MAN-U MANAGER

The Longest serving manager in
British history announced yesterday
that he will be stepping down from
the Old Trafford hot seat after 26
years in charge of the Premier
League giants.
Below are 10 facts about the 71-
year old Scot that many people do
not know courtesy of BBC.
1. Once ran a pub : Ferguson has
worked outside football, starting out
as an apprentice toolmaker and shop
steward in Glasgow and much later
running a pub that he renamed
Fergie's with a downstairs bar named
the Elbow Room in memory of his
physical style as a player.
2. Intrigued by JFK: Gordon Brown
sent him numerous CDs about the
assassination of JFK. Ferguson
bonded with Brown over a shared
interest in US politics. "Gordon sent
me 35 CDs on it, which was brilliant
of him," he told Manchester radio
station Key 103 in 2007.
Ferguson is fascinated with JFK. He
said he kept JFK's autopsy report by
his bed. He also has a copy of the
Warren Report signed by [the former
US president] Gerald Ford.
3. Gave the young Kenny Dalglish
lifts: When Ferguson was at Rangers
he gave lifts to a young Kenny
Dalglish who was hoping to be
signed. "Fergie used to give us a lift
into town. He had such a big car,"
Dalglish told the Guardian.
When Dalglish was picked up by city
rivals Celtic he was forced to play
centre back and mark Ferguson in a
reserve team game.
4. Told Alastair Campbell to get a
masseur for Tony Blair: Ferguson
was a big Labour donor and advised
Tony Blair on leadership. The idea of
getting a masseur for the election
"battle bus" may have been a step
too far, he later admitted. Better
advice was when he said: "So long as
you can keep all your key people in
the same room at the same time,
you'll be fine."
5. Not the longest serving
manager : Ferguson was manager of
Manchester United for 26-and-a-half
years. The longest serving league
manager in Europe was Guy Roux,
who occupied the hotseat at French
team Auxerre for 44 years, finally
stepping down in 2005.
Ferguson isn't even the longest
serving Scottish manager. Willie
Maley was Celtic manager from
1897-1940, clocking up 43 years.
6. Used to jump over walls as a
boy: He grew up in a poor area of
Glasgow where there wasn't much
to do apart from play football, fight
and jump over walls, known as
dykes. "The dangerous ones had
names - the king, the queen, the
suicide, the diamond, the spiky,"
Ferguson once said. "You'd go to
different areas of Govan to challenge
each other into jumping dykes
because it was very dangerous. But
you do that when you're a kid
because you've got no fear."
7. "Fergie time" is 79
seconds: "Fergie time" is the widely
held belief by supporters of other
team, that if Man Utd are losing
after 90 minutes, the referee will
extend injury time long enough for
them to equalise or win.
Last year, the BBC analysed Fergie
time. It found that Man Utd were
not unique in being given extra
injury time when they were losing,
although it appeared they got more
than other teams. Games went on
79 seconds longer when Manchester
United were losing than winning.
Man Utd's towering achievement -
securing the treble with victory in
the 1999 European Champions
League - was achieved in Fergie
time, when they reversed a Bayern
Munich lead, by scoring two goals
after the 90th minute.
8. Alex or Alec? Many people in
football refer to him as Sir Alec,
assuming that his Scottish
background will mean his name is
pronounced in that way. But
Scotland is strangely split on the
Alex/Alec question, with people
slipping between the two, often
without noticing.
BBC Sportsound presenter Richard
Gordon said he had found himself
using both forms. He said that
former Ferguson colleague Willie
Miller often calls him Alec when
talking on the radio and ex-Scotland
manager Craig Brown is prone to
using the informal Alec, quickly
followed by the more respectable Sir
Alex.
Carole Hough, professor of
onomastics, says she can think of no
particular reason why people would
choose one or the other, except that
Alec is slightly shorter. She said both
names were popular in Scotland and
England, with Alec perhaps having
more currency north of the border.
9. The "hairdryer treatment" and
"squeaky bum time": Ferguson was
responsible for two memorable
coinages. Players speak in awestruck
tones of what it is like to be on the
receiving end of Sir Alex's temper.
The "hairdryer" - for its sound and
heat - became the chosen phrase.
Players talk of the moment a switch
is flicked in Fergie's head, he presses
his face close to you and emits a
terrifying torrent of abuse. Former
United winger Lee Sharpe - famed
for his extracurricular activities - has
been credited with inventing the
term.
David Beckham said: "The fear of
getting the hairdryer was the reason
why we all played so well. He was a
manager you wanted to do well for."
Ferguson also put his finger on the
agony of watching a tense sporting
moment. It is thought he first used
"squeaky bum time" in March 2003
as his Manchester United team
clawed back the lead from rivals
Arsenal in a tense finale.
It has become part of the football
argot, especially at the climax of a
season. It first entered the Collins
English dictionary in 2005 with the
definition "the tense final stages of a
league competition, especially from
the point of view of the leaders".
Wikipedia notes the act of
"squirming or moving forward and
back in one's seat while watching an
exciting sporting event".
10. Home is called
Fairfields : Ferguson lives in a
mansion in Wilmslow, Cheshire. It is
called Fairfields after the shipyard
where his father worked.
