0:00:08 > 0:00:11I thought what was interesting about him
0:00:11 > 0:00:16was the strength he had as a leader, combined with what was obviously
0:00:16 > 0:00:20a very reflective self-analysis.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27He could be the father confessor, the motivational speaker,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31the priest, the judge, the jury, the Lord High Executioner,
0:00:31 > 0:00:36the puppet master and the inspirational figure
0:00:36 > 0:00:38all in the course of one day.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44You saw where particular individuals were starting to become
0:00:44 > 0:00:47far too important in their own right
0:00:47 > 0:00:50and he showed and demonstrated that he could do without them.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58His relentless need for success and have that desire
0:00:58 > 0:01:02to do better and to make sure that we don't stand still.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08You just trusted him.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10That was the big thing, because he'd won so much,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13you'd just think, I'm going to go with it.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19What does it take to be a great leader?
0:01:19 > 0:01:22That's what people flock here to the London Business School
0:01:22 > 0:01:25from all over the world to find out and a lucky few today
0:01:25 > 0:01:28are going to hear from one of the greats.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31No, he's not a billionaire from Silicon Valley,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33he's not a general who's led his troops into battle.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35He's certainly not a politician.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39He is, though, a man who, for more than a quarter of a century,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42masterminded one of this country's greatest brands.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46I have studied and analysed leaders all my life
0:01:46 > 0:01:51but I never saw one quite as successful as Sir Alex Ferguson.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It's my very great pleasure to welcome Sir Alex Ferguson.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11What is the secret of his success?
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Professor Anita Elberse of the Harvard Business School
0:02:15 > 0:02:16has studied it.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Together, they take classes,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21addressing the next generation of business leaders.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Today in London,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25these students are getting a crash course in leadership -
0:02:25 > 0:02:27the Ferguson way.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29So what we're going to be doing is a case study
0:02:29 > 0:02:30like we do those at Harvard
0:02:30 > 0:02:32and this is a good test to see
0:02:32 > 0:02:34whether you guys are as smart as the people at Harvard.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39Many regard him as the best coach in all of sports.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Why is he such a great coach?
0:02:41 > 0:02:42He's sat next to me!
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Um, I would say...
0:02:45 > 0:02:48LAUGHTER
0:02:48 > 0:02:53I would say he's won everything there is to win many times.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54Er, Helena?
0:02:54 > 0:02:57He's got a really strong vision. He wants to win.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01And he's ruthlessly executing against that, every single time.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05'It's still Ryan Giggs. He's past Keown, past Dixon...
0:03:05 > 0:03:08'and has scored a sensational goal!'
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Winning was what Sir Alex did again and again and again.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16When he retired, he'd won an amazing 49 trophies in his career.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18'Ronaldo!
0:03:18 > 0:03:20'Right-footed, it's a clear header...
0:03:20 > 0:03:21'and it's into the net!'
0:03:21 > 0:03:23CHEERING
0:03:23 > 0:03:25And I just needed a miracle.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26And of course, we got one.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30'He tries to spread himself as wide as he can.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34'He makes the save for Manchester United!
0:03:34 > 0:03:36'Van der Sar!'
0:03:36 > 0:03:38No-one is likely to ever match his record
0:03:38 > 0:03:43of winning 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League trophies.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47I think no doubt he's one of the best coaches ever.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Not just because I was...
0:03:49 > 0:03:50He was my leader,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55so in history, no question, probably the best one.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57What does all this have to do with business?
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Why is this worthy of study at a business school?
0:04:02 > 0:04:05One person who knows the answer to that question
0:04:05 > 0:04:08is former Manchester United Chief Executive David Gill.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11He understood that in order to have a successful football team,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13and get what he wanted on the pitch,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16the business of Manchester United had to be very successful.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19His leadership skills meant that he could understand
0:04:19 > 0:04:21what we were trying to do as a club.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25I think the fact that the club was champions for so many years
0:04:25 > 0:04:27and has got such a reputation across the world,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30that you have to put that down to his great management
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and that had the knock-on effect
0:04:33 > 0:04:37of creating great financial revenues for the organisations.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39It's about time I turned over to the man himself.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Please, again, join me in welcoming Sir Alex Ferguson.
0:04:47 > 0:04:48Thank you.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Tomorrow, at Haydock Park,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54I've a horse running called Hairdryer.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56LAUGHTER True!
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Sir Alex's record attracted the attention of one of the world's
0:05:00 > 0:05:04most successful investors - writer and billionaire Michael Moritz
0:05:04 > 0:05:08who made his money backing Apple and PayPal and Google.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13Moritz has been a student of leadership for decades.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16I started looking around for the people in organisations
0:05:16 > 0:05:22who had been able to steer an organisation to perform
0:05:22 > 0:05:26at a very high level of excellence, consistently, for a very long time.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29And that's what piqued my curiosity
0:05:29 > 0:05:32about Sir Alex and Manchester United.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Sir Alex is the first person to say that his world is football
0:05:36 > 0:05:42but the elements and rudiments of leadership are universal skills
0:05:42 > 0:05:47that are as applicable to a multi-national corporation,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49a boy scout troop, a church organization
0:05:49 > 0:05:51as they are to a football club.
0:05:53 > 0:05:59A club made in his image, shaped by his values, forged by his character.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Sir Alex Ferguson has legendary status at Old Trafford.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07As a lifelong United fan myself, I don't claim to be impartial.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Ah, welcome. Great to see you. Professor Ferguson.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14'But I've always wanted to understand
0:06:14 > 0:06:17'the ingredients of the Fergie Formula for success.'
0:06:17 > 0:06:20As I was watching you at London Business School,
0:06:20 > 0:06:25I was sitting next to a Chinese, a Russian, a Uruguayan, an Italian.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Did you ever think you would find yourself
0:06:27 > 0:06:33lecturing on leadership to the young entrepreneurs from around the world?
0:06:33 > 0:06:36The thing about it, the challenge is it's young people
0:06:36 > 0:06:41and I've always enjoyed my interaction with young people.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44I've always enjoyed my time as a manager producing young players,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48because with young people, you know, it's amazing how they surprise you
0:06:48 > 0:06:50when you give them an opportunity.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Now, back at the business school, you had on the whiteboard,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57all those people that can crowd in on a football manager...
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Yeah. ..who think they've got a right to have a say. Yeah.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03And you wiped a whole series of them off.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06This is a great bit. Where's that duster?
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Get rid of all these. They don't mean a thing.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14They don't mean anything.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Oh, sorry, fans should be there, sorry.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:07:24 > 0:07:27What was the essence left behind? Well, there's a core.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Look at the core because you can get trapped
0:07:29 > 0:07:32in the periphery of things that are happening.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33Your players and your staff,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36they're the important issues of the whole thing.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40And, of course, you hope that, then, that transfers
0:07:40 > 0:07:43your results into keeping fans happy because that's my job.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Fans just want their team to win
0:07:48 > 0:07:53but Ferguson insists that his job involves a lot more than that.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Most managers go to a football club because it's a result industry.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00They're there to turn the fortunes of the first team.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03That's why they get the job. I never thought that way.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07My philosophy was to build a football club.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Sir Alex made Man United, as a club,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13to think in a certain way.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17I think he modelled the club around his view,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19around his personality.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I think Man United will be always influenced
0:08:22 > 0:08:25by what he did
0:08:25 > 0:08:29as a manager in the club.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31The club was made at his image.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35I think the strength of United is this great family spirit
0:08:35 > 0:08:41we always created. And people who thrive and be recognised.
0:08:41 > 0:08:42You don't mean the star players?
0:08:42 > 0:08:44You're talking about the people round the club.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Yeah, they're no problem. I mean, the players,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49you're with them all the time. That's the difference.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53As a manager at Manchester United, you could easily walk by someone.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57A girl came out of the office and not recognise them.
0:08:57 > 0:08:58I wouldn't do that.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01I would say "hello", "good morning", whatever.
