Ex-Man Utd star Sir Alex known as ‘horrible professional’ finds it ‘arduous to disagree’

On May 22, 2024

Ex-Manchester United keeper Mark Bosnich was branded a “terrible professional” by Sir Alex Ferguson – and he would find it “hard to disagree” with the legendary manager.

Bosnich has the distinction of being signed twice by Ferguson, first as a teenager in the late 80s. Following a seven-year stint at Aston Villa, the Australian returned to Old Trafford in 1999 as a replacement for Peter Schmeichel in the wake of the Treble-winning season.

Just a year later though, Bosnich found himself third-choice behind new signing Fabien Barthez and veteran Raimond van der Gouw. Amid question marks over his antics off the pitch, he left for Chelsea the following summer, having also lost his place in the Australian national side.

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Jeff Stelling has been recalling Bosnich’s ill-fated second spell at Old Trafford with another Aussie stopper, Mark Schwarzer, in the Football’s Greatest podcast. Reciting Ferguson’s 2013 autobiography, Stelling said: “Sir Alex Ferguson in his book described him as a ‘terrible professional’, to which Bozzy responded, ‘I’m honoured just to be mentioned’.

Giving his take, Schwarzer said: “He’s pretty comfortable about being honest about how things happened and unfolded. I think it’s difficult for him to disagree. He had such a turbulent lifestyle going on and he had other issues. I can’t even imagine what he was going through.”

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Mark Bosnich had a tough two years at Manchester United following his arrival from Aston Villa
(Image: Allsport)

Schwarzer suggested Bosnich was hiding nothing from the start. He said: “He had very big shoes to fill in Peter Schmeichel. From afar, there seemed to be off-field issues. Maybe he and Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t see eye to eye. He had an up-and-down time.

“There were periods when he played really well and then obviously it ended pretty quickly and he ended up going to Chelsea. It was a tough time for him, definitely. I don’t know whether he was up against from the minute he walked through the door.”