SAF's quotes

[silverhoop]

Just 10 of my favourite quotes from SAF’s illustrious 27 years as Manchester United manager.

1. “Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that”(Sir Alex Ferguson after been beaten by Arsenal for a second time in the league 2006 season}

2. “You’re a fuckin’ bottler Incey! You cannae handle the stage, can you? You are a fuckin’ bottler!” (Alex Ferguson to Paul Ince at half-time, Barcelona, 1994.)

3. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Football. Bloody hell.”(Alex Ferguson after winning the European Cup on May 26th, 1999.)

4. “I thought the first 45 minutes were the best of my time as a manager.”
(Alex Ferguson after United had come back from 2-0 down to beat Juventus 3-2 in Turin, Italy in what was later heralded as one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.)

5. “I’m privileged to have followed Sir Matt because all you have to do is to try and maintain the standards that he set so many years ago.”
(Alex Ferguson after equalling Sir Matt Busby’s Premiership record)

6. “At the end of this game, the European Cup will be only six feet away from you and you’ll not even able to touch it if we lose. And for many of you that will be the closest you will ever get. Don’t you dare come back in here without giving your all”.
o Alex Ferguson’s half time team talk during the 1999 European Cup Final

7. “It would have been Sir Matt Busby’s 90th birthday today, but I think he was up there doing a lot of kicking.”(Alex Ferguson post match after winning the European Cup 1999)

8. “My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. And you can print that.”(Sir Alex Ferguson responding to Alan Hansen questioning Sir Alex Ferguson’s future as Manchester United manager in September 2002 in the Guardian.)

9. “They say he’s an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages! I’ve got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!” (Sir Alex Ferguson on Arsene Wenger)

10. “If he was an inch taller he’d be the best centre half in Britain. His father is 6ft 2in - I’d check the milkman.” (Sir Alex Ferguson on Gary Neville)

[SpiralArchitect]

8. “My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. And you can print that.”(Sir Alex Ferguson responding to Alan Hansen questioning Sir Alex Ferguson’s future as Manchester United manager in September 2002 in the Guardian.)

9. “They say he’s an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages! I’ve got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!” (Sir Alex Ferguson on Arsene Wenger)

These two quotes to me defined what SAF had been all about in his time in EPL. Brash, uncompromising, ever ready to cut his opponents to size and at the end of the day more determined that anyone else to make sure that his team triumphs.

Reading his autobiography right now. Its not great but its SAF. That'll do for me.

[hdejong]

6. “At the end of this game, the European Cup will be only six feet away from you and you’ll not even able to touch it if we lose. And for many of you that will be the closest you will ever get. Don’t you dare come back in here without giving your all”.
o Alex Ferguson’s half time team talk during the 1999 European Cup Final

I absolutely love this quote from SAF

[Denis Hard]

A few more:

1 Sometimes in football you have to hold your hand up and say, yeah, they're better than us.
2 The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work.
3 Well, football is a hard game; there's no denying it. It's a game that can bring out the worst in you, at times.
4 “The players couldn’t pick each other out. They said it was difficult to see their team-mates at distance when they lifted their heads. It was nothing to do with superstition. This club went 26 years without winning the league and we didn’t think about changing the red shirts. It’s nothing to do with that at all.”
5 “He was blessed with great stamina, the best of all the players I’ve had here. After training, he’d always be practising, practising, ­practising. But his life changed when he met his wife. She’s in pop and David got another image. He’s developed this ‘fashion thing’ - I saw his transition to a different person.”