Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

Sometimes defeats are the best outcomes. To react to adversity is a quality. Even in your lowest periods you are showing strength.

People often said to me, ‘I never see you smile during a game.’ I would reply, ‘I’m not there to smile, I’m there to win the match.’

I explained the reasons. Cathy’s sister dying in October had changed our lives. Cathy felt isolated.

Success gave me control. With each trophy won my thoughts turned to the next one.

told that 1993 side: ‘Some people, when they have a holiday, just want to go to Saltcoats, twenty-five miles along the coast from Glasgow. Some people don’t even want to do that. They’re happy to stay at home or watch the birds and the ducks float by in the park. And some want to go to the moon.
‘It’s about people’s ambitions.’

I told him it was his job to play and perform. My job was to pick the correct teams. And so far I had been getting it right.

There had been a change in Arshavin. You make a mental note when a player who usually gets whacked by everybody else turns it round and starts hunting down opponents. His behaviour shocked me. Arshavin contributed nothing to that game.

Of all the setbacks I endured, nothing compared to losing the League to City.

And I am one of the few who felt Gerrard was not a top, top player.

Playing Lampard and Gerrard was a nightmare for England managers because they were incompatible in a 4–4–2 formation.