0:09:01 > 0:09:02And I think it's that recognition
0:09:02 > 0:09:05that gives you that strength of a family.
0:09:05 > 0:09:06There's a dinner lady called Carol.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10She hammers him. "What you got on today? What is that?"
0:09:10 > 0:09:13And he'd laugh and he'd go back at her and he'd start talking about
0:09:13 > 0:09:15her hair or something or whatever.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18That's the way he is. People don't see that side of him a lot,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20but he was really, really good like that.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24He had this unbelievable ability of remembering everyone's name.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Obviously, he knows Cath on reception and the laundry girls
0:09:28 > 0:09:31and the chefs and the cleaners.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34You've got 65, 70 players.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36You've got to remember all their names.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Plus the schoolboys, that's another 30 or 40.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42He knew all the names because he took an interest in what
0:09:42 > 0:09:45they were doing and how they were progressing.
0:09:45 > 0:09:46He was the top man and if he's doing it,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49then everyone else should be doing it as well.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Everyone loves him there in the club.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57He'd invite everyone to come for lunch, uh...
0:09:57 > 0:09:58for a cup of tea.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00English cup of tea.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03So it is... It was a family.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05It was a family with him.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07And leaders often forget that, right?
0:10:07 > 0:10:10That it's just as much about the ladies doing the laundry,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12and making sure that they're happy
0:10:12 > 0:10:14as it is about making sure
0:10:14 > 0:10:16that Cristiano Ronaldo is having a great day.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20The family Ferguson created at United
0:10:20 > 0:10:22was inculcated with the values
0:10:22 > 0:10:24he'd learnt from his family,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27growing up in Glasgow in the '40s and '50s
0:10:27 > 0:10:30in the shadow of the Govan shipyards.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32I want to get you to look at an image
0:10:32 > 0:10:34of the place you grew up.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Govan. Govan. That's the shipyards.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39Of course, two cranes there.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42I lived only a mile and a half from there.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Sometimes I used to go and wait on my dad coming out the gates
0:10:46 > 0:10:48at around about five o'clock.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50You know, even though the temperatures
0:10:50 > 0:10:52and the wind that came down that Clyde,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54it never stopped them from working,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56never stopped them from building ships.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59So toughness against the odds? Absolutely.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01They would never bow, these people.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03I was proud to be brought up in that kind of environment.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Let's take a look at your parents.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09There we are, there's the Fergusons. Yeah.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13And you see the ties? There were footballs on them.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17There were... Even at that age? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, my dad was...
0:11:17 > 0:11:19My dad played for Glentoran in Northern Ireland.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22He worked in Harland and Wolff in Northern Ireland for a spell.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24And you didn't want to get on the wrong side of him?
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Oh, no way. No, he was...
0:11:26 > 0:11:28He wasn't the type who would punish you,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30but his voice was enough.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32He was a quiet man. But when he...
0:11:32 > 0:11:36he wasn't happy with you, he raised the voice and that was enough.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38So you didn't want to be on the wrong side of him,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41he was a stickler for keeping time... Yeah, yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Does it sound a bit familiar? Stayed with me all my life.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47I love to be early. You know, I'm always early.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49But there must have been clashes.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Were there moments where you thought...? Well, my dad...
0:11:52 > 0:11:54..cos any teenager with their dad... Oh, yeah.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56..would fall out quite badly...
0:11:56 > 0:11:59We never spoke for about seven or eight months for a while,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02because he wanted me to go to junior football...
0:12:02 > 0:12:05You didn't speak for seven or eight months? Yeah.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08He wanted me to go to junior football to protect me,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10if I didn't make it in senior football.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Did you learn that sometimes keeping quiet
0:12:14 > 0:12:17can be just as worrying for someone...?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Absolutely, yeah. Just as good for a leader to do.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Yeah, absolutely. Quieter moments. I remember we were down 3-0
0:12:23 > 0:12:27at half-time at Tottenham Hotspurs, I never says a word.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30They were ready to go out, I says, "The next goal's a winner.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34"Let's score the first goal and see where it takes us,"
0:12:34 > 0:12:35and we scored within a minute.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43You scored within a minute, you went on to score five! 5-3, yeah.
0:12:43 > 0:12:44You once said something
0:12:44 > 0:12:46that I think a lot of people would find surprising -
0:12:46 > 0:12:48that when you're looking at a footballer,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51one of the first things you wanted to do is look at their mum and dad.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Yeah, absolutely. Definitely.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Try and find out what kind of parents they've got.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57And particularly the mother.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01We used to say to all the scouts, "Get the mother...
0:13:01 > 0:13:02"Get the mother on your side,
0:13:02 > 0:13:04"because she makes all the decisions."
0:13:04 > 0:13:09The father, a lot of the time, can be entranced by his son's progress
0:13:09 > 0:13:12and sort of living in their boots a little bit, you know?
0:13:12 > 0:13:14They live in the glory of the kid.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16The mother wants to do the best for her son.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18No question about that.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21So, in terms of dealing with parents,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24the mother's the most important person.
0:13:24 > 0:13:25He's great with people's mums.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28My mum was there and my wife was there.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30My girlfriend at the time, she was.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32And he just made them feel comfortable
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and I remember them coming out of the room, when we finished,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37and went to the hotel after
0:13:37 > 0:13:39and they were saying, "He was such a nice guy."
0:13:40 > 0:13:43It was Ferguson's reputation as a disciplinarian
0:13:43 > 0:13:45that appealed to Manchester United.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48That and his record at Aberdeen.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50His team beat the mighty Real Madrid
0:13:50 > 0:13:54to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56He arrived at Old Trafford in 1986,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59and before he could revive a once great club,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04he had first to tackle a pernicious drinking culture.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06I was a bit impulsive, I think.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10I called everyone into the gymnasium, all the young players,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12all the staff, all the players.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15So I said to them, "Look, I've read all these stories.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18"I've heard all these stories about the drinking culture.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20"Well, I have to tell you, I won't change.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24"You're all going to have to change. That's a fact."
0:14:24 > 0:14:25I mean, how big a problem was it?
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Well, I think there was a genuinely bad element
0:14:29 > 0:14:31of drinking in the afternoons.
0:14:31 > 0:14:37Going away from the training ground to spend all afternoon drinking.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40People tell stories. People phone the manager
0:14:40 > 0:14:43of Manchester United or Arsenal or Liverpool, tell them,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45"I seen your pair in the pub." It happens. It happens.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48That's the great networking system you have,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50being the manager of Manchester United.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53It's a nice word, "network". It's spies, isn't it?!
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Yeah, well, you need it, you know?
0:14:55 > 0:14:57And I then realised to myself,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00we're not going to win the league with this team.
0:15:00 > 0:15:01So we did a fire sale.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Got rid of about nine players and brought five young players in,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08people who were hungry enough to accept challenge
0:15:08 > 0:15:11and send the club in a different direction.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14'The new leader of another failing organisation
0:15:14 > 0:15:17'faced similar problems just a few years later.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21'Tony Blair's Labour Party had lost four elections in a row.'
0:15:21 > 0:15:24In a sense, you both did the same thing -
0:15:24 > 0:15:26you took over losing teams
0:15:26 > 0:15:30and you had to try and change the culture of those teams.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Is that vital for someone who's a leader?
0:15:33 > 0:15:36To be prepared to challenge the existing culture,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38not live with it as it is?
