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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Man Utd news: Sir Alex Ferguson unveils his statue at Aberdeen after winning 11 trophies

Sir Alex Ferguson unveiled his long-awaited Aberdeen statue on Friday afternoon.

The legendary Manchester United boss is undoubtedly the greatest manager in the Dons' history, winning 11 trophies during his eight-year spell at Pittodrie.

Ferguson's honours included three Scottish Premiership titles, knocking Glasgow giants Rangers and Celtic off their perch.

His greatest hour at Aberdeen came in May 1983, when his team defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in the Cup Winners' Cup final - one of Europe's biggest competitions at the time.

Ferguson's team went on to beat European champions Hamburg 2-0 on aggregate to win the UEFA Super Cup later that year.

Is Sir Alex Ferguson the greatest manager of all time? Let us know in the comments below!

Sir Alex Ferguson's new statue at Pittodrie (Stephen Dobson/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)

Hundreds of supporters attended Pittodrie on Friday afternoon to see Ferguson unveil his bronze statue, which will stand outside of the stadium.

Several of the Scot's former players were in attendance, including Neil Simpson, Gordan Strachan and Willie Miller.

"What an honour to be asked to pay tribute to the boss," tweeted Simpson on Friday evening.

"As Sir Alex said, 'In life some people want to go to the moon on holiday, others the local park... my players wanted to go to the moon.'"

Speaking ahead of Friday's unveiling, Miller revealed what it was like to play under and work with Ferguson, as he became the iconic manager's assistant after retiring.

"Having played under and then worked with Sir Alex as his assistant manager, I witnessed, in many ways, how he functioned as a manager," Miller told Aberdeen's website.

"As a player, you were well aware of his drive, his enthusiasm and his incredible desire to succeed.

"He could be unorthodox at times in his management style, and he had undoubted coaching ability.

"He was on the training pitch at every session, either running it or offering insights when required. As a manager he was incredibly focused, and he knew what he wanted.

“He also knew how to get the very best out of players. His legendary ‘hairdryer’ certainly worked for many.

Ferguson won 11 trophies at Aberdeen between 1978 and 1986 (PA)

"But he also knew who needed something other than that to get them to perform, and he ultimately knew what that something else was.

"He had great knowledge of the opposition and went to great lengths to ensure his team were prepared as best they could be for whatever the challenge.

"A mixture of all this produced very successful teams."

On being Ferguson's assistant, Miller said: "Working as his assistant was totally different. He was a workaholic, and he expected his staff to be the same, which I thrived on.

"As a player, you came in at a certain time, you trained at a specific place which was always set out for that day’s training, you trained, got showered and went home.

"As a member of his coaching team, you were in much earlier than the players, you had written down every day what the session would look like and what you wanted to achieve, you would run that past Sir Alex, and without fail he would tweak it."

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