Sat In The Dark With Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson
A LATE bid to wind back the clock by Sir Alex Ferguson, purple-headed manager of Manchester United.
Fergie looks at his stopwatch and realises it’s time for the cinema. In the official Manchester United magazine, he says: “I go to the movies a lot.”
Of he and his wife Cathy, says Fergie: “We prefer thrillers with good storylines. We go early so I can get my pick ‘n’ mix, my ice cream and my hot dog.”
Fergie stops short of telling us what his favourite confectionary is nor does he list his top three ice-creams in order. There is sadly no picture of Ferguson stood dressed in retro United knickerbockers while eating a knickerbocker glory.
But signs are that Fergie is trying to wind the clock back, as is his wont.
As modern footballers show us how rich they are, wearing massive, bejewelled clock-sized watches and sending boast cards from foreign climes, Fergie’s insight is a throwback to those days when footballers told magazines that they always put their left sock on first and that their favourite colour is – titter – red and black, if they play for Manchester United, red if they play for Liverpool, and so on.
His players are out shagging and throwing their money about and Fergie is sat in the cinema with his good lady wife and a hotdog.
It is apparent that Ferguson straddles two eras, and although he nods to the Shoot magazine-style of footballer interview, when the film ends in a way he finds displeasing cutting-edge Fergie is up on his seat, tapping his watch and screaming that Stephen Spielberg is a “biased f*****g ****” and the film has finished 12 seconds early…
Posted: 7th, April 2008 | In: Back pages Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
