Conspiracy theories are everywhere these days, but there is one in particular I want to address today. The question of whether Alex Ferguson set United up to fail in order to protect his own legacy.
In other words, did he deliberately leave them in bad shape so the incoming manager would be unable to match his level of success?
This is a conspiracy theory mostly bandied around by people who don’t even support Manchester United. Some Liverpool fans, in particular, like to trot it out as a final dig at Fergie, long after he ceased being a threat to them. They just can’t let it go, can they?
It’s not just them, though. Gary Lineker has made comments about his thoughts on the situation, not exactly blaming Fergie, but certainly holding him partially responsible.
This is something that really gets my goat, so I am going to address the usual claims below.
His Retirement Was Short Notice
This is true, it was.
Two things are important to note here:
- The reason he retired sooner than he planned was because his wife’s sister died and he had some other personal issues going on. So he felt since he was SEVENTY ONE he should step back and spend more time at home.
- If he wasn’t planning on retiring that season then he can’t have deliberately left the team in bad shape, can he? He was planning to stick around for a few more seasons, so would have been thinking about a rebuild.
It’s true that he had papered over the cracks in the squad to some extent in order to win the 2012/13 title, but he did it by 11 points, and had a plan for the future. There was even talk of bringing Ronaldo back if you remember. He just never got around to enacting it because his personal circumstances changed.
If he was a younger man he probably would have found a way around it, but I say again, he was seventy one.
Short notice or not, the club should have been planning for his departure every season once he hit 65. It would have been the sensible, responsible thing to do. If the club were caught unawares by a septuagenarian retiring then they only have themselves to blame.
He Left an Old Squad
Again, there is some truth to this, but it has been blown out of all proportion.
Yes, the likes of Giggs, Scholes, and Rio Ferdinand were kind of ancient in footballer years, but Evra, Vidic, and Carrick and all had at least a couple more good seasons in them. And don’t try to tell me they didn’t because they all played between two and five more seasons at the top level as first team regulars before retiring. After one more season in Manchester Evra went to Juventus for 3 years (then Marseille), Vidic to Inter, and Carrick was regularly starting with us until 2018.
And what was that other bloke called? Club legend. One of the best forwards ever to play the game… oh yeah, Wayne Rooney was still only 27.
Not to mention Van Persie (29), Darren Fletcher (29), Ashley Young (27), Nani (26), Jonny Evans (25), and Chris Smalling (23), all of whom were already established and stuck with United for years after Sir Alex retired.
There was real youth coming through too. He had recently bought Phil Jones who, despite the meme fodder he turned into, was the top defensive young talent in the country at the time. David de Gea was only in his second of twelve seasons with United, aged 22, and already one of the best keepers in the game. Danny Welbeck was 22 and already an England international. Jesse Lingard was waiting in the wings and would establish himself a few seasons later.
The idea that the Manchester United was full of players reaching for their Zimmer frames is nonsense.
He Picked the Wrong Successor
David Moyes is a great manager. Anyone who can spend as long as he has managing clubs like Everton and West Ham has something about them.
Was he the right manager for Manchester United? Probably not. However, to suggest Sir Alex somehow knew this and set him up for a fall is tin foil hat stuff. Fergie can’t read the future.
Moyes’ first managerial role was at Preston North End, whom he got promoted from Division Two and then reached the Division One playoffs the following season with largely the same team. He then went to Everton where he spent 11 years regularly finishing in the top 5 or 6 and reaching the FA Cup final in 2009.
You can see why Ferguson thought he was ready for a step up. Moyes had a lot of the persona qualities Alex Ferguson admired, but he had no experience with elite level players, no experience in Europe, and no experience managing a team with the sort of schedule United would have. It didn’t help that Moyes had no real aura about him, either.
Plus, he tried to change too much too soon. He overhauled the backroom staff and changed the way the team played. Manchester United lost their long time leader, and then their structure, destroying decades of continuity overnight.
I think Moyes has to take his share of the blame here, but the club needs to hold their hands up too, and maybe Fergie a little bit.
That said, had he been given more time… who knows? His win rate during his 10 months in charge was 52.94% – Fergie’s was only 59.7%. Granted, Fergie was in charge for roughly 1,450 more games than Moyes, but still. Moyes was seen as a calamity, but only in comparison with Ferguson, and who could have lived up to him?
Was Fergie to Blame?
Obviously not.
He was planning to stay and build a new squad but life got in the way and he decided to retire. It wasn’t as smooth a transition as it otherwise would have been, but to claim Alex Ferguson somehow manufactured the situation to preserve his own legacy is mental. It’s the fantasy of bitter, twisted rival fans who can’t bare to give him the credit he deserves.
I suppose there is a sliver of circumstantial support available to anyone wanting to make that case, but there is no real evidence. None at all.
Sir Alex gave a huge part of his life to Manchester United. He still lives in Manchester, still goes to the games, and still serves the club behind closed doors. He has a stand named after him, he has a statue at Old Trafford, he has a knighthood. He was named Premier League manager of the season 11 times amongst countless other personal awards. He won 13 Premier Leagues, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 2 Champions Leagues, a European Cup Winners Cup, a European Super Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, a FIFA Club World Cup and 10 Charity/Community Shields.
He didn’t need to protect his legacy. Who the hell could match even half of that lot?