Fergies book out today.
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Was talking to a mate today - a Spurs fan - and he said, "I've lost a lot of respect for Fergie - comes off like a bitter Twat. Gerrard not world class?" ... This book is a stain on him ...
It's a delightfully ill-conceived book. I bet the ghostwriter Paul Hayward is shitting himself, because Ginsoak will surely try to blame him for it all. Apparently he doesn't even mention Mark Hughes - one of the key players in his early trophy wins. The book's just riddled with rash omissions and commissions.
Is he the ghost writer, makes his latest column defending Alex very interesting...
Oh it's the gift that keeps on giving!
Zinedine Zidane has told Sir Alex Ferguson his verdict on Steven Gerrard is wrong.
Zidane, once acclaimed as the world’s finest footballer and now sporting director of Real Madrid, said: “For two or three years, Steven Gerrard was the best midfield player in the world.
“Even now he is playing at a high level for Liverpool and England.”
The 41-year-old Zidane (believes the comments of former Manchester United boss Fergie about Gerrard in his autobiography are “strange.”
Ferguson insisted that Liverpool captain Gerrard has never been "a top, top player."
But as well as hailing the Liverpool star as being the best in the world during his pomp, Zidane added: “Gerrard has been loyal to Liverpool throughout his career – which is great for them – but if he had wanted to leave four or five years ago then every top club in Europe would have tried to sign him.
"And they would have probably had to break the transfer record to do it.
“Alex Ferguson is obviously one of the most successful coaches the game has ever had. But I did find his comments about Steven Gerrard very strange. To say he is not a top player is wrong.”
Owen Hargreaves, another player criticised by Ferguson, has now responded.
Hargreaves’ career ended due to a chronic knee condition just one season after United signed him from Bayern Munich for £17million in May 2007.
And Ferguson wrote that the midfielder “opted for the easy choices in training,” and “was one of the most disappointing signings of my career.”
Hargreaves hit back on Saturday: “Anyone who knows me knows that professionalism is probably one of my strongest traits. A lot of people who rang me this week are very surprised at what he said.
“I had one very successful season, but after the treatment that summer I virtually never played again. My only regret was I didn’t go to him, but I didn’t realise the severity of it until it was too late.”
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Zinedine Zidane has told Sir Alex Ferguson his verdict on Steven Gerrard is wrong.
Zidane, once acclaimed as the world’s finest footballer and now sporting director of Real Madrid, said: “For two or three years, Steven Gerrard was the best midfield player in the world.
“Even now he is playing at a high level for Liverpool and England.”
The 41-year-old Zidane (believes the comments of former Manchester United boss Fergie about Gerrard in his autobiography are “strange.”
Ferguson insisted that Liverpool captain Gerrard has never been "a top, top player."
But as well as hailing the Liverpool star as being the best in the world during his pomp, Zidane added: “Gerrard has been loyal to Liverpool throughout his career – which is great for them – but if he had wanted to leave four or five years ago then every top club in Europe would have tried to sign him.
"And they would have probably had to break the transfer record to do it.
“Alex Ferguson is obviously one of the most successful coaches the game has ever had. But I did find his comments about Steven Gerrard very strange. To say he is not a top player is wrong.”
Owen Hargreaves, another player criticised by Ferguson, has now responded.
Hargreaves’ career ended due to a chronic knee condition just one season after United signed him from Bayern Munich for £17million in May 2007.
And Ferguson wrote that the midfielder “opted for the easy choices in training,” and “was one of the most disappointing signings of my career.”
Hargreaves hit back on Saturday: “Anyone who knows me knows that professionalism is probably one of my strongest traits. A lot of people who rang me this week are very surprised at what he said.
“I had one very successful season, but after the treatment that summer I virtually never played again. My only regret was I didn’t go to him, but I didn’t realise the severity of it until it was too late.”
Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footb...s-book-claims-liverpool-2642628#ixzz2is1jZhcz
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Exactly. Especially Oliver Kay and his "bravado" speech. Bravado Oliver, would have been standing up to the cunt while he was still a manager instead of taking the easy shots that everyone else is doing.
No way am I defending ferguson, but all these people in the press with their faux indignation at the book? Where the fuck have you been for the past 27 years?
Scared shitless, bowing down to the cunt that's where.
