EXCLUSIVE: Sir Alex Ferguson took Manchester United players by surprise with how far ahead of his time he was and his hands-on approach when he replaced ‘flamboyant’ Ron Atkinson
Sir Alex Ferguson took Manchester United players by surprise with how far ahead of his time he was and his hands-on approach.
The legendary Scot replaced Ron Atkinson as United manager in 1986, coming down from Scotland to topple Liverpool’s dominance after being the most recent manager to break the Old Firm’s hold on the Scottish title, and lifting the European Cup Winners’ Cup and European Super Cup.
Ferguson went on to unparalleled success across his near 27 years in the Old Trafford dugout. But first had to prove himself to an underperforming Red Devils squad that needed kicking into shape.
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Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport, via best online casinos UK, Clayton Blackmore, who played 12 years in the first team at United, admitted that some players were taken aback by Ferguson’s approach and demands.
He said: “Do you mean not drinking? Yeah, probably. To be fair we were all drinking at the time. I think it wasn’t just us, it was every club. Every team was doing it. I know the Liverpool lads were after it all the time.
“I think it went hand in hand and I think the problem was when you play in football after the game, you’re hyper. You can’t get to sleep anyway. So we used to go out then have a few drinks and then let nature take its course.
“Obviously looking back now you’re thinking obviously we shouldn’t have been because you should be rehydrating and getting ready for the next game – because we used to play Saturday, Wednesdays then.
“So if you’re playing on Wednesday you’re really dehydrating yourself for the game on the Saturday by being out till three or four in the morning. There was a couple that took it a bit too far.”
Ferguson’s arrival was a huge culture shock to the players with his manner and style completely different to that of his predecessor Atkinson. “Well I mean Ron was very flamboyant, wasn’t he? He showed up just wearing loads of gold necklaces,” Blackmore recalled.
“Even in training, training used to be around Ron. He set up training so he could be playing in midfield and spraying balls around. When we’ve got Ray Wilkins, he could do it. So Ray is having to wait while Ron is pinging balls around and he loved the whole thing. I think he was living the dream,
“But Sir Alex came in and I think people didn’t realise how far ahead he was of other people. They’ve got the sports science and all in now, but he started us coming in after the game to get rid of the lactic acid.
“He’d be actually massaging us, him, Archie Knox, and the physio, because that’s how many staff we needed in them days. We didn’t need a thousand staff. I remember him washing my legs down as well.
“But he was that far ahead back in the day and he was very meticulous. He’d do a little dossier on the opposition.
“They used to go out all the time, watch the opposition and teams were going to play, and we’d know exactly what’s what. But as a footballer, you should know that anyway. Once you’ve been in the league a year or two, you should know everybody you’re playing against.”