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Yeah, always the greatest problem when you're leading an organisation
0:15:41 > 0:15:46that is failing is that you take the system as it is
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and you just try to make it work,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51when it may be the system itself that is at fault.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53So, in other words, you know,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57it may be that you can't get a political party back to power
0:15:57 > 0:16:00just by amending the same message.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02You may have to change it completely.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05You know, you may have to redraw the whole boundaries
0:16:05 > 0:16:06of your organisation.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08You may have to, as we had to do with the Labour Party,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10fundamentally shift it.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14He asks and demands discipline and respect.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15It's a balanced approach.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19It's not just showing everyone that he is the guy who has the power.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Step one in the Fergie Leadership Manual -
0:16:22 > 0:16:26assert control and impose discipline.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29The 180-degree opposite to discipline is anarchy.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Well, anarchy won't achieve a thing,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34because people will just shove off in different directions,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38and so discipline is essential
0:16:38 > 0:16:42for any team to achieve the common objective.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46And I think that's true of soccer as it's true of the army.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Sir Alex knew that if you didn't have discipline
0:16:48 > 0:16:51within the organisation, anarchy would break out
0:16:51 > 0:16:55and it would become unwieldy and impossible to manage or to lead.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58I would get into the training ground... Be there about seven.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01I would be there till God knows what time.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04I would stay to watch the academy, whatever, and I was...
0:17:04 > 0:17:07'He arrived very, very early.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10'All the time, he was there in his office to check,'
0:17:10 > 0:17:12to make the training.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15And always the first one in
0:17:15 > 0:17:18and always the last one to go home.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21So I learned this kind of stuff with him.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24And that's something that wasn't lost on the players,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27so if he's in early, why are you not?
0:17:27 > 0:17:30He's been doing it 25, 30 years. Why are you not in before him
0:17:30 > 0:17:34or at least near the same time as him and putting the work in?
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Turning up on time and training hard
0:17:36 > 0:17:40were only the beginning of what the boss demanded from his team.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44I wanted them to be Manchester United in terms of dress,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47made sure they wore their blazer and flannels wherever they went,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50in terms of away from home, in particular.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53And why does it matter, though? For a leader thinking, "Well, who cares?"
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Well, I think you're representing the club that way.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59You walk through an airport and you see the blazer, you see that badge.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02There's Manchester United. They're dressed right, you know?
0:18:02 > 0:18:04So the first time I witnessed that
0:18:04 > 0:18:08was going to Switzerland in a tournament for the youth team.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10And we're all in our blazers and we all got told,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14in no uncertain terms, that, "You're representing Manchester United,
0:18:14 > 0:18:15"both on and off the pitch.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18"So I want you to make sure that you behave yourself around the hotel
0:18:18 > 0:18:20"cos people'll be watching you."
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Your lesson, if you were back in that classroom,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25is those little things matter... Yeah, details.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28..just as much as the big things. Yeah, absolutely. Details. Yeah.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31All points to the top of the mountain, yeah.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34"Points to the top of the mountain." Everything can contribute.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Yeah, absolutely. Just like talking to the laundry girls
0:18:36 > 0:18:38or the canteen staff. Yeah.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Everything makes a difference. They all matter.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43They all matter. A club like United, they seriously matter.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47I want to show you a photograph which might give you a thought
0:18:47 > 0:18:49about some of these issues, as well.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Let's have a quick look. See if you remember this photo.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Remember those? God almighty...
0:18:54 > 0:18:56Why did they do that?
0:18:56 > 0:19:01When was that? That was the '96 Cup Final at Wembley.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I said to Brian Kidd, "1-0."
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Those aren't your players, of course, those are Liverpool.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07Yeah, it's Liverpool, yeah.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10You turned to Brian Kidd, your assistant...
0:19:10 > 0:19:131-0. 1-0. What, just because of this?
0:19:13 > 0:19:14Yeah.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16Because of that.
0:19:16 > 0:19:17I think that's...
0:19:17 > 0:19:21I don't know, what would you call it?
0:19:21 > 0:19:25Arrogance or overconfidence or...
0:19:25 > 0:19:26I don't know. It was ridiculous.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29I think it was absolutely ridiculous.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Blue shirt, red and white tie and a white suit and a blue flower.
0:19:33 > 0:19:34Who designed that?
0:19:34 > 0:19:37And they say it was Armani! Yeah?
0:19:37 > 0:19:39I bet you his sales went down.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42But I'm still working out what it was.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Was it cos they're not taking the game seriously?
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Well...
0:19:46 > 0:19:49I mean, Jamie Redknapp's got sunglasses on...
0:19:49 > 0:19:53But, you know, the most telling part of it is
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Roy Evans and Ron Moran had black suits on.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58I think they were embarrassed.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Liverpool Football Club's a great club with history.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05They've won the European Cup more times than Manchester United.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Between Manchester United and Liverpool,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09they've won more trophies than any club in Britain.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11That didn't represent Liverpool.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13James gets there just first.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Cantona!
0:20:15 > 0:20:20There is to be a memorable end to a poor cup final.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22The Liverpool episode at Wembley,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25where they were wearing the white suits, he would use stuff like that.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27"Have you seen these lot? You seen what they're wearing?
0:20:27 > 0:20:29"They think they've won it already."
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Stuff like that would get into your heads that,
0:20:32 > 0:20:34"What do you mean they think they've won it already?"
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Sir Alex had other ways of getting into his players' heads,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40including what became known as "the hairdryer",
0:20:40 > 0:20:44a term first coined by United striker Mark Hughes.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45The hairdryer...
0:20:45 > 0:20:48LAUGHTER
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Erm, the hairdryer obviously is a myth.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53LAUGHTER
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Let me just put that out there.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58But that apparently was the treatment
0:20:58 > 0:21:01that underperforming players received from Sir Alex.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03And basically he's standing in close proximity
0:21:03 > 0:21:05and he's shouting so hard that your hair goes like this.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09..and shout at you and physically blow you out the room.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11LAUGHTER
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Can I show you a little video?
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Oh, dearie me. Do you know what's coming? No.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24We're not lip reading.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29I wasn't well that day. NICK LAUGHS
0:21:31 > 0:21:33If you were like that on the touchline,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35I wonder what you were like in the changing room?
0:21:35 > 0:21:39I always want to get it off my chest, out of my system
0:21:39 > 0:21:40and kick on from there.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43What I said to them remained in the dressing room.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48I could be really angry, I could be volatile, I could be...
0:21:48 > 0:21:49But it was over.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53And the players knew that. They knew that. I never brought it up again.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56I never held a grudge ever in my life.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59And when you heard it was called the hairdryer, did you think...?
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Honestly, I didn't like it at the time. Honestly.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05I was a bit annoyed, you know? But now...
0:22:05 > 0:22:08You have to... You have to... You can smile.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Put it in the comedy part, you know?
0:22:10 > 0:22:13We played Benfica away and got beat.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16We didn't play well and he was...
0:22:16 > 0:22:18he was shouting at me...
0:22:18 > 0:22:20and I thought I was one of our best players on the day.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23And I was thinking, "What are you shouting at?"
0:22:23 > 0:22:25So I started going back at him, shouting back,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28and the problem is, which I failed to learn quickly,
0:22:28 > 0:22:29is that the more you shout at him,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32the louder he gets and the more aggressive he gets
0:22:32 > 0:22:33and the closer he gets to you.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38He had that skill of have you got to put your arm around someone
0:22:38 > 0:22:42or have you got to lose your temper to get the best out of them?
0:22:42 > 0:22:44I remember him having a go at me at at half-time
0:22:44 > 0:22:47and I had the sort of attitude, "Right, OK, I'll show him."
0:22:47 > 0:22:50And played well the second half.
0:22:50 > 0:22:56So then he quickly knew how I would respond to him losing his temper.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58That followed me for the next 20 years,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00so it was a big mistake early on.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Giggsy sometimes would have to do one thing wrong in a half.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Half-time comes, he hammered... He would hammer Giggsy.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08But that was to show the other players
0:23:08 > 0:23:10no-one's exempt from getting hammered
0:23:10 > 0:23:12and you better all fix up,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14cos I'll be coming for you at full-time
0:23:14 > 0:23:15if you don't sort this out.
0:23:15 > 0:23:22I remember sometimes when we do something bad or we lost some games,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26he'd kick the chairs and he'd kick the boots, he'd kick everything,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30the waters, the drinks, and he's so red
0:23:30 > 0:23:33and, "BLEEP! You should pass the ball, you..."