Brendan Rodgers should have read Sir Alex Ferguson's book in full before retaliating to news stories
Brendan Rodgers contradicted his own recording of a fly-on-the-wall documentary by questioning Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to write a book
Not as good as Scholes: The book describes Gerrard as not quite a “top, top player” but does reveal that Ferguson sounded out the possibility of signing him nine years ago Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Paul Hayward
5:30PM BST 24 Oct 2013
431 Comments
With the modern news tornado, you can be talking to Sir Alex Fergusonat his home one winter’s afternoon and a discussion about Michael Carrick can end in uproar at Liverpool. Well, a discussion about Steven Gerrard, via Michael Carrick, because it was Ferguson’s loyalty to Carrick that prompted him to say Gerrard is “not a top, top player”.
The discussion was about England, and how Gerrard and Frank Lampard have overshadowed Carrick in central midfield. Carrick, he felt, lacked the profile or “bravado” of the other two. Ferguson did offer that remark about Gerrard, but not with the intention of launching a rocket at Anfield, or writing half a dozen back-page headlines. He was merely thinking aloud, on his sofa, as he had been when praising Liverpool for their “great tradition” and “fanatical home support”.
No one cares about nuances on the day of a book’s publication. Few have time for counter-balancing evidence. No ghost-writing journalist could possibly moan of course about the strong focus on news stories at the expense of context or background, because he is part of that process. The news and social media industries heat-seek the most explosive lines in a famous person’s memoirs. Only later will people shuffle through the embers and the smoke to see what remains.
The only responsibility, you would think, for people in positions of influence is to read a book before pronouncing on it. Unless he can prove otherwise, it is fair to assume that Brendan Rodgers only scanned Wednesday’s news coverage before suggesting Ferguson lacked “old school values and ethics,” and launching into an indignant defence not only of Gerrard but also Jordan Henderson, who, Ferguson said, had been passed over by United because he “runs from his knees” rather than his hips, which is more in keeping with the modern footballer.
We inhabit a weird world when a manager is accused of some kind of personal cruelty for explaining why he declined to buy a player. If Rodgers had read the whole text, meanwhile, before assuming Ferguson had decided one morning to eliminate Gerrard in a random attack, he might have noticed a contributory factor on page 213.
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So what Rodgers might have said when asked about the Gerrard line, rather than sermonizing about old school values, was: “Sir Alex tried to buy Steven a few years back but didn’t manage to sign him. He’s perhaps a bit peeved that Steven established himself as one of the all-time great Liverpool players and a constant menace to United.”
You know - something clever, or funny: qualities much needed when Rodgers was obliged to participate in the fly on the wall series, Being Liverpool, in which many of the secret rituals he thinks should be closed to the general public were aired on television, including his own team talks and dealings with individual players.
How Rodgers squares this with his claim that Ferguson should have kept it all “behind closed doors” is hard to imagine. You can make a TV reality show but not write a book?
Despite appearances, Ferguson can claim cordial relations with most Liverpool managers, bar Rafa Benitez, of course, who he accuses of becoming “personal”. Ferguson always valued the post-match drink with his closest rivals. With Kenny Dalglish there was antagonism but also respect. For the book, Ferguson made a point of saying how wonderfully he thought Dalglish handled the fall-out from the Hillsborough disaster. More generally he never discounted Liverpool as a threat, despite their slide in the league table: “I could always feel their breath on my neck from 25 miles away.”
Rodgers will have considered none of this before jumping to the defence of his players, and ignoring the Being Liverpool contradiction. You could look it at two ways. One: Rodgers seized a useful opportunity to stand by Gerrard and boost the confidence of Henderson. Or two: Ferguson, from beyond the managerial grave, has found a new way to provoke a Liverpool manager into an over-emotional response.
If Ferguson is baffled by some of the responses to the book’s more newsworthy aspects, it may be because some journalists who loathe blandness and evasion also appear to hate strong opinions.
No matter how successful or wily you are, nothing prepares you for seeing an opinion delivered on a quiet winter’s afternoon mutating into a major diplomatic incident. I include myself on the guilty-list when saying that our culture is too warped for us to examine the forthright thoughts of others without turning them into an apocalypse.
Brendan Rodgers contradicted his own recording of a fly-on-the-wall documentary by questioning Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to write a book
Not as good as Scholes: The book describes Gerrard as not quite a “top, top player” but does reveal that Ferguson sounded out the possibility of signing him nine years ago Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Paul Hayward
5:30PM BST 24 Oct 2013
With the modern news tornado, you can be talking to Sir Alex Fergusonat his home one winter’s afternoon and a discussion about Michael Carrick can end in uproar at Liverpool. Well, a discussion about Steven Gerrard, via Michael Carrick, because it was Ferguson’s loyalty to Carrick that prompted him to say Gerrard is “not a top, top player”.
