"Sorry, lads, can't make it this weekend! I'm at a wedding."
While that sounds like a text message straight out of the Sunday League playbook, it was, in essence, what Sir Alex Ferguson told his team ahead of a highly-anticipated Manchester Derby on November 18, 2000. In a bizarre turn of events, the legendary Manchester United manager would be forced to miss one of his side’s biggest games of the 2000/01 season.
Ferguson had committed to being at his son, Jason’s, wedding during what was supposed to be an international break. But when the fixture list was shuffled, the Red Devils were pitted against their cross-city rivals for the first derby match in four years. That was the same day their boss was supposed to be in South Africa, and as the great Scot reaffirmed plenty of times throughout his glittering career, nothing was more important to him than family.
With that in mind, Ferguson kept his word and trusted his right-hand man to oversee affairs while he was away. That man? Steve McClaren, set to return to United 22 years later as newly-appointed manager Erik ten Hag's assistant. The 60-year-old, who boasts a coaching CV to rival most of his English contemporaries, was famously Ferguson’s No.2 for the latter half of their treble-winning season to the summer of 2001.
McClaren, like predecessor Brian Kidd, became a fully-fledged gaffer upon leaving the Red Devils and would take current Ajax boss Ten Hag under his wing at Twente in the Netherlands, having been sacked