This season marks Manchester United’s tenth in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. Since the departure of the long-serving legendary Scot in 2013, the Red Devils are onto their eighth different manager in Erik ten Hag.
Life without him has not gone well. In the past decade they have won just three major honours, in stark contrast to Ferguson ’s 13 Premier League titles, two European Cups, five FA Cups, four League Cups, European Cup Winners' Cup, European Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup during his 27 years at Old Trafford. Now missing out on Champions League football for the fourth time since his exit, it’s no wonder United fans pine so much for the Glaswegian and their former glory days under his hand.
Yet as much as their ongoing woes have come in the aftermath of his stepping out of the dugout, despite now being 10 years into retirement, the 80-year-old still plays a visible role at Old Trafford as both a director and club ambassador. But is his ongoing presence really a positive?
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A regular at matches, television cameras repeatedly pan to the Scot whenever games are not going the club’s way, in juxtaposition to his own time in charge, with images of his reaction in the stands to United’s 5-0 and 4-0 defeats to Liverpool last season going viral. Meanwhile, it was his recommendation that resulted in then-Everton manager David Moyes being appointed as his replacement back in 2013.
His fellow Scot would last less than 10 months before being sacked, with United seventh in the Premier League table at the time of his dismissal, having lost 11 of their 34 league matches. Sitting 13 points behind fourth-placed Arsenal with four matches remaining at the time, it already ensured they would fail to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1995 and finish outside of the top three for the first time in Premier League history.
Meanwhile, Ferguson also played a key role in Cristiano Ronaldo rejoining United last summer, after it had initially looked like local-rivals Man City would sign the Portuguese from Juventus in a cut-price deal instead. However, an 11th hour phone call from his manager prompted the forward to complete a fairytale return to Old Trafford instead.
“A lot of people played their part, and I contributed knowing that, really, Cristiano wanted to come here,” the Scot told Viaplay last year. “That was important. It worked very well.
“It’s certainly [a moment] full of excitement and also [a sense of] relief. A lot of relief because I couldn’t imagine him playing for Manchester City, I don’t think anyone could. That’s why we had to make steps to make sure he came here. The club then followed in very well, spoke to the Glazers, and it was done.”
Such a switch was inevitably celebrated at the time. Yet 12 months on and Ronaldo has informed United that he wants to leave Old Trafford for a second time, with Ferguson’s involvement backfiring once again. The 37-year-old might have scored 24 goals for the Red Devils last season, but it wasn’t enough to prevent them finishing sixth and suffering their worst Premier League season in history.
As a result, it emerged the Portuguese wanted to quit United due to their slow movement in the transfer market and failure to qualify for the Champions League, which slashed his salary by 25 per cent. Wanting to join a Champions League club, he reportedly wants to sign for a side with realistic hope of winning domestic and European titles - something he clearly doesn’t feel can be on offer at Old Trafford anytime soon.
As speculation about his future continued, Ronaldo missed the entirety of United’s recent pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia, citing a family issue, and missed four friendlies in Bangkok, Melbourne and Perth. Yet he was back at the Red Devils’ Carrington training base on Tuesday, arriving with agent Jorge Mendes in tow, as he prepared for face-to-face talks with new boss Ten Hag regarding his future.
The Dutchman and United have been adamant that Ronaldo isn’t for sale and that he remains part of their plans. Yet, despite links with the likes of Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, the Portuguese has so far struggled to convince a potential suitor to come forward and make a move for his services, with his future subsequently remaining uncertain in the face of a non-existent market.
Shortly after Ronaldo’s arrival at Carrington, Ferguson also pulled up at United’s training base with it easy to speculate behind the reason for his arrival. Whether he has been tasked with helping persuade his former player to stay put, having successfully done so when Real Madrid first came calling in 2008, only Red Devils bosses will know.
But regardless of the nature of his involvement in deciding Ronaldo’s future once again, his presence on what could be a decisive day for United won’t be lost. And it’s one that is likely to split supporters.