0:23:33 > 0:23:37It's unbelievable, but it was good, because we learn.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39The great thing about the boss was that,
0:23:39 > 0:23:40the next day, it was forgotten.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43And you'd be walking towards him, approaching him,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46the next day thinking, "Is he going to have a go at me?"
0:23:46 > 0:23:50And he would just crack a joke or he would talk about the next game.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52And how often was it you were just generally furious,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56you got to tell people, and how often was there a bit of calculation?
0:23:56 > 0:23:57A little bit of...
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Sometimes I would lose my temper when we would win.
0:24:00 > 0:24:06Now, the real reason for losing your temper is because of expectation.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09I could never visualise us losing a game.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13You know, by the time I picked my team,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15done the tactics, had my team talk,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18I was confident we'd always win the game.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21But of course you don't win every game, that's a fact.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24But when they drop below their expectation,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26that annoyed me the most, you know?
0:24:26 > 0:24:30No player was too big to be spared the hairdryer -
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Ince, van Nistelrooy, Beckham,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35following that famous bust-up with a flying boot.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39No player, except perhaps Eric Cantona,
0:24:39 > 0:24:43United's iconic French superstar, who got very different treatment,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47even after a spectacular lapse in discipline.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50I want you to take you back a moment, I suspect, is hard for you,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53let alone anybody else, to forget. Let's just take a look.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Oh, yeah.
0:24:57 > 0:24:58Did you see that?
0:24:58 > 0:25:00I didn't see it at all.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02I was looking at the pitch.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05But, Jesus, you know, when you see what he's done.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08It was a problem for the club, because it got such headlines,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10it was front page,
0:25:10 > 0:25:15and we decided to have a meeting at Alderley Edge the next night.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18On our way, I get a phone call from Ritchie Greenbury,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21the chairman of Marks Spencer at the time, Richard.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24And a big United fan? Big United fan.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27He says, "Well, don't let Cantona go.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30"He'll give you great moments of joy."
0:25:30 > 0:25:31And I said, "I know that."
0:25:31 > 0:25:34But, you know, there was the mood of the board,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38so I had to fight the case, "Look, we must keep him.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42"We can't let him go. We can't give in to the mob."
0:25:42 > 0:25:47And we decided to suspend him for four months.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51And the FA were, at the time, were happy with it,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54but somehow they added to it.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57NEWSREEL: Ahead of Cantona, then, seven months of training.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Dull, laborious, unfulfilling.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04Expediency may yet mean that with regret club and player part company.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06But, as the great disciplinarian,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10wasn't your first instinct to think, "He's blown it. He's a great player.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13"I get on with him, but that's too much"? Yeah.
0:26:15 > 0:26:16Well, he had never...
0:26:16 > 0:26:20He had never given us any indication that explosion was there.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24But I decided to approach it this way -
0:26:24 > 0:26:26I would speak to him every day.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29And I would talk to him about football all the time
0:26:29 > 0:26:31and he loved it, you know?
0:26:31 > 0:26:35And that's why all the players say he was my prodigal son.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39But I think he needed different attention.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42He needed different ways of dealing with him.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44He was a different guy from everyone else.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46He's an amazing human being.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49But when you saw that image of him kicking a spectator,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51wasn't there a bit of you that thought,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54"That's exactly the ill discipline that has to stop at this club.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56"I've got to get rid"?
0:26:56 > 0:26:58No, there was something in me that said,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01"I need to do something about him. I need to stand by him."
0:27:01 > 0:27:06Because the world was after him and it was a bit like...
0:27:07 > 0:27:09..no-one was there to help him.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13And I said, "Well, it'll have to be me, cos I'm his manager."
0:27:13 > 0:27:16I think the thing that amazed me, and used to frustrate me at times,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18was his man management.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21I'd never seen him have a go at Eric Cantona, for example.
0:27:21 > 0:27:22Some of the players would resent that,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25"Why's he not having a go at Cantona? He's missed a penalty."
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Or "Why's he not having a go at Cantona? He had an awful game."
0:27:28 > 0:27:30The manager knew, in the long run, that he would come good,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33that he would produce the goods at the right time.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35Yeah, his man management was second to none.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37To have all his honesty
0:27:37 > 0:27:42that allows him to be father, friend,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45brother of a player.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Enemy of a player. But enemy...
0:27:50 > 0:27:52for a few...a few seconds.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55But then the brother comes again or the old brother or the father.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58These human qualities...
0:27:58 > 0:28:00are absolutely crucial to be a great leader.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06The fabulous leader is a very rare individual
0:28:06 > 0:28:10and that person is capable of
0:28:10 > 0:28:15making an organisation do things, making the people,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18persuading, cajoling, nudging,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21caressing, sometimes, the people inside an organisation
0:28:21 > 0:28:25to do something that they weren't, didn't think they were capable of.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28What we have here essentially is a case
0:28:28 > 0:28:31that is about how one person is very effective at managing teams.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34That's not enough, though, for a leader.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37They also need to know how to cull their teams,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39how to be ruthless.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40Yes, over here.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44When they had big players and they had the youth team coming through,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47the confidence to effect the change, sell the big players
0:28:47 > 0:28:49and go with the youth players.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52A good leader has to make tough decisions,
0:28:52 > 0:28:54that's why he or she is a leader.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58And sometimes there are things which are not very nice.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03Erm, you have to lay off a whole group of people, for example.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06200, 300 people, close down a factory.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08In some cases,
0:29:08 > 0:29:12you may have to release a very highly paid individual,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16but you have to do it. It's part and parcel of being a leader.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20As you go through your career, you've got to rebuild the team.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21You have to be ruthless.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25It's the hard part for you, because they do become like family,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28you know, and the great squad of '94,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32the Cantonas and the Inces and Robson
0:29:32 > 0:29:35and these players, Bruce, they get older.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40And the horrible thing is the evidence is on the football field,
0:29:40 > 0:29:41and you can't avoid that.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Some of these issues were played out in the press,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47but he wasn't afraid to make the decision which he thought
0:29:47 > 0:29:50was for the long-term or medium-term benefit of the team.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53And I think that ability to be ruthless is no bad thing,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56but, at the same time, I think he did have compassion
0:29:56 > 0:29:59and I don't think he necessarily found all these decisions easy.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03And it wasn't just players past their peak who were shown
0:30:03 > 0:30:05the red card by Ferguson.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07The scenario with Roy Keane -
0:30:07 > 0:30:10there was a video that he'd done for MUTV
0:30:10 > 0:30:11that the club didn't want to go out.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13The manager thought that it wasn't right,
0:30:13 > 0:30:15it was disrespectful, et cetera, to the team.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18The next day, he told the players that Roy Keane would never come
0:30:18 > 0:30:20back to Man United again.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22He was captain of Man United.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27'Roy Keane lifts the trophy for Manchester United.'
0:30:27 > 0:30:30Best player probably Man United had for a long period of time.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32That was for the next generation.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34"Don't think you're ever bigger than this club, cos you're not.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36"Cos you'll go.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38"I've just told the captain he's never coming back again.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40"What are you going to do now?"
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Hey, this is ridiculous!
0:30:42 > 0:30:44LAUGHTER
0:30:44 > 0:30:47How do you handle a particularly difficult member of the team?
0:30:47 > 0:30:51That was a question which haunted a new Prime Minister
0:30:51 > 0:30:53who turned to Sir Alex for advice.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56We would talk about man management
0:30:56 > 0:30:59and I would say, "Look, such and such an individual is, you know...
0:30:59 > 0:31:02"He might be really brilliant but he's very, very tough.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05"I don't know quite what to do about it."
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Of course, Alex, cos this is how he would run his soccer teams,
0:31:08 > 0:31:09said "Get rid of him".
0:31:09 > 0:31:12And I'd say, "Well, it's all very well, Alex,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14"but how would you be if you got rid of a player
0:31:14 > 0:31:16"but still found them in the dressing room every day?"
