Owner picking the team for the manager? Who is Fergie talking about?
Earlier this week Sir Alex Ferguson made an off-the-cuff remark which directly compromised the integrity of Premier League managers and the very institution of football that we, as fans, put their faith in.
He was answering a question about Eriksson’s predicament at Manchester City, and he said:
“At some other clubs the owners want to pick the team. I know at one club the owner faxes his team to the manager every Saturday morning. Can you believe that?”
I’m a United fan and I love the old man but this is clearly Jose Mourinho territory, and deserves either a fuller explanation or a retraction if no explanation is forth-coming. Either he knows for sure, in which case people deserve to know the truth about who it is, or he’s going on hearsay and rumours, in which case it’s an unnecessary comment and creates a disturbance where there is no need for one.
As explanations go, Fergie hasn’t said that the manager picks the team the owner asks him to, he’s just alluded to it. Also, an owner telling the manager who to pick isn’t exactly a novel idea - I’m sure it’s happened before and I’m sure this sort of stuff will get more center-stage attention as more and more takeovers happen in the public spotlight.
Sorry old man, but we can’t really pick on Wenger, Rafa and company and then turn a blind eye to what you say. Plus we’re very, very curious to who it is. My bet is on Fulham, although the obvious candidate is Chelsea and the less obvious but plausible other candidate is Newcastle. Anyone has any ideas on who Fergie’s said club could be, assuming that they’re in the Premier League?
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Discussion - 6 Responses
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i say its the owner off hearts in scotland… Fergie never said it was in the EPL and alot of managers have quit that club club since he took over
I agree with the post above, definitely Hearts and Romanov
yup its gotta be hearts and romanov
thats what I thought when I first read about it
I don’t think it would happen in the premier league.
Mourinho wouldn’t have agreed to it at chelski and I don’t think Grant would agree to it either…if he had then I would have thought we would have been seeing more of shevchenko.
“people deserve to know the truth”? God above help us. What utter tripe. You sound like the Sunday People/NOTW/Sun.
The man is merely stating what he knows but excercising his intgrity - something the author of this article is a stranger to.
I think its just more ‘mind games’ from SAF…;)
It’s pretty much common knowledge that Romanov picks the side at Hearts. He’s in the business of trading players and wants to make sure his assets are in the shop window. Stephen Frail, the latest in a line of caretaker managers, is at least a nod towards the fans being an ex-player, but moving from youth team coach to first team coach hasn’t convinced anyone that Romanov has stopped the interfering that has led to several managers leaving and one having a nervous breakdown!