Ode to Alex

No, I am not a Man United fan. I was put on this world to suffer, and therefore my undying allegiance is to Middlesbrough FC. I do feel moved, however, to make my first ever blog-posting a declaration of great respect for Sir Alex Ferguson.

During eight years as manager at Aberdeen, Ferguson broke the stranglehold that Glasgow Rangers and Celtic had over the Scottish league. He won the Scottish league title three times, as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Scottish Cup. The Old Firm dominance was re-established soon after he left, and Aberdeen will probably never attain such heights again.

Ferguson became Man United manager in November 1986, and in the 20 years that have followed, his passion, desire and commitment to success has been remarkable. The United of Hughes, Cantona, Ince, Bruce and Kanchelskis won the Permiership in '93 and the league/FA Cup double in '94. Then Ince, Kanchelskis and Hughes left. Cantona had a moment of madness that saw him banned for 10 months. Alan Hansen said of United, in August '95, that they would win nothing with 'kids'. Less than a year later, the kids won the Double again. Three years after that they won the league, FA cup and Champions' League treble, probably the greatest ever achievement by any British football team. The kids, apparently, were alright.

Since 1999, Ferguson has weathered the loss of Peter Schmeichel, Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who at their best were all, arguably, the world's best players in their respective positions. Despite these losses, United are currently six points clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premiership and playing breath-taking football. Their manager has an incredible will to win, and is, I am inclined to believe, a basically decent, likeable and (remarkably) humble person. Yes, he can be short-tempered, and kicking football boots into people's faces (inadvertently) is not something to be at all proud of, but compared to some other managers, he generally behaves with conspicuous decency. He is a far more gracious loser than Arsene Wenger, and would never, unlike his Chelsea counter-part, refer to himself as 'a special one'.

The question of Ferguson's qualities as a person is entirely open to debate. He is probably loved and loathed in equal measure. That his achievements make him arguably the best British football manager of all time is a simple statement of fact, and I feel privileged to have grown up during his management years. Happy birthday Fergie!