0:31:16 > 0:31:19And he said, "Now that would be a problem," he said.
0:31:19 > 0:31:20"That would definitely be a problem."
0:31:20 > 0:31:22I said to him, "You have to keep your control."
0:31:22 > 0:31:24I don't know who he was talking about at the time
0:31:24 > 0:31:26but you have to keep control.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28"You're the Prime Minister. You have to have control."
0:31:28 > 0:31:31You must have guessed he was talking about Gordon Brown.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33I didn't know, actually.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36And I don't think anyone knew till later on
0:31:36 > 0:31:40that there was some sort of...there was some feeling between the two.
0:31:40 > 0:31:41He said to you,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45"What do you do with a player who won't accept the discipline?"
0:31:45 > 0:31:47And you said, "Get him out".
0:31:47 > 0:31:51If they are affecting the control of you or they're disrupting
0:31:51 > 0:31:54the dressing room, you have to make the decision - is it worth it?
0:31:54 > 0:31:57We weren't actually talking about an individual
0:31:57 > 0:31:58but a hypothetical case, as it were.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01But, yeah, his attitude was it doesn't matter
0:32:01 > 0:32:05if he's your best player, if he's difficult, put him out of the room.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09But even Sir Alex sometimes lived to regret his decisions about players.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14I always thought I was brave enough to make decisions,
0:32:14 > 0:32:15maybe sometimes wrong.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19I made a wrong decision with Jaap Stam. That was a mistake.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23One decision we've talked about quite a bit is the decision
0:32:23 > 0:32:26to let Jaap Stam go to an Italian club
0:32:26 > 0:32:31and I think it was based on his belief
0:32:31 > 0:32:33that maybe Jaap Stam would not come back from his injury.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36It's a decision he regrets, because Jaap Stam went on to
0:32:36 > 0:32:39play for six seasons at a very, very high level.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42He played two European cup finals. It was a good decision, wasn't it?
0:32:42 > 0:32:44LAUGHTER
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Changing the team only works, of course,
0:32:47 > 0:32:52if the people who replace those who are let go, the next generation,
0:32:52 > 0:32:53prove to be better.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55You're mentioning youth players.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57What is characteristic of the Ferguson brand
0:32:57 > 0:32:59when it comes to youth? Yes?
0:32:59 > 0:33:01I think it's kind of giving them a lot of,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05a lot of chance to kind of shine and grow as a team. Right.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09MORITZ: 'No structure is going to remain standing
0:33:09 > 0:33:11'unless it's built on a firm foundation,
0:33:11 > 0:33:13'so, for United,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16'this meant above all developing'
0:33:16 > 0:33:20a pipeline of young players,
0:33:20 > 0:33:25um, who, when they were signed, weren't very well-known,
0:33:25 > 0:33:30or when they were purchased, were, in many instances,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33affordable and cheap purchases.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36Building a team around a new generation of talented kids
0:33:36 > 0:33:41may look a safe bet now. At the time, it was a risky gamble.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46So let's take a look at what became known as the Class of '92.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51OK. Look at Scholesy. You'd think he's just out of nursery!
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Well, they weren't. What ages were they there?
0:33:54 > 0:33:58They would be 17. Giggs would be maybe 18.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01And some people look at that group and say, "It was a one-off".
0:34:01 > 0:34:03You were a very lucky man.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07It is not unreasonable to say that but I have to say this.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11We were scouting and trialling and coaching the best in the country.
0:34:11 > 0:34:12I'm sure of that.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17We were obviously characters and we were in the mind-set that once
0:34:17 > 0:34:20we get in this team, we're not going out of it.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23We were lucky in the fact that we had a manager who was willing
0:34:23 > 0:34:28to give us a chance and was willing to gamble, really, on youth.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33And remember this, some thought it wouldn't pay off.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35Brilliantly done!
0:34:35 > 0:34:39The trick is always buy when you're strong. So he needs to buy players.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41You can't win anything with kids.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44Alan Hansen, of course, told you you'd win nothing with kids.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47Well, you can't win anything without them.
0:34:47 > 0:34:52The secret was the development of the character that feared nothing,
0:34:52 > 0:34:55so coming to the first team with me, it was a cakewalk for them.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59They just sailed through it, absolutely no problem.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02These young lads were old heads on young shoulders.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04We worked hard to get there.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07We worked hard, but, yeah, with the right material...
0:35:07 > 0:35:10The first time I played, I came on as a substitute and, yeah,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12I can remember the manager's last words -
0:35:12 > 0:35:14"Just go out and enjoy yourself."
0:35:14 > 0:35:18Um, you're thinking, "What do you mean, enjoy myself?
0:35:18 > 0:35:20"Um, I'm going out to play...
0:35:20 > 0:35:23"You know, I'm going out to play in front of 40-odd thousand
0:35:23 > 0:35:25"and I'm 17
0:35:25 > 0:35:28"and um, I'll try and enjoy it but I don't think I will!"
0:35:28 > 0:35:33But, um, he always said that and, um, like I say, instantly,
0:35:33 > 0:35:34you just felt relaxed.
0:35:34 > 0:35:39That's part of man management and not putting too much pressure on me.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41But also knowing what I was capable of.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45And did you think of yourself, almost as a father figure to them?
0:35:45 > 0:35:48That you were teaching them how to grow up,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51how to behave in the way that your father taught you?
0:35:51 > 0:35:56I think that the character-building does apply itself that way.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59And there are some instances where players would come to me
0:35:59 > 0:36:02with personal problems, knowing it would never go out the door,
0:36:02 > 0:36:05knowing they could trust me to help them
0:36:05 > 0:36:07and I was proud that the players would trust me in that way.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12It was when my daddy was sick in London.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15And he was in hospital, very bad.
0:36:15 > 0:36:16HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:36:16 > 0:36:18INTERPRETER: Coma.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20In coma. In a coma?
0:36:20 > 0:36:22And I had a conversation with him,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26and I say, "Boss, I want to... I don't feel good."
0:36:26 > 0:36:29And we had...we are in a...
0:36:29 > 0:36:32a key moment in the league, in the Champions League, but I said,
0:36:32 > 0:36:34"I don't feel good, I want to see my dad."
0:36:34 > 0:36:36"Cristiano, if you want to go one day,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39"two days, one week, you can go. I'm going to miss you.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42"I'll miss you here, because you know that you are important,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45"but your daddy is in the first place."
0:36:45 > 0:36:49When he told me that, I feel like "This guy is unbelievable."
0:36:49 > 0:36:51He was the father of football for me.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55'Cristiano Ronaldo with a shot and Ronaldo finds the back of the net.
0:36:55 > 0:36:56'It's a stunning goal.'
0:36:56 > 0:36:59He knew what he had under his bonnet with Cristiano as well.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01He knew he had the potential to be a world star,
0:37:01 > 0:37:02best player on the planet.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05And he knew there were certain aspects of his life
0:37:05 > 0:37:07that he needed to take care of and help him with,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09and I think you see that in the way Cristiano
0:37:09 > 0:37:13speaks about the manager now, even after all these years have gone by.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17He refers to him as his father in football, which is testament,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20really, to the way the manager dealt with him.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22Is that power?
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Yes, you have all the power. Yeah.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26Right, a bit of advice.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29I don't think power is very important. I really don't.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32I think the thing I was always after was to make sure I kept my...
0:37:32 > 0:37:34My control.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38Ferguson imposed that control, not just on the pitch, but off it too.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40When I first signed for United,
0:37:40 > 0:37:42I twisted my ankle in my first-ever game,
0:37:42 > 0:37:44so I was out for about six weeks.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46So I got to know the city a little bit better than
0:37:46 > 0:37:47I probably should have.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50And just as I got back to fitness, I went out on the training pitch
0:37:50 > 0:37:53and I saw the manager was just waiting there for the players
0:37:53 > 0:37:55to come out, and he said, "Rio, let me talk to you, son,"
0:37:55 > 0:37:58I said, "All right, boss?" He said, "How are you enjoying the city?
