I am surprised he has retired, but after the mishap of his last 'retirement' announcement, I always thought it would come 'out of the blue' or at the very least towards the end of a season
It's a strange feeling knowing he's leaving Utd and I'm not even a Utd fan. I was born in '80 and he's been there since '86, so effectively all of my football memory life. I remember the 'brawl' between Utd and Arsenal at Old Trafford in '90 and listening in on the radio. If you'd told me he'd still be there 23 (!) years later...I would never have believed it
I've also a little confession to make....in the 90's I saw more Utd games than Arsenal ones as the father of a very good friend of mine worked for the Wiltshire FA and, being ardent Utd fans, they recevied tickets for any Utd game at Wembley. I went to various FA cup finals and Charity Shields. Being a teenager, it was strange knowing my loyalty lay with Arsenal yet here I was watching a dominant Utd team sweep all before them. I was there when Cantona scored in the dying minutes to win Utd's second 'Double'. Sat in the Utd end, the crowd went delirious and I instinctively hugged my mate in celebration. I can't believe that was 17 years ago....
Since the news broke this morning I have called my good friend and he was incredibly sad
I think Ferguson's greatest achievement has been his ability to deliver success consistently over a period in the sport which has changed fundamentally in so many ways in the past 20 years
There will clearly be successful football managers in the future but I don't think any will match his longevity. There are some fine young managers around at the moment and some are already on their way to matching Ferguson in terms of trophies won but none will remain at a single club for the same period of time. Therefore by default, nobody will match his legendary status of affiliation to one club. That in itself is unique
I don't know who will replace him. I honestly thought Mourinho would go back to Chelsea but this throws quite a large spanner in the works. Was this why Mourinho was so kind to Utd when he knocked them out of the CL earlier in the season? Not sure. Maybe it's going to be Moyes and that was the plan all along. Whoever replaces him will have a daunting job on their hands and the pressure will be enormous if a few early results don't go their way
I can't wait for next season to start. I've waited for Ferguson to retire for a long time as I always believed he was 30% of what Utd were all about. The title race will be wide open and all the more exciting for it (unless you're a Utd fan of course!)
Cheers for all the memories, SAF. Some good, but mostly bad. And that's the biggest compliment I can pay you