiliar roles.

I'll quote my response as well. This whole squad is rubbish stuff is bit over the top. There was no way we would have finished below top 4 even with what he had last season under SAF plus he would have seen the problems coming and rectified it last summer in itself. He was always ahead of the curve or mostly still.

Moyes did nothing and then now LVG is still trying to figure out stuff.
 
Agree with you.



I'll quote my response as well. This whole squad is rubbish stuff is bit over the top. There was no way we would have finished below top 4 even with what he had last season under SAF plus he would have seen the problems coming and rectified it last summer in itself. He was always ahead of the curve or mostly still.

Moyes did nothing and then now LVG is still trying to figure out stuff.

Indeed. It is not Ferguson's fault that since his departure the money was wasted on Fellaini and we failed to land any targets from last summer. He was the ultimate long term manager IMO. He surely would have weighed up the financial situation for us after the glazer take-over as well as the financial climate across Europe.

And as you said, a Strootman, Herrera, Thiago, Garay purchase was all that Fergie squad needed initially. Instead we got Fellaini and Mata while allowing Vidic, Evra, Rio and Giggs to go. I mean, we knew for 6 months that Vidic was going.
 
I don't know how anyone can blame Fergie. He left behind a title winning squad. Moyes added Januzaj, Mata and Fellaini and somehow managed to finish 7th while playing terrible football. LVG with the same squad has continued with the terrible football and terrible results. Let's see how he does with the 100+ million he has spent but the signs aren't great.

Our football wasn't great under Fergie and teams often walked through our midfield but at least we looked a threat going forwards. That's not been the case under Moyes or Van Gaal.
 
Thought this was more appropriate here than the twitter thread. Regarding the current spending compared to the Ferguson years under the glazers:







I believe Fergie felt he left behind a good squad. Not great, but certainly workable given the improved financial position we find ourselves in. Certainly not a mid-level side.

In a similar way Wenger planned long term with Arsenal during the stadium build and the impending restraints that City, PSG etc eventually find themselves under. Perhaps Fergie felt spending £150m plus was too big a risk considering the amount of debt the club was under between 2005-2012?
This is spot on
 
I miss him more than I thought I would. Sure, the current situation isn't great nor last season. But without Ferguson there is no longer that security and trust in the club doing the right thing. Club hemorrhaging money, it is true that for some time the club has invested poorly in terms of players signed. Paying out for unnecessary players and ones lacking in quality but have still ultimately cost. Squad is in a state due to these investments and having too many players for certain positions and not enough for others. But throwing money around is uncomfortable, such inflated fees. Know Fergie no saint and transfer records broken in his tenure etc; but find some of the morality has left the club and there are other reasons too. It has hard to explain. Clubs philosophy diluting a bit too, just doesn't feel the same United. So many recent decisions have left me cold. Including the whole Rooney thing from his contract to the recent captaincy. United just seems to be evermore the massive financial juggernaut, a business ultimately. Gill is a miss too. Know that it is what modern football is about but now it is even more obvious since Woodward took the reins.
 
People blaming him are idiots.

All we needed last season was four signings. Yet Moyes spent £70m on two players we didn't really need.
 
2 Years to the day since he retired...:(

Still raises a smile from me when he's shown on TV
 
He is that special, is not he? Its always a pleasure to see him in the stands. The legend of legends of this club.
 
I miss you.
Hope he sticks around long enough to see us win the league again, like how busby did.