0:37:58 > 0:38:00"Is it all right? Have you been out anywhere or anything?"
0:38:00 > 0:38:03I said, "Yeah, not been out, to be honest with you, Boss,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06"I've just been to a couple of restaurants and just taking it easy,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09"just chilling out, really." He said, "Oh, good."
0:38:09 > 0:38:11He said, "Um, just make sure we get off on the right foot.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14"Um, I know you've been overindulging in the nightclubs,
0:38:14 > 0:38:17"going out here and there and people tell me these things.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20"You can't hide none of this from me. Just to make sure now
0:38:20 > 0:38:22"you know that I know and it doesn't happen any more,
0:38:22 > 0:38:25"if you want to stay at this club for a long time.
0:38:25 > 0:38:26"Go on. Go to train."
0:38:26 > 0:38:28I was like, "Oh, my God!"
0:38:28 > 0:38:30The only thing I ever worried about was
0:38:30 > 0:38:32the control of Manchester United.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34The control of the players, the dressing room.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37That is paramount to me.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40And I only worried if I ever lost that control.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42He controlled everything, I think.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47The transfer policy, the decisions, the players' contracts.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51The staff, I think everything was in his hands.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56And I think it's a fantastic way to do it,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00especially if you are surrounded by good people,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03because when you say you are in control,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06it doesn't mean that you don't share.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09I think his belief is that in order to lead a football team
0:39:09 > 0:39:12effectively, you have to be the biggest personality.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15You can't have players that are the bigger stars,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17that are the bigger egos in the dressing room.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20This is probably also the most controversial lesson
0:39:20 > 0:39:22and I am honestly not entirely sure
0:39:22 > 0:39:25whether we can translate this to many other business settings and
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I think the business world nowadays, if you as a manager come in
0:39:28 > 0:39:32and say, or as a CEO and say, "I demand absolute control
0:39:32 > 0:39:35"and anyone who steps out of my control, they're fired",
0:39:35 > 0:39:37that's a pretty harsh stance
0:39:37 > 0:39:40and it might not work very well in the business climate
0:39:40 > 0:39:41that we have nowadays.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45I never thought about these guys as star players. It never bothered me.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49And one thing I did say to a star player,
0:39:49 > 0:39:54"Remember one thing. Your reputation is always on the line on Saturday.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56"So the expectation is bigger for you.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59"You have to show you've worked as hard as all the rest of the players,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02"because that really is a truly great player."
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Motivation, teaching the value of teamwork,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08they were also crucial to Ferguson's success,
0:40:08 > 0:40:11even if his methods could be a little unusual.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15There was one photograph you had on your office wall.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Let's just take a look at it. I want to know why you had it.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23There you are. Every year, I'd bring the apprentices in to my office.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25One day, I says, "Right, tell me,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27"what do you think of that photograph?"
0:40:28 > 0:40:32And they'd look at it and, of course, they're all twitching,
0:40:32 > 0:40:36nervous, that I've set a trap. And I said, "Well, there's 11 there.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38"There's 11 members of the team."
0:40:38 > 0:40:45I says, "They built the Rockefeller Centre back in the '20s
0:40:45 > 0:40:47"and they lost lives.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49"One or two would try to save them
0:40:49 > 0:40:52"and lost their lives through that." I says,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56"There's no bigger sacrifice than giving your life for a team."
0:40:56 > 0:41:00I remember he had this picture of 11 guys sitting in the wind
0:41:00 > 0:41:04but without, er, how you say?
0:41:04 > 0:41:05No ropes for safety. Exactly.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08It quite surprised me when I looked at the frame,
0:41:08 > 0:41:10I said, "Wow! It's unbelievable frame,"
0:41:10 > 0:41:13and he say, "Cristiano, this is what team should do it.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17"We should be together, we should work together, we should do it...
0:41:17 > 0:41:20"Everything together, if you want to win something,"
0:41:20 > 0:41:22and he gave the example all the time
0:41:22 > 0:41:27because it was 11 guys in that picture, so it was...
0:41:27 > 0:41:28Fantastic memory.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32I remember right now in my eyes,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36I remember his office and this frame.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40There was another image you used to use quite a bit, I think.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44Oh, yeah. Geese. Yeah.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46It's a fantastic story.
0:41:46 > 0:41:52It's how they fly 4,000 miles from Canada to some warm climate.
0:41:52 > 0:41:53They go in two Vs.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57And the ones at the front do most of the flying, then they change over,
0:41:57 > 0:42:01and if one goes away, another two have to look after it.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05The birds overhead flying and it would be in the middle of training.
0:42:05 > 0:42:06He'd stop the training, he'd go,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09"Right, look. All look. Have a look up to the sky."
0:42:09 > 0:42:11So we'd be all looking up at the sky, "See them birds."
0:42:11 > 0:42:15And they all went like an arrow formation. "That's teamwork."
0:42:15 > 0:42:18You can just imagine 22 players or 20-odd players just looking
0:42:18 > 0:42:21up at the sky, thinking, "What's he going on about?"
0:42:21 > 0:42:28And I'd say to them, "These geese fly 4,000 miles to get a bit of sun.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31"All I'm asking you to do is play 38 games to win the league.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33"I don't think I'm asking too much."
0:42:33 > 0:42:38Other teams in other sports wanted one of Fergie's inspirational talks,
0:42:38 > 0:42:42so when Europe was fighting to retain the Ryder Cup,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45the captain called in Sir Alex.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47I was never one of the superstars,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50so dealing with the likes of Rory McIlroy and how he was going
0:42:50 > 0:42:53to feel in that situation was something that was alien to me
0:42:53 > 0:42:56and he was the one that I thought could really help me with that,
0:42:56 > 0:42:58so, and I looked around, I thought, you know,
0:42:58 > 0:43:02"There's a guy that really got it right, in terms of success."
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Paul had spoke to me a year before the tournament
0:43:05 > 0:43:08and asked if I'd like to contribute with the team.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11So I did it, had a motivational talk with them.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13He spoke to the caddies before he came up to the players,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16which was great, and that was a lot of fun for the caddies
0:43:16 > 0:43:17and it made them very much included,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20because the caddies were a huge part of what we did.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23The caddies. Goodness me, that was fantastic.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27There was a caddie called Billy Forster, big Leeds United fan,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29and he gave me stick.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34He says, "You got Cantona for nothing!"
0:43:34 > 0:43:37As we were listening to the speech, I could hear the laughter
0:43:37 > 0:43:39coming from the caddies' room and the players didn't know but
0:43:39 > 0:43:43I could hear the laughter, so I knew things were going well done there.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47So when he came in, first of all, he knew everybody's name
0:43:47 > 0:43:50and addressed everybody personally.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54Sir Alex told the Ryder Cup team the story that had worked
0:43:54 > 0:43:56so well at Old Trafford.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00I did the bit about the geese. And I think that was an important one.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03The Ryder Cup team, although they were favourites, it wasn't going
0:44:03 > 0:44:07to win them the tournament, cos the work ethic, the concentration.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10They've got the talent, it's the 12 best golfers in Europe
0:44:10 > 0:44:12without question.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14And they just need to focus on the things
0:44:14 > 0:44:16that are going to matter in the game.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20And that became a kind of a something that we, as a team,
0:44:20 > 0:44:24mentioned a number of times during the week. And it was...
0:44:24 > 0:44:27It was a phrase that we used, "remember the geese".
0:44:27 > 0:44:30And the ironic thing about it is, when we won
0:44:30 > 0:44:33and we were getting our photograph taken, this perfect V of geese
0:44:33 > 0:44:37flew right over their heads and over the club house right behind.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40I never changed as a human being, as my style of management,
0:44:40 > 0:44:44my decision-making, my discipline - never changed that.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48But I was always looking to change to make things better.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Leadership is actually a balance of listening, learning and leading.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53You know, you have to listen
0:44:53 > 0:44:55and absorb what are the lessons going on out there.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58You have to be prepared to learn those lessons
0:44:58 > 0:45:01and look at what the trends are and what the changes are that
0:45:01 > 0:45:04are happening in your country, in your society, in your profession and
0:45:04 > 0:45:09then you have to be prepared at the end to take control and to lead.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Tony Blair says that leadership is a balance of listening,
0:45:12 > 0:45:14learning and leading.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16Is that a good summary?
