Football Special Report: A list of Sir Alex Fergusons’ bust-ups with players
They say that no player is bigger than the club itself. So many times we have heard a manager say ‘the number that you have on the back of shirt is not as important as the badge you wear on the front’. It’s not the first time that in Sir Alex Fergusons’
tenure that there’s a controversy surrounding a star player. The whole Wayne-Fergie incident with Rooney wanting to quit should not come as a surprise. It has happened before!
In his 24 year reign as the manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex has had many bust ups and fall outs with players who incidentally were vital for the team. Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, Eric Cantona, Gabriel Heinze, Ruud van Nistelroy and David Beckham
have all been on the receiving end of the ‘cold shoulder treatment’ sometimes because of their mistakes and sometimes for reasons that would always be a mystery.
Here’s a list of some of the Fergie-fallouts over the years.
Jaap Stam (1998-2001)
The Dutchman’s autobiography was his resignation letter. In his autobiography, he expressed his anger of being transferred to Lazio behind his back and blamed a total lack of decency on the clubs’ part that made him leave eventually. Later on, Sir Alex accepted
that perhaps selling Jaap Stam was the biggest mistake of his life.
Paul Ince (1989-1995)
Paul Ince has always been known as a volatile character and is not one to back down from a fight. Sir Alex labelled the Englishman a ‘bottler’ and a ‘Charlie’ based on his performances. This further infuriated Paul Ince and he handed a transfer request and
in 1995 left for Lazio and later on joined bitter rivals Liverpool to further infuriate ManUtd fans. The pair has however put aside their differences and are now on talking terms with Sir Alex always up for advice and a bottle of wine with the player turned
manager.
David Beckham (1993-2003)
David Beckham’s superstar and glamorous life style finally caught up with him when they played an F.A cup match against Arsenal which they eventually lost. Sir Alex kicked a boot in the tunnel that hit Beckham and left him with a bruise. This added more
fuel to the fire and after 10 years of being a poster boy and mascot of Manchester United, the world famous celebrity left for La Liga giants Real Madrid in 2003. The free-kick specialist who now plays his trade for MLS side LA Galaxy, still maintains that
he has the utmost respect for the ‘gaffer’ and calls him a father figure who made him a superstar that he is now.
Roy Keane (1993-2005)
The inspirational Irishman became too powerful for Sir Alex Ferguson’s liking. He blamed the senior players and some youngsters like Darren Fletcher and Alan Smith for not showing enough commitment on the pitch and said that the team had a shortage of character.
This resulted in yet another fallout and Roy Keane eventually terminated his contract by mutual consent and joined Glasgow giants Celtic.
Gabriel Heinze (2003-2006)
The Argentinean left-back handed in a transfer request and pleaded Sir Alex to let him join arch rivals Liverpool in the January transfer window. Understandably, this infuriated the manager and Gabriel Heinze never played for the club again and eventually
left for Real Madrid by the end of the season.
Ruud Van Nistelroy (2000-2004)
The Dutchman had a goal scoring fest at Old Trafford but during a training session, he had a fight with Christiano Ronaldo. He sat out the next six matches and then moved to Real Madrid.
Wayne Rooney (2004-?)
The latest fallout has been much publicized lately with managers like Jose Mourinho and Mancini insisting that Rooney wouldn’t leave the Manchester outfit but there’s still a dark cloud of uncertainty surrounding the strikers’ future. Will he move on like
so many stars or will he stay on and prove his worth to the team? He certainly has to prove his worth because so far this season, he hasn’t really put in a good shift. Hopefully, for the fans’ sake, Rooney will stay and whatever issue there is gets resolved
so that the player can show the potential that he has in him.
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