The discussion was about England, and how Gerrard and Frank Lampard have overshadowed Carrick in central midfield. Carrick, he felt, lacked the profile or “bravado” of the other two. Ferguson did offer that remark about Gerrard, but not with the intention of launching a rocket at Anfield, or writing half a dozen back-page headlines. He was merely thinking aloud, on his sofa, as he had been when praising Liverpool for their “great tradition” and “fanatical home support”.
No one cares about nuances on the day of a book’s publication. Few have time for counter-balancing evidence. No ghost-writing journalist could possibly moan of course about the strong focus on news stories at the expense of context or background, because he is part of that process. The news and social media industries heat-seek the most explosive lines in a famous person’s memoirs. Only later will people shuffle through the embers and the smoke to see what remains.
The only responsibility, you would think, for people in positions of influence is to read a book before pronouncing on it. Unless he can prove otherwise, it is fair to assume that Brendan Rodgers only scanned Wednesday’s news coverage before suggesting Ferguson lacked “old school values and ethics,” and launching into an indignant defence not only of Gerrard but also Jordan Henderson, who, Ferguson said, had been passed over by United because he “runs from his knees” rather than his hips, which is more in keeping with the modern footballer.
We inhabit a weird world when a manager is accused of some kind of personal cruelty for explaining why he declined to buy a player. If Rodgers had read the whole text, meanwhile, before assuming Ferguson had decided one morning to eliminate Gerrard in a random attack, he might have noticed a contributory factor on page 213.
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So what Rodgers might have said when asked about the Gerrard line, rather than sermonizing about old school values, was: “Sir Alex tried to buy Steven a few years back but didn’t manage to sign him. He’s perhaps a bit peeved that Steven established himself as one of the all-time great Liverpool players and a constant menace to United.”
You know - something clever, or funny: qualities much needed when Rodgers was obliged to participate in the fly on the wall series, Being Liverpool, in which many of the secret rituals he thinks should be closed to the general public were aired on television, including his own team talks and dealings with individual players.
How Rodgers squares this with his claim that Ferguson should have kept it all “behind closed doors” is hard to imagine. You can make a TV reality show but not write a book?
Despite appearances, Ferguson can claim cordial relations with most Liverpool managers, bar Rafa Benitez, of course, who he accuses of becoming “personal”. Ferguson always valued the post-match drink with his closest rivals. With Kenny Dalglish there was antagonism but also respect. For the book, Ferguson made a point of saying how wonderfully he thought Dalglish handled the fall-out from the Hillsborough disaster. More generally he never discounted Liverpool as a threat, despite their slide in the league table: “I could always feel their breath on my neck from 25 miles away.”
Rodgers will have considered none of this before jumping to the defence of his players, and ignoring the Being Liverpool contradiction. You could look it at two ways. One: Rodgers seized a useful opportunity to stand by Gerrard and boost the confidence of Henderson. Or two: Ferguson, from beyond the managerial grave, has found a new way to provoke a Liverpool manager into an over-emotional response.
If Ferguson is baffled by some of the responses to the book’s more newsworthy aspects, it may be because some journalists who loathe blandness and evasion also appear to hate strong opinions.
No matter how successful or wily you are, nothing prepares you for seeing an opinion delivered on a quiet winter’s afternoon mutating into a major diplomatic incident. I include myself on the guilty-list when saying that our culture is too warped for us to examine the forthright thoughts of others without turning them into an apocalypse.
Stan Collymore:
[article=http://www.football-italia.net/41016/benitez-napoli-toro-and-sir-alex]Benitez was also asked about the attack from former Manchester United manager Ferguson, who called him a ‘silly man’ in his autobiography.
“I will not respond. Everyone knows what I have done.”[/article]
[article=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/stan-collymore-sir-alex-fergusons-2645397#ixzz2ivBxFPDv ]I never had a father figure in my life, and that is one of the reasons I am disappointed I did not get the chance to play for Sir Alex Ferguson.
In his new autobiography, the former Manchester United manager says he is glad he never ended up signing me from Nottingham Forest in 1995. He claims that when he saw me play there was no great urgency to my game, and that he began to consider himself lucky, as I would have been the same for United.
I have to say that was frustrating to read, especially as it really did come very close to happening. Fergie called my manager at the time, Frank Clark, and my agent Paul Stretford certainly made me aware he was interested. So, for him to come out with this comment now, is just him being wise after the event, in my opinion.
I think that move could have been great for me, him and United. Certainly, I feel my life on and off the field may have taken a different path with Ferguson’s guidance.
Most young lads have a paternal figure around to take them to games as they grow up. They help coach their teams and advise them. It is a reality of life that I didn’t have that. Instead, it was my mum taking me anywhere she could.
My mum was great, later taking me to training and matches as an apprentice, too.
