Sir Alex Ferguson Retires

[Los Manos]

Sir Alex Ferguson will step down as Manchester United manager at the end of the season after 26 years in charge.
The Scot, 71, has won 38 trophies during his reign at Old Trafford and will now become a director and ambassador for the club.
His haul includes 13 league titles, two Champions League crowns, five FA Cups and four League Cups.
"The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about. It is the right time," Ferguson said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22447018

As a Manchester United fan of the last 23 years, today is a sad day. Fergie is all I and many more fans have known.

So now the question moves to who will succeed Fergie, will David Moyes be approached first or will Jose turn down the Chelsea job and push to be hired at the club he's had his eye on for years?

[Harvz]

Massive.

Respect to the GOAT as far as I'm concerned - even as a Chelsea fan who has spent many years b*tching at him. His record is incredible and will most likely never be matched. Interesting to see how Man U evolve from here. It can only go one way as far as I'm concerned. How far is the question.

[5DOM]

It's going to be weird seeing United without him, because if there was ever an individual as big as the club, it was him. Good luck to David Moyes because it's not going to be an easy task.

[Buzz Lightyear]

Take Enchilada. He plays Lavezzi at striker too much.

[treiz]

Respect to greatest manager in club football. Top legend and it's going to be bizzarre watching any United game without seeing Fergie chew gum on the bench, still loved the fact that he went out on top with the 20th title.

Huge figure in football, grew up hating but admiring the man at the same time and I doubt anybody would ever top what he's accomplished in his career, in a few years Wenger might go to and trying to imagine the Premier League without these two would be weird.

[BUCKnation]

That is huge. Possibly one of the few non players that is a household name when it comes to soccer.

[Slava]

I'm still in denial. This will obviously take a month to sink in. He's been the manager since I was born.

To call him a legend would still be a massive understatement. He's been an extension of one of the greatest clubs in European football wherever he walked.

[USA]

I am shocked that this has happened now. I knew it was coming but I thought he would go on for another couple of years. I am a Milan fan but I support ManU out of all of the premier league teams because of Sir Alex. What he was able to accomplish throughout his career will never be matched and I am not talking about just ManU. What he was able to accomplish with Aberdeen was almost as impressive as what he transformed ManU into. Winning a title with St Mirren just proves he was elite at getting the best out of his players. IMO, he is the greatest manager ever. Hopefully him still being involved with the club will keep ManU among the elite year in and year out but there is no denying that a huge hole has been opened in the heart of the club.

[Slava]

He even won the Europa with Aberdeen.

[USA]

Very impressive resume.

ST MIRREN
-Scottish First Division (1): 1976-77

ABERDEEN
-Scottish Premier Division (3): 1979-80, 1983-84, 1984-85
-Scottish Cup (4): 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86
-Scottish League Cup (1): 1985-86
-European Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1982-83
-European Super Cup (1): 1983


MANCHESTER UNITED
-Premier League (13): 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13
-FA Cup (5): 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2003-04
-League Cup (4): 1991-92, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10
-Charity/Community Shield (10): 1990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
-Champions League (2): 1998-99, 2007-08
-European Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1990-91
-European Super Cup (1): 1991
-Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999
-FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

[USA]

Mourinho anyone?

[Boognish]

Legend. Clubs come and go with their manager, will be interesting to see how United fares.

[5DOM]

Mourinho anyone?

Huge surprise if it isn't Moyes

[Boognish]

Here's a collection of Sir Alex Ferguson's best quotes.

On Ryan Giggs "I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind."

On Gary Neville "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."

On Paul Ince "I used to have a saying that when a player is at his peak, he feels as though he can climb Everest in his slippers. That's what he was like."

On Italians "When an Italian tells me it's pasta on the plate I check under the sauce to make sure. They are the inventors of the smokescreen."

On the 1999 Champions League triumph "I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell."

On media criticism of Juan Sebastián Verón "On you go. I'm no **** talking to you. He's a **** great player. Yous are **** idiots."

On Liverpool "My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their **** perch. And you can print that."

On the 2003 title race "It's getting tickly now – squeaky-bum time, I call it."

On kicking a boot into David Beckham's face in 2003 "It was a freakish incident. If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn't happen again. If I could I would have carried on playing!"

On Filippo Inzaghi "That lad must have been born offside."

On Arsène Wenger "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!"

On his former charges as managers "It can be difficult to pinpoint who would make it as a manager. For instance, nobody here thought Mark Hughes would become a manager, never in a million years, and we all thought Bryan Robson was a certainty to be a top manager."

On the referee Alan Wiley "The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher's dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn't fit. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous."

On José Mourinho "He was certainly full of it, calling me boss and big man when we had our post-match drink after the first leg. But it would help if his greetings were accompanied by a decent glass of wine. What he gave me was paint-stripper."

On Rafael Benítez, reacting to the Spaniard's infamous 'facts' press conference "I think he was an angry man. He must have been disturbed for some reason. I think you have got to cut through the venom of it and hopefully he'll reflect and understand what he said was absolutely ridiculous."

On whether Liverpool would win the title in 2007 "You must be joking. Do I look as if I'm a masochist ready to cut myself? How does relegation sound instead?"

On Old Trafford "The crowd were dead. It was like a funeral out there."

On Manchester City's Carlos Tévez poster "It's City isn't it? They are a small club, with a small mentality. All they can talk about is Manchester United, that's all they've done and they can't get away from it."

On City again "Sometimes you have a noisy neighbour. You cannot do anything about that. They will always be noisy. You just have to get on with your life, put your television on and turn it up a bit louder."

On Wayne Rooney's transfer request "Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it's a better cow than the one you've got in your own field. It's a fact. Right? And it never really works out that way."

On Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid "Do you think I would enter into a contract with that mob? Absolutely no chance. I would not sell them a virus. That is a 'No' by the way. There is no agreement whatsoever between the clubs."

On Manchester United's 19th league title "It's not so much passing Liverpool. It's more important that United are the best team in the country in terms of winning titles."

And on their 20th "Look at me – it's taken 10 years off me today. It's these tablets, they're great!"

Some gems in there

[Mr Grant Hill]

Very impressive resume.

this might be interesting as well. those are pretty much the most important managers since the three major european competitions started. and as we can see, ferguson is definitely up there.

* CWC = Cup Winners' Cup
Heynckes' & Benitez's 12/13 seasons not included

[Le Roi]

Is this real life? I really hope I wake up in the next couple minutes. Where do I begin, he's gave me so many memories which I will cherish for the rest of my life. As a 21 year old he's all I've ever known, it pains me even more to know I'll never be able to watch a Manchester United match under Fergie ever again. Truly the GOAT.

[USA]

Mourinho anyone?

Huge surprise if it isn't Moyes

Me too, for the long term. But as far as a manager who can step right in and follow Sir Alex without being too affected by the legend while getting results, Mourinho is the most capable, imo.




Being a Milan fan, I got a good chuckle at reading this again.

On Filippo Inzaghi "That lad must have been born offside."

[Boognish]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/FALCAO/status/332117252629483522[/tweet]

soooooo

[Man of Steel]

Easily the best manager to date. His influence on the club isn't over, but not having him in the dugout is a huge loss. Has Moyes been confirmed as his replacement?

[Le Roi]

Not yet, a lot of speculation that he'll be the man going forward. Don't know how I feel about that yet.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL-6nNrpoj8[/youtube]

Watch this video to Frank Sinatra's "The Impossible Dream" for full effect.