0:45:16 > 0:45:21Yeah, I think these are accurate statements, no doubt about that.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24And you went to different places to learn.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26You went to the SAS on one occasion.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Years ago, I took the team down there for a day
0:45:28 > 0:45:30and we stayed overnight.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34It was fantastic, because you're speaking to a body of men
0:45:34 > 0:45:39where the concentration levels have to be 100% all the time.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42So I was impressed with what I saw down there.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44Did the players identify with them, or did they just...
0:45:44 > 0:45:48Oh, they loved it. ..look at them as if they were a different world? They loved it.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51I'll always remember, they took us into the hostage room
0:45:51 > 0:45:55and they put four players with their heads down on the table
0:45:55 > 0:45:59and all the rest of the players were behind the rope, you know.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01They just pulled me out. Me, Paul Ince.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05There's cardboard cutouts and...we're the hostages.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10The cardboard cutouts are the people holding us hostage.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13So we were just sat there at the table - next minute,
0:46:13 > 0:46:14the lights just went off.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18We heard, "Get down! Get down!" Which we instantly did.
0:46:18 > 0:46:23And all of a sudden, a smoke bomb comes in.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28Everything goes dark and within seconds, bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
0:46:28 > 0:46:32A couple of bullet sounds and then the lights come on and right
0:46:32 > 0:46:38next to us was four or five soldiers, SAS gear, night goggles.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42I saw one of the soldiers with a gun against Paul Ince's head
0:46:42 > 0:46:44and Incy, I tell you... HE LAUGHS
0:46:44 > 0:46:47What did Incy do? He went, "Aaaaargh!"
0:46:47 > 0:46:51He absolutely, honestly, he nearly died. It was brilliant.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Yeah, it was a great experience.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57Great experience and one that we never forgot.
0:46:57 > 0:46:58GUNFIRE
0:46:58 > 0:47:04What I hope Sir Alex and his team would have seen and appreciated
0:47:04 > 0:47:09was a very high degree of professional skill and ability,
0:47:09 > 0:47:14an utter dependence, one upon another,
0:47:14 > 0:47:18in other words, the team actually brought to a very high pinnacle
0:47:18 > 0:47:24of mutual dependence and respect.
0:47:24 > 0:47:29The Ferguson formula produced year after year of success
0:47:29 > 0:47:32that one victory, one match, one extraordinary moment
0:47:32 > 0:47:35seemed to capture its essence.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Let's take a look at one night.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40One night in Barcelona.
0:47:40 > 0:47:41In 1999.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43'Beckham crosses from the left.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47'Right footed, it's a clear header and it's in the net!
0:47:47 > 0:47:50'Solskjaer has won the European Cup for Manchester United!'
0:47:52 > 0:47:53So United were 1-0 down,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56going into injury time.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59That gesture - was that disbelief?
0:47:59 > 0:48:03I think it was a bit of that, but when it went to 1-1,
0:48:03 > 0:48:05Steve McClaren came to me and says,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08"Well, we're back to four-four-two in extra time."
0:48:08 > 0:48:11I says, "No, the game's over. They'll never recover."
0:48:11 > 0:48:14And we scored the second goal. They were gone.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Bayern were absolutely gone.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19Those three minutes, in a sense,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23are like the whole Ferguson formula boiled down, aren't they?
0:48:23 > 0:48:30Well, that particular team was a team that never gave in.
0:48:30 > 0:48:31And through that season,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35they continually won games in the last few minutes.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38To win the league once is very difficult.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43But to do it over 26 years, I think, is simply amazing.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46I was able to plan three, four years ahead,
0:48:46 > 0:48:48because I was there long enough.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Even having won the coveted treble,
0:48:50 > 0:48:55Ferguson set about dismantling his team and creating another.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59I think his greatest legacy is that he had success over
0:48:59 > 0:49:02a quarter of a century
0:49:02 > 0:49:04and that he was able to build
0:49:04 > 0:49:08and rebuild four or five truly great teams.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11For me, that is something that no manager has matched.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16The rebuilding of the organisation was consistent
0:49:16 > 0:49:19and often people, when they've built a structure or got
0:49:19 > 0:49:24an entity into a winning position, they forget what took them there
0:49:24 > 0:49:27and they stop doing the renovation, they stop doing the repairs.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29Sir Alex didn't stop
0:49:29 > 0:49:34and he rebuilt the club on perpetual four-year cycles.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37You smile inside, because he say, "You're still hungry.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41"You still want to win. You're still motivated to win trophies,
0:49:41 > 0:49:46"to go to the trainings with 62 years old, 63, 64, 65."
0:49:46 > 0:49:48He is still hungry. He still wants one more title.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51He still want that team play good every weekend,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54so this is, for me, it was a surprise.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57But the lesson for a leader,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01is at the very moment you reach the top, is what?
0:50:01 > 0:50:03When you're at the top... It's like climbing a mountain.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05You go up there and the view is beautiful.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08In normal circumstances, you have to come down the mountain.
0:50:08 > 0:50:09Not in football.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12For Manchester United, you have to stay up there and look at the view.
0:50:12 > 0:50:13You can't come down.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Of course, you don't win every league,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19but the important thing is to be challenging every time.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21That was a big thing at Man United. It was never about,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24"Oh, we've won, let's celebrate for days on end, months on end
0:50:24 > 0:50:26"and really enjoy it."
0:50:26 > 0:50:28You never got the sense that we really enjoyed it
0:50:28 > 0:50:30as much as we maybe should have, now I've retired.
0:50:30 > 0:50:31I think if I did enjoy it too much,
0:50:31 > 0:50:35cos I did quite like enjoying things,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38maybe I wouldn't have been able to climb the mountain again
0:50:38 > 0:50:40so soon and so consistently.
0:50:40 > 0:50:46You have some managers that you work hard for
0:50:46 > 0:50:49because you fear them
0:50:49 > 0:50:52and you have other managers that you work hard for
0:50:52 > 0:50:54because you love them.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57Where on this line is Sir Alex?
0:50:57 > 0:51:00LAUGHTER
0:51:02 > 0:51:05Some people are pointing.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08Where on this line is he? Yes, over there.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11I think he's more towards the love side.
0:51:11 > 0:51:12ALL: Aw!
0:51:12 > 0:51:14It's a fact.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16OK, you need to stop talking right now.
0:51:16 > 0:51:17LAUGHTER
0:51:17 > 0:51:22So, for you, was it more fear or was it love or maybe both?
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Both. Both.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28In the beginning, it's kind of...
0:51:28 > 0:51:31not scared but it's...
0:51:31 > 0:51:33respectful.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35You respect because you say,
0:51:35 > 0:51:41"He can smile, but he can be angry too, so let's do the right things."
0:51:41 > 0:51:43Early on in my career, definitely fear.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47As a 17-year-old seeing this figure
0:51:47 > 0:51:54who was so intent on discipline and quality.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56But also fear from me, fear of failure.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00But then as the career and the relationship grew,
0:52:00 > 0:52:02more towards the love aspect.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05There can be occasions where fear came into it
0:52:05 > 0:52:07and occasions with a bit of love.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09But in the case of fear,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11if you look at the way Manchester United played,
0:52:11 > 0:52:13the players played and the teams played,
0:52:13 > 0:52:15there was no way that fear was in that team.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17In terms of my time at United,
0:52:17 > 0:52:22I often wondered whether it was hate, fear, love.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25I didn't pay great attention to it,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29but I still was always concerned about the balance of it.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32I have to say this, it's right there - respect.
