Sir Alex Ferguson is the man responsible for many careers thanks to his longevity at Manchester United – and there are some players who are particularly thankful for his patronage.
Ferguson spent 27 years at the helm of Manchester United and is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time. He worked with some of the best players to have ever graced the game, but not everyone he coached turned into a major success.
Some players came through the United academy but couldn’t make the grade in the first team.
Some were signed in the transfer market but struggled to make an impact. And some were simply decent squad players, who filled in as an when required but never hit the heights of their teammates.
Ferguson is remembered for his unflinching and sometimes brutal decision making, with his desire to win leaving many by the wayside. But he also had another side: his paternal feelings and pride meant some players got his backing, perhaps in spite of their performances.
Here Mirror Football looks at five players who Ferguson stuck by through thick and thin.
Juan Sebastian Veron
There is a pretty obvious reason why Ferguson was so desperate for Veron to come good: £28.1million and a five-year deal. The English transfer record had been broken in July 2001 to bring the Argentine midfielder to Old Trafford and it initially looked to be money well spent.
Some impressive performances saw him named the Premiership player of the month for September. But the good times didn’t last and by the end of the 2001/02 season Ferguson had had enough of sniping from the media. An explosive press conference in May 2002 was abandoned, with the furious United boss ordering the journalists to "get out" before declaring: "He [Veron] is a f***ing great player – and you're all f***ing idiots."
Veron was a great player, but not so much for United. He spent two years at Old Trafford, contributing 11 goals and 15 assists in 82 appearances. After helping win the title in 2002/03 he left for newly-rich Chelsea, who paid £15m for his services.
Jordi Cruyff
In August 1996, Ferguson shelled out £1.4m to sign Cruyff on a four-year contract. The son of the legendary Johan Cruyff was just 21 years old when he joined the club, so Ferguson decided to take him under his wing.
“Ferguson reassured us and said that he would take personal care of me, almost like a son,” Jordi Cruyff told ESPN in 2016. “He explained that a lot of young players were coming through the ranks and that joining United would be the right step.
"I liked the idea of playing for a manager who had been at a club a long time. United had a young team and, aged 21, I thought I could fit in. Ferguson told my father: 'I'll take good care of your son.' My father liked that. The contract was good and Ferguson had got under my skin.”
Cruyff won three Premier League titles over four years with the club but only made 58 appearances before joining Deportivo Alaves. Injuries disrupted his career and Cruyff later admitted that Ferguson did everything to make it work.
He told BBC Sport : "I fell from one injury to another and I could never really get a run and show the manager he could count on me. When Ryan Giggs was injured, I was always injured – and that's my fault.”
Darron Gibson
Gibson has status as a Ferguson favourite. After coming through the club’s academy he stayed for seven years around the first team, despite never nailing down a starting place in central midfield. He was renowned for his long-shooting – a reputation that came thanks to some advice from Bobby Charlton.
“Sir Bobby used to come into the dressing room after the games,” Gibson said on the UTD podcast. “I just remember him saying to me: ‘Listen son, they don’t remember the ones you miss. Just keep shooting.’ It sort of stuck with me, so I was just thinking from then I’m just shooting from everywhere!”
Asked whether his teammates used to get annoyed by his constant shooting, he replied: “There were a few times . It might have been after a West Ham game away when I scored again. I had about 10 shots in the game, and I got on the bus afterwards and Giggsy was like ‘here he is, Darren Lampard.’ I got a bit of stick from the lads.”
A good example of Ferguson’s love for Gibson came in his selection for a Champions League quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich in 2009/10. Ferguson benched Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes to start Gibson – much to the bemusement of Rio Ferdinand.
“Darron Gibson came in once and he wasn’t a regular starter,” Ferdinand recalled on BT Sport. “No disrespect to Darron Gibson, we were sitting there, Bayern Munich at home, we need to get out there and score a goal. Why’s he playing him?! Within two minutes, Darron Gibson goes and scores the first goal. You look at the bench and think ‘this geezer’s a genius’.”
Federico Macheda
Macheda earned Ferguson’s backing right from the off, scoring his famous goal off the bench against Aston Villa in April 2009. That strike earned him respect and time from Ferguson, who gave the Italian striker plenty more opportunities.
Overall, Macheda scored five goals and registered five assists in 36 appearances for United as he failed to live up to his early promise. But he was still on the books for six years as Ferguson tried to make it work, via loan spells. "He is so unlucky,” Ferguson told MUTV after loan spells at Fiorentina and QPR didn’t work out. “I have complete belief in the boy. He could be an outstanding player. But he needs football.”
He never developed into an outstanding player, but Ferguson’s support remained unwavering. In 2016, after Macheda signed a one-year contract with Serie B club Novara, he revealed: “Sir Alex Ferguson is a great person and has taught me so much. He called me three weeks ago to see how I was and how my career is going. He coached the greatest players in history, and the fact that he thinks about me makes me proud.”
Eric Djemba-Djemba
Widely considered one of Ferguson’s worst ever signings, Djemba-Djemba has become something of a punchline for his time at United. But, once again, the backing from Ferguson was absolute.
“Sir Alex is one of the best coaches in the world and I will never, never forget him because he changed my life,” Djemba-Djemba told the club website recently. “He changed my life. Ferguson changed my life because he [wanted] everybody to know about me when I signed for Manchester United. I enjoyed working with him. I was impressed in the beginning.”
He was signed in 2003 with the idea he could eventually succeed Roy Keane as United’s midfield battler. It didn’t happen but Ferguson gave him plenty of chances to prove himself over two years.
"He's quick, aggressive and a good passer of the ball, and is the kind of athletic footballer we are looking for,” Ferguson insisted. “In the last few months he has shown his development playing in a very good Cameroon team, and he looks like a Manchester United player in every sense."