Some fans will be encouraged at seeing the Scot at Carrington, hoping he has indeed been called in to help aid talks and can successfully convince Ronaldo that his future remains with Old Trafford. Others will perhaps consider Ferguson a haunting figure over United’s ongoing demise and one who needs to take a step back for the sake of the club’s future.
How long can they cling to the Scot and keep dusting him off in such a manner? It’s been a near-decade since his retirement after all, and after nine years of disappointment, they can’t live in the past any longer if they one day wish to succeed once again.
Bringing Ronaldo back in the first place was the latest example of such misguided, pig-headed single-mindedness. A stubbornness to ignore their decline, insistent that they are still the great Manchester United that once dominated the Premier League.
But while Ferguson is a symbol of that success, his continued shadow is increasingly becoming an image of United’s failings. And if Ronaldo’s desire to quit, believing the Red Devils aren’t in a position to challenge for trophies anymore, doesn’t open United eyes, nothing will.
Having taken 30 years to end their own drought to be crowned champions of England once again after being left behind themselves, Liverpool know all too well the dark road United continue to head down. While Ferguson might no longer be steering the ship, he is now the anchor weighing them down as the Reds and the rest of their rivals, having already long since overtaken them, disappear further and further into the distance.
Meanwhile, Liverpool, rightly or wrongly, acted rather differently when they waved off their own legendary Scottish manager into retirement back during their seventies glory days. Bill Shankly shocked the footballing world when calling it quits as Reds boss in 1974, but soon regretted his decision to retire.
Yet despite being replaced by assistant manager Bob Paisley, Shankly initially remained a presence at the Reds’ training ground base until he was reluctantly ‘banned’.
When the players arrived by coach for training, Shankly would already be there in his training kit. While he wanted to stay fit, and would jog around the pitch with them on their warm-ups, it was also a way to cling to his old life that he had walked away from.
“Morning, boss,” the squad replied awkwardly when greeted by their former manager. With Shankly still referred to with such a title while Paisley was called, ‘Bob’, it was clear the Reds had a problem behind the scenes.
"He started taking the training," recalled club legend Tommy Smith. "Prior to that, as a manager, he didn't actually take the training, he'd walk around and talk to Reuben Bennett, Joe Fagan and Bob Paisley and tell them what to do. But he started taking the training!
"In the end, Bob Paisley, purely for his own sanity, had to say to him: 'Bill, you don't work here any more. This is my team here, I've got things I want to do.'
"Shanks was wrong to keep turning up at Melwood, giving advice and acting as if he was still in charge. There's no doubt about that, but the club directors were wrong the way they treated him.
"They got their own back, it's as simple as that. Shanks had always been difficult and he would have created one or two problems for them. The directors settled some old scores in 1974."
Liverpool legend John Toshack added: "It was difficult for Bob, having him hanging around. We're not just talking about any member of the coaching staff who's retired, who just came to Melwood to have a bit of jogging around and a shower and that was it. Shanks was Liverpool; he was an institution."
Paisley would make his feelings known to chief executive Peter Robinson. “It's very difficult with him there. It's awkward.” He even threatened the club owners he would quit the job if Shankly kept being around. Chairman John Smith belatedly had to tell Shankly he was no longer welcome at Melwood, breaking the Scot’s heart in the process as he was isolated from his beloved club.
“I still wanted to help Liverpool, because the club had become my life. But I wasn’t given the chance,” he would bemoan in his autobiography. “I was willing to help in any capacity, just to advise, if necessary, so that there would be no disruption at all while Bob got run in. If anybody had had any problems, I could have helped. Maybe the problems didn’t crop up. Maybe they didn’t need my advice.
“I went to the training ground at Melwood for a while. It is only down the road from where I live. But then I got the impression that it would perhaps be better if I stopped going. I felt there was some resentment – “What the hell is he doing here?” So I changed my life. I still do a bit of training to keep myself in reasonable shape and to have something to do which resembles what I used to do, and there are plenty of other places to train where I am welcomed.