-BBCThe Longest serving manager in
British history announced yesterday
that he will be stepping down from
the Old Trafford hot seat after 26
years in charge of the Premier
League giants.
Below are 10 facts about the 71-
year old Scot that many people do
not know courtesy of BBC.
1. Once ran a pub : Ferguson has
worked outside football, starting out
as an apprentice toolmaker and shop
steward in Glasgow and much later
running a pub that he renamed
Fergie's with a downstairs bar named
the Elbow Room in memory of his
physical style as a player.
2. Intrigued by JFK: Gordon Brown
sent him numerous CDs about the
assassination of JFK. Ferguson
bonded with Brown over a shared
interest in US politics. "Gordon sent
me 35 CDs on it, which was brilliant
of him," he told Manchester radio
station Key 103 in 2007.
Ferguson is fascinated with JFK. He
said he kept JFK's autopsy report by
his bed. He also has a copy of the
Warren Report signed by [the former
US president] Gerald Ford.
3. Gave the young Kenny Dalglish
lifts: When Ferguson was at Rangers
he gave lifts to a young Kenny
Dalglish who was hoping to be
signed. "Fergie used to give us a lift
into town. He had such a big car,"
Dalglish told the Guardian.
When Dalglish was picked up by city
rivals Celtic he was forced to play
centre back and mark Ferguson in a
reserve team game.
4. Told Alastair Campbell to get a
masseur for Tony Blair: Ferguson
was a big Labour donor and advised
Tony Blair on leadership. The idea of
getting a masseur for the election
"battle bus" may have been a step
too far, he later admitted. Better
advice was when he said: "So long as
you can keep all your key people in
the same room at the same time,
you'll be fine."
5. Not the longest serving
manager : Ferguson was manager of
Manchester United for 26-and-a-half
years. The longest serving league
manager in Europe was Guy Roux,
who occupied the hotseat at French
team Auxerre for 44 years, finally
stepping down in 2005.
Ferguson isn't even the longest
serving Scottish manager. Willie
Maley was Celtic manager from
1897-1940, clocking up 43 years.
6. Used to jump over walls as a
boy: He grew up in a poor area of
Glasgow where there wasn't much
to do apart from play football, fight
and jump over walls, known as
dykes. "The dangerous ones had
names - the king, the queen, the
suicide, the diamond, the spiky,"
Ferguson once said. "You'd go to
different areas of Govan to challenge
each other into jumping dykes
because it was very dangerous. But
you do that when you're a kid
because you've got no fear."
7. "Fergie time" is 79
seconds: "Fergie time" is the widely
held belief by supporters of other
team, that if Man Utd are losing
after 90 minutes, the referee will
extend injury time long enough for
them to equalise or win.
Last year, the BBC analysed Fergie
time. It found that Man Utd were
not unique in being given extra
injury time when they were losing,
although it appeared they got more
than other teams. Games went on
79 seconds longer when Manchester
United were losing than winning.
Man Utd's towering achievement -
securing the treble with victory in
the 1999 European Champions
League - was achieved in Fergie
time, when they reversed a Bayern
Munich lead, by scoring two goals
after the 90th minute.
8. Alex or Alec? Many people in
football refer to him as Sir Alec,
assuming that his Scottish
background will mean his name is
pronounced in that way. But
Scotland is strangely split on the
Alex/Alec question, with people
slipping between the two, often
without noticing.
BBC Sportsound presenter Richard
Gordon said he had found himself
using both forms. He said that
former Ferguson colleague Willie
Miller often calls him Alec when
talking on the radio and ex-Scotland
manager Craig Brown is prone to
using the informal Alec, quickly
followed by the more respectable Sir
Alex.
Carole Hough, professor of
onomastics, says she can think of no
particular reason why people would
choose one or the other, except that
Alec is slightly shorter. She said both
names were popular in Scotland and
England, with Alec perhaps having
more currency north of the border.
9. The "hairdryer treatment" and
"squeaky bum time": Ferguson was
responsible for two memorable
coinages. Players speak in awestruck
tones of what it is like to be on the
receiving end of Sir Alex's temper.
The "hairdryer" - for its sound and
heat - became the chosen phrase.
Players talk of the moment a switch
is flicked in Fergie's head, he presses
his face close to you and emits a
terrifying torrent of abuse. Former
United winger Lee Sharpe - famed
for his extracurricular activities - has
been credited with inventing the
term.
David Beckham said: "The fear of
getting the hairdryer was the reason
why we all played so well. He was a
manager you wanted to do well for."
Ferguson also put his finger on the
agony of watching a tense sporting
moment. It is thought he first used
"squeaky bum time" in March 2003
as his Manchester United team
clawed back the lead from rivals
Arsenal in a tense finale.
It has become part of the football
argot, especially at the climax of a
season. It first entered the Collins
English dictionary in 2005 with the
definition "the tense final stages of a
league competition, especially from
the point of view of the leaders".
Wikipedia notes the act of
"squirming or moving forward and
back in one's seat while watching an
exciting sporting event".
10. Home is called
Fairfields : Ferguson lives in a
mansion in Wilmslow, Cheshire. It is
called Fairfields after the shipyard
where his father worked.
-BBC