0:52:34 > 0:52:39'I think love or fear is an inappropriate statement,
0:52:39 > 0:52:40'quite frankly. It's respect.'
0:52:40 > 0:52:44I think that people should respect you.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48If they don't respect you, then you've lost it.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51You've basically lost it. It's as simple as that.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Ferguson was to win the respect of his rivals as well as his own team.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58I played against Man United with Porto.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03The respect started when in that Man United-Porto,
0:53:03 > 0:53:09the first time, the opposite manager knocking my door
0:53:09 > 0:53:12to congratulate my players.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14Sir Alex walks in? Yeah.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17That, in our Portuguese culture, was...
0:53:17 > 0:53:19It doesn't belong to our culture.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23From that moment, I owe him respect
0:53:23 > 0:53:26and I always gave him my respect and my admiration.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32Sir Alex retired in 2013 to be with his wife Cathy
0:53:32 > 0:53:34following the death of her sister.
0:53:34 > 0:53:35Champions!
0:53:35 > 0:53:39He went out at the top after winning his 13th Premier League title.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43We kept it quiet. Nobody knew. Not even my sons, nobody knew
0:53:43 > 0:53:47until David Gill wanted to see me on a Sunday afternoon.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50He came along and he says, "I'm retiring."
0:53:50 > 0:53:53I said, "Phew, so am I."
0:53:53 > 0:53:55LAUGHTER
0:53:55 > 0:53:57I remember being asked in the late-'90s
0:53:57 > 0:53:59when I was a finance director going around the City as,
0:53:59 > 0:54:02presenting the results we were quoting on the stock exchange then -
0:54:02 > 0:54:05what's going to be happen when Alex Ferguson retires?
0:54:05 > 0:54:07What's going to happen?
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Without doubt, when Alex left, it was going to be...
0:54:10 > 0:54:13It was a sea change for the club.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17You don't have a person as important and as influential and successful
0:54:17 > 0:54:19as that for many, many years without being a sea change.
0:54:19 > 0:54:21With people and what's happened,
0:54:21 > 0:54:23there was always a bit of uncertainty.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27He went out after a very successful season and, I think...
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Personally, I think it was the right decision.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33He told me a huge secret.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Not many people knew,
0:54:36 > 0:54:42like, one month or two months before the decision to be made to stop.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46I know that he trusts me, because if he doesn't, he doesn't tell me.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49But I was... I was scared.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53I was scared, so when finally he informed the media
0:54:53 > 0:54:56about his decision, it was a sense of relief.
0:54:56 > 0:55:01The man chosen to replace Ferguson was no big name, no proven winner.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03David Moyes survived less than a year.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07Many blamed Sir Alex for appointing his friend.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12Now one of the biggest issues for any leader is when to go,
0:55:12 > 0:55:16when to call it a day, and how to plan the succession.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19Did you get it right?
0:55:19 > 0:55:21On the succession...
0:55:22 > 0:55:26..when I'd announced my retirement, do you honestly believe
0:55:26 > 0:55:29that one man could decide the future of Manchester United?
0:55:29 > 0:55:32It's absolute nonsense. There was a good process.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34They're a professional football club,
0:55:34 > 0:55:38they know what they're doing, the Glazers, David Gill.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Jose was going back to Chelsea,
0:55:40 > 0:55:43Carlos Ancelotti was going to Real Madrid,
0:55:43 > 0:55:47Jurgen Klopp had signed a contract at Dortmund,
0:55:47 > 0:55:51Louis van Gaal was staying with Holland at the World Cup.
0:55:51 > 0:55:58Probably every manager in the world looks at Man United as a huge club,
0:55:58 > 0:56:00but I wanted to come to Chelsea.
0:56:02 > 0:56:07We didn't bring that into the table, because we were so open.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11He knows so much about myself that he knew
0:56:11 > 0:56:15that, for almost a season,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18I wanted to leave Real Madrid and I wanted to come to Chelsea.
0:56:18 > 0:56:23The other thing was I took Pep Guardiola for dinner
0:56:23 > 0:56:26in New York on the September
0:56:26 > 0:56:29and had no idea I was ever going to retire.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33I said to him, "Give me a call, tell me what you're going to do."
0:56:34 > 0:56:36No answer.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40I don't think we made a mistake at all.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42I think we chose a good football man,
0:56:42 > 0:56:46did a great job at Everton, 11 years there.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48We picked the right man.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Unfortunately, it didn't work for David.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Sometimes people say, don't they, the critics?
0:56:52 > 0:56:54"Well, it was impossible for David Moyes
0:56:54 > 0:56:57"because he'd inherited this team and you'd stopped trying."
0:56:57 > 0:57:01There's this continual thing about we'd left an old team
0:57:01 > 0:57:02and all that nonsense.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05We won the league by 11 points.
0:57:05 > 0:57:06It was unbelievable.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10The average age of my teams consistently in all the years,
0:57:10 > 0:57:14the 20 years from when we started winning the championship,
0:57:14 > 0:57:17was 27-28. Every year.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20If Ryan Giggs had retired say six or seven years ago,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23say he'd retired at 35...
0:57:23 > 0:57:25it's quite likely that I'd have made him my assistant
0:57:25 > 0:57:29and quite likely he could move right into the job with the experience of
0:57:29 > 0:57:31being an assistant manager to me,
0:57:31 > 0:57:34as he's doing in helping Louis van Gaal at the moment.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37But I would never ask a player to quit.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39He said that?
0:57:39 > 0:57:43I mean...I obviously played until I was 40.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45It's obviously a completely different job,
0:57:45 > 0:57:47completely different mind-set going from playing to coaching,
0:57:47 > 0:57:52so it would have been great for me personally to work under Sir Alex...
0:57:54 > 0:57:56..to see how he worked behind the scenes,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59because you don't really see that as a player.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01We'd like to have spoken to many managers, believe me,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03because that's the process.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05We'd like to have asked them what they felt
0:58:05 > 0:58:08about leaving a big club to go to a bigger club,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10to come to Manchester United.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12But it wasn't there for us.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15I think we did the best under the circumstances we were in.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17We have come to the end of the session.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19Let's give it up for Sir Alex Ferguson.
0:58:19 > 0:58:20APPLAUSE
0:58:26 > 0:58:29Now, we've spent a long time analysing your leadership
0:58:29 > 0:58:31and the lessons for others.
0:58:31 > 0:58:33How would you sum it up?
0:58:33 > 0:58:36Well, I think consistency is...
0:58:36 > 0:58:38I think it probably sums me up.
0:58:38 > 0:58:43I think that in the 26-and-a-half years I was there,
0:58:43 > 0:58:47I never changed my conviction or my philosophy or my attitudes.
0:58:47 > 0:58:52That consistency created players who were consistent,
0:58:52 > 0:58:53the club were consistent,
0:58:53 > 0:58:57and that's what's made them the best club in the world, without question.
0:59:00 > 0:59:03My day job is in investment banking,
0:59:03 > 0:59:06so I learnt a lot from how he's dealt
0:59:06 > 0:59:07with very highly-paid individuals.
0:59:10 > 0:59:13What really came across was his passion.
0:59:13 > 0:59:15You could see how much he loved what he does.
0:59:19 > 0:59:20The key thing is how to lead
0:59:20 > 0:59:22very young teams of very talented people
0:59:22 > 0:59:25and being able to get them to deliver the most.
0:59:27 > 0:59:30Understanding about how to manage a talent pipeline,
0:59:30 > 0:59:31bringing players in.
0:59:34 > 0:59:36His ability to constantly renew himself.
0:59:36 > 0:59:39I think that's a great lesson in it for all of us.
0:59:50 > 0:59:52Live At The Apollo... ..is back. Yay!
0:59:52 > 0:59:55Yeah! Back for a brand-new... ..series...
0:59:55 > 0:59:58Oh, fantastic! ..on BBC Two.
0:59:58 > 1:00:02Big respect. The future. This is going to go very well.