Sir Alex Fergusoninterview: Bestquotes from theformerManchesterUnited manager’schat with CharlieRose

Sir Alex Ferguson gave his first
major interview since leaving
Manchester United on Tuesday
night, a revealing hour-long chat
with host Charlie Rose of
America’s PBS network.
Ferguson offered his thoughts on
Wayne Rooney’s alleged transfer
request, Posh Spice’s influence on
David Beckham, the Glazer effect
at Manchester United and his
own future plans. Here’s a
selection of the best quotes from
the former
Old Trafford supremo.
On Wayne Rooney and rumours of
a transfer request (denied by the
player)
‘[After the title was won] he asked
away. [But this season] he’s got his
energy back and his purpose back,
so maybe that was a turning point in
a way.
On player power
‘You are dealing with very rich
young men. I always said to the
directors that the minute a player
becomes more powerful than the
manager of Manchester United, it’s
not Manchester United. You have
lost control of the whole club. So I
always made sure that I was in
control. They always knew who the
manager was.’
David and Victoria Beckham
‘[He] lost focus when he married the
Spice. [But] how can I argue with
his life [now]. He is an icon for
young people.’
Paolo Di Canio, Sunderland and
the rush to sack managers
‘It’s a results industry. You only
have to look at Paolo Di Canio last
week – five or six games into his
first season at Sunderland. They
allow him to spend £19 million and
then they sack him. To me, there is
no evidence that that is going to
bring success.’
The hardest part of being a
manager
‘When you see a player and you
recognize that the day has come,
and he’s had his time.’
His favourite ever player
‘I’m a Pele fan from way back when
I was a kid, and then there was
always this thing about Pele and
Maradona. I was young and
impressionable as a kid but it was
always Pele for me. Today, I think
that you have got to look at Messi
and Ronaldo. They are unbelievable.
The best today. They are fantastic –
absolutely.’
On Manchester City, Chelsea and
big-spending foreign owners
I never worried about teams who
spend what they want to spend. It
never bothered me. It never
bothered me. At the moment we
have a lot of Middle Eastern owners,
we have American owners of course,
Russian owners. It never bothered
me one bit. All I was concerned
about was that we at United
maintained our level of expectation,
be competitive, be at the top part of
the League. We might not win it
every year, but we’d always be up
there competing for it every year.’