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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Geoff Shreeves reveals Sir Alex Ferguson confrontation after Cristiano Ronaldo interview

Geoff Shreeves has revealed he and Sir Alex Ferguson nearly came to physical blows before a Manchester United staff member jumped between them.

The Sky Sports interviewer and the Scot came face-to-face on numerous occasions before the latter's retirement in 2013. Ferguson was not one to shy away from a verbal slanging match, often wanting to get a point across as he and his team dominated.

Post match interviews have become an increasingly influential part of a managers job and Ferguson knew he could motivate and protect his players - which is exactly what he did in 2007 when United saw off Middlesbrough 1-0 in an FA Cup replay.

Ronaldo won and scored the spot kick, but Shreeves quizzed Ferguson after the game on whether his No.7 had gone down far too easily - which the Scot didn't take kindly too as has been revealed, by The Sun, in an excerpt from the book 'Cheers, Geoff! Tales from the Touchline'.

It read: "He stood up for his players, as I discovered after an FA Cup win over Middlesbrough when Cristiano Ronaldo went tumbling to win a penalty. I asked Cristiano whether he went down easily. Ronaldo is pretty non-committal but says it was a penalty. I certainly wasn’t aware of the impending explosion.

"Sir Alex comes out of the dressing room and stalks straight towards me. 'You and your f***ing questions, you’re f***ing out of order,' he snarled. 'The boy hardly speaks English, you’re f***ing bang out of order', plus even more colourful language. 'Don’t talk to me like that,' I replied. 'I’m not one of your daft, young players'."

Sir Alex Ferguson was more than willing to snap back in interviews (Getty Images)

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"That saw the Ferguson red mist turn deep crimson. He launched himself at me physically, with only United’s head of communications, Di Law, who jumped between us, preventing a full confrontation.

"'Don’t even think about it,' I said to Fergie, which was met with an immediate, 'F*** off, you’re barred,' as he was hurried away from the scene. I thought I’d done a decent job but as soon as I got home, I stuck the tape on. Then I saw I had got it wrong. It was heavy-handed, piling into him, demanding to know if he was a cheat.

"I wrote Fergie an email, admitting I’d got it wrong. No response."

Shreeves has revealed that Ferguson had no problem whispering a topic in his ear which he wanted to discuss. Be it a player or a situation in a game that he looked to highlight which may advantage his outfit.

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