But I’m not sure how many players would have been able to achieve what I did without any father figure. To play at the top level for 10 years, break transfer records and score so many goals...It is something I am proud of.
And I will remain convinced that to have had Ferguson as a mentor would have led to even greater success. United ended up signing Andy Cole instead of me. And, of course, I went on to join Liverpool for £8.5million.
I loved my time at Anfield – but I also believe I would have done the business at Old Trafford.
Fergie dealt with players who were mavericks, men who had a bit of spice about them. Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona and Wayne Rooney are three that spring to mind immediately.
And although there is plenty of mythology about what went on later in my career, the goals I scored – particularly in that first year at Liverpool – lead me to believe I would have made a positive impact in the red of Manchester United.
I would have been a threat at United, and I think they may have won even more trophies if they had signed me.
I once cheekily suggested I could have helped them win the European Cup a couple of years before they eventually managed it in 1999.
You see, we can all look back in hindsight once our careers are over. Fergie can say he made the right decision not to sign me, in the same way I can say I would have produced the goods for him.
All I know for sure is that there was real interest in me at the time, and back then my goalscoring record was a very good one.
I hit 50 goals in 68 games for Forest, and scored a goal to break United’s year-long unbeaten home record. I was taking on defenders from the halfway line, and I doubt many of them looked forward to facing me.
So, as Fergie’s latest book draws a line under his career, you wonder just how that missing Collymore chapter might have read.[/article]
[article=http://www.football-italia.net/41016/benitez-napoli-toro-and-sir-alex]Benitez was also asked about the attack from former Manchester United manager Ferguson, who called him a ‘silly man’ in his autobiography.
“I will not respond. Everyone knows what I have done.”[/article]
[article=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/stan-collymore-sir-alex-fergusons-2645397#ixzz2ivBxFPDv ]I never had a father figure in my life, and that is one of the reasons I am disappointed I did not get the chance to play for Sir Alex Ferguson.
In his new autobiography, the former Manchester United manager says he is glad he never ended up signing me from Nottingham Forest in 1995. He claims that when he saw me play there was no great urgency to my game, and that he began to consider himself lucky, as I would have been the same for United.
I have to say that was frustrating to read, especially as it really did come very close to happening. Fergie called my manager at the time, Frank Clark, and my agent Paul Stretford certainly made me aware he was interested. So, for him to come out with this comment now, is just him being wise after the event, in my opinion.
I think that move could have been great for me, him and United. Certainly, I feel my life on and off the field may have taken a different path with Ferguson’s guidance.
Most young lads have a paternal figure around to take them to games as they grow up. They help coach their teams and advise them. It is a reality of life that I didn’t have that. Instead, it was my mum taking me anywhere she could.
My mum was great, later taking me to training and matches as an apprentice, too.
But I’m not sure how many players would have been able to achieve what I did without any father figure. To play at the top level for 10 years, break transfer records and score so many goals...It is something I am proud of.
And I will remain convinced that to have had Ferguson as a mentor would have led to even greater success. United ended up signing Andy Cole instead of me. And, of course, I went on to join Liverpool for £8.5million.
I loved my time at Anfield – but I also believe I would have done the business at Old Trafford.
Fergie dealt with players who were mavericks, men who had a bit of spice about them. Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona and Wayne Rooney are three that spring to mind immediately.
And although there is plenty of mythology about what went on later in my career, the goals I scored – particularly in that first year at Liverpool – lead me to believe I would have made a positive impact in the red of Manchester United.
I would have been a threat at United, and I think they may have won even more trophies if they had signed me.
I once cheekily suggested I could have helped them win the European Cup a couple of years before they eventually managed it in 1999.
You see, we can all look back in hindsight once our careers are over. Fergie can say he made the right decision not to sign me, in the same way I can say I would have produced the goods for him.
All I know for sure is that there was real interest in me at the time, and back then my goalscoring record was a very good one.
I hit 50 goals in 68 games for Forest, and scored a goal to break United’s year-long unbeaten home record. I was taking on defenders from the halfway line, and I doubt many of them looked forward to facing me.
So, as Fergie’s latest book draws a line under his career, you wonder just how that missing Collymore chapter might have read.[/article]
Yes, we pointed out who Hayward is a few posts earlier. As was said then, Hayward knows he'll end up getting the flak for this from Ginsoak, so he's on a grand tour of vain exculpation at the moment. He was on Sky earlier today, looking ashen-faced, trying to explain it all away. Hopeless.
Oops didn't see the earlier post, apologies !
If Rafa had a sense of humour, which as much as I like him he has none, he would have come up with another 'Fact' speech about 'Mr. Ferguson' and had a laugh about it.
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