Wednesday 30 October 2013

Alex Ferguson's bitterness towards Liverpool has roots before he was at Old ... - Mirror.co.uk

Funny how the old rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United still simmers despite the widening gap between the two clubs over the past two decades.

Fergie's book is a case in point. You'd have thought Taggart's stunt double would have a few better things to ruminate on, after 25 years in the Old Trafford hot seat, than Jordan Henderson's knees or Steven Gerrard's claims to international status.

Liverpool are under his skin though , always have been. It's an historic thing, and not just because they were the dominant force in European football when he took over in Manchester.

It began back in 1980 when his cocky Aberdeen side were taken apart - and down a peg or two - in the European Cup by quite possibly the best Reds team Anfield has ever seen. Significantly, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Graeme Souness were all in the side that trounced the Dons 4-0 in the home leg.

Given his status as arguably the greatest manager of all time, you'd have thought Ferguson would feel insecure in the presence of no one. That trio though, have always provoked his Glasgow street-fighting chippiness, in part because they were able to look down on his record as a player and manager for so long.

Time has not healed the fractious relationship between these Scottish greats, which came to a head in the 1986 World Cup when Ferguson, as temporary Scotland manager, controversially axed dropped Hansen - with Dalglish equally controversially withdrawing - from the squad for the finals, and then left Souness out of the final group game.

 

Liverpool's 80s dominance was a factor, but perhaps a greater influence was the order of things in Scottish football folklore for so many years, with even the United boss perhaps always perceiving himself as behind the trio.

As a player he was never on their level, and even in management he was eclipsed by Dalglish and that great Liverpool team in his formative years. The pain of that has never quite disappeared.

Hence his (admittedly justified) gleeful dig at Dalglish in the book for his role in the Suarez t-shirt debacle. And his apparent obsession with all things Anfield.

Gerrard is the greatest case in point, a bizarre put down from the former United manager when he tried to sign the midfielder on two, if not three, separate occasions.

Yet it was the first occasion, way back in 1994 when Gerrard was a 14 year old boy who spent a week on trial at Old Trafford, and was immediately offered a YTS contract, such was his impact.

Gerrard remembers the period clearly, because he basically received letters and calls from Ferguson for weeks afterwards, and used them rather single-mindedly to draw from Liverpool the offer he was always going to hold out for.

The thing with Ferguson though, he has a long memory. And he also has an appetite for dishes that are served not just cold, but icy...as his book proves beyond doubt.

No comments:

Post a Comment