“I packed up going to Melwood and I also stopped going into the directors’ box at Anfield. I still go to matches, of course. I sit in the stand. I would have loved to have been invited to away matches, but I waited and waited until I became tired of waiting.
“Finally, after twenty months and after Liverpool had won the League championship again, I was invited to travel with the club to Bruges for the second leg of the UEFA Cup final. I accepted, because I didn’t want anybody to think I was petty, but it came too late for my peace of mind.
“I couldn’t help wondering why it had taken them so long. And I was not impressed with the arrangements they made for me in Bruges, where I was put into a different hotel to the one used by the official party. I found that quite insulting.
“The invitation to Bruges could not make up for the previous twenty months, when it would have been the greatest thing in the world for me if Liverpool had been playing at Middlesbrough or Tottenham, and they had said, “Would you like to go?” I would have said, “Oh, yes, certainly I would like to.” Some of the directors invite their friends to the games. I wouldn’t have been in the way. I wouldn’t have done any harm. But I would have been associated in some way, and amongst them, and I would have been just as anxious as the manager of the team for them to win, because they were all my players.”
He continued: “I soon realised that Liverpool preferred me to make my own arrangements, so that’s what I started to do. I asked other clubs for tickets, sometimes when Liverpool were the visiting team and sometimes to see other teams play. And I have not been short of invitations from other clubs, either. Derby County invited me to a match, and West Ham asked me to be their guest when they played Liverpool in the FA Cup. Ron Greenwood, West Ham’s general manager, couldn’t have been nicer. We even had a meal together.
“Tommy Docherty invited me to Old Trafford when Manchester United played Liverpool in a night match. Tommy invited me to have a meal with him in the restaurant at Old Trafford and we enjoyed a wonderful hour of banter before the match. Sidney Reakes, the Liverpool director, said to Tommy, “I see Bill Shankly’s here.” “Aye,” said Tommy. “He’s welcome here.”
“I might add that I count Everton amongst the clubs who have welcomed me over the last few seasons. I have been received more warmly by Everton than I have been by Liverpool.
“It is scandalous and outrageous that I should have to write these things about the club I helped to build into what it is today, because if the situation had been reversed I would have invited people to games. It would have been a wonderful honour to have been made a director of Liverpool Football Club, but I don’t go round saying, “I would like to be this and that.” That’s begging – and I’m not a beggar! No, no – anything I have done and everything I have got, I have worked for.
“It was never my intention to have a complete break with Liverpool, but at the same time I wasn’t going to put my nose in where it wasn’t wanted. Maybe I was an embarrassment to some people. Maybe they thought I should have asked them if I wanted to go to away matches. Maybe they didn’t even think about it. That’s their business, nothing to do with me.”
There is no escaping than Shankly was treated badly by Liverpool when he retired, with Ferguson referencing both the former Reds boss and Matt Busby when saying in his own autobiography that the Red Devils didn’t want another "Busby Problem", as they called it in the boardroom, following his own retirement.
But given Ferguson’s visible involvement at Old Trafford, in contrast to compatriot Kenny Dalglish’s non-executive director role at Liverpool, perhaps United have taken it too far the other way.
It is heartbreaking reading back Shankly’s account of his messy break-up with the Reds, but considering their continued success under first Paisley, then Joe Fagan and Daglish over the next 16 years, hindsight perhaps shows it was necessary. It could have been handled better but the show must go on.
United might have avoided such nastiness by retaining Ferguson in his current role but is the Scot’s, at times unhelpful, presence really a help or a hindrance? Should he really be, a decade on from his retirement, playing such a prominent role in first re-signing Ronaldo and now potentially, trying to talk him out of a departure? They need to learn to walk without him and, in the long term, from the outside it seems to cause more damage than good.
Ultimately, that’s United’s business, regardless of the puzzled glances now coming their way from afar. But from a Liverpool point of view, the Reds will hopefully learn the necessary lessons and find a happy middle ground in between isolating a legendary manager or overly involving another when the day comes for Jurgen Klopp to depart to Anfield.
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