Iconic former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson still terrifies one Red Devils legend who looked up to him and learned a lot from him.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who is considered one of the best managers of all time, bowed out of Old Trafford in 2013 after an illustrious career at Manchester United.
The 82-year-old Scotsman led United to a whopping 13 Premier League titles, with the Red Devils’ last league triumph coming at the end of the 2012-13 season.
United were the first English team to complete a continental treble in the 1998-99 season, with Ferguson at the helm of the incredible feat achieved by the club.
Ferguson also lifted two Champions League titles, five FA Cups and four League Cups during his legendary 26-year reign in the United hot seat.
The legendary Scot was well known for his no-nonsense approach and Ferguson wasn’t afraid to drop his ‘hairdryer treatment’ on a United player in the past.
Ferguson ruthlessly cut players from the club during his time in charge and even some of his former players have admitted their fear of crossing paths with him.
Ferguson scared one Man Utd legend
Sir Alex Ferguson, who replaced Ron Atkinson as Manchester United manager in 1986, was keen to bring Premier League legend Alan Shearer to Old Trafford.
However, the United legend’s best efforts to pry former England striker Alan Shearer away from Blackburn Rovers were left in vain after he signed for Newcastle in 1996.
After failing to land Shearer, United turned their attention elsewhere and signed club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Norwegian side Molde for a fee of £1.5m.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opened up about Ferguson not landing Newcastle legend Shearer and how the Red Devils signed him as the “cheaper” option instead.
However, the 51-year-old Norwegian forward made a long-lasting impact at Old Trafford, with Solskjaer firmly etching his name into United folklore.
Solskjaer revealed that he shared a close relationship with Ferguson, despite admitting that he is “still scared” to talk to the United legend.
“They were scared of me, and I’m still scared of Sir Alex now when I speak to him,” he told FourFourTwo magazine.
“I don’t want to let him down, but he’s the kindest man. When I was playing, he’d sometimes ask me for a ride home after away games.
“If we’d lost, that was the worst 10 or 15 minutes. He’d be in a bad mood.
“But I had a great relationship with him, especially after I turned Tottenham down [in December 1998] to stay at United.
“He brought me into his office and said: ‘Tottenham and Alan Sugar have put a bid in for £5.5million, [former Man United chairman] Martin Edwards has said yes and the club want the money, but I don’t want you to go – if you stay here, you’ll play and be an important part of the squad.’
“So we agreed for me to stay. Then he said, ‘Please don’t tell anyone,’ as he’d just lost the club all that money. I finished that season scoring the last goal of it in Barcelona […].”
Solskjaer talks Man Utd legend Ferguson
Solskjaer was an important figure in Ferguson’s legendary United teams of the past, with the Norwegian often fighting for his place in the starting XI.
The United legend made a name for himself as a ‘super sub’ and made his mark for Ferguson at the club, including his famous winner in the treble-winning season.
Following his remarkable playing career, Solskjaer later went on to manage United after former Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho was axed from Old Trafford.
The Red Devils cult hero, who was initially United caretaker manager, has been out of football management since he was sacked from his role at the club in 2021.
Solskjaer candidly opened up about his relationship with Ferguson, including the legendary former United manager speaking to him directly when he was a player.
“I look up to him so much and learned much from him as a manager,” he said.
“He always stressed the importance of hard work in his team talks, yet at the same time he’d say, ‘You don’t know what hard work is – ask your parents or grandparents what hard work is.’ He got us so grounded, even though we were the best team in the world.
“Nowadays, if you say something like that to a player, his parents or his agent would call you. So much has changed in the way you talk to players. Everyone has PR agents.
“If Sir Alex wanted to speak to me, he rang my phone and he spoke to me, or we spoke on the training ground.
“Now, we have to go through different agents and management. I find that really strange, because football is a game played by people, managed by people, and you need to be able to speak together, to connect, to get the best out of each other and trust each other.”