Manchester United legend Gary Neville has pinpointed how Sir Alex Ferguson managed to have an unprecedented level of success at Old Trafford
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The secret to Sir Alex Ferguson’s unprecedented success as Manchester United manager was that he “stayed out of training” and regularly refreshed his staff, according to Gary Neville.
Fergie retired in 2013 as one of the most successful managers the sport has ever seen. During a 26-year spell at Old Trafford, he led United to 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League wins, five FA Cups, four League Cups and the Club World Cup among other honours.
Neville was a member of the ‘Class of ‘92’ generation of young talent that came through under Ferguson’s guidance and played a huge part in that success.
Gary Neville won eight Premier League titles under Fergie (Image credit: Getty Images)
The former England right-back believes Ferguson was ingenious in the way he kept his players motivated by ensuring they never got sick of hearing the same voice day in, day out.
“The reason Sir Alex Ferguson was unbelievable for 20-odd years was because he stayed out of training all week, and he never got involved in training,” Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast.
“You never heard his voice during the week that much, especially not in a forceful way because that always fell to Brian Kidd, Carlos Queiroz, Steve McClaren and René Meulensteen, all those people.
Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles with United (Image credit: Getty Images)
“Then suddenly, he changed his assistant managers every three years and we had new voices around us, who were coaching every day. We never had the same voice for too long which was good.”
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
United have struggled ever since Ferguson left the club and the Scotsman’s final Premier League title of 2012/13 remains the last time the Red Devils were crowned champions of England.
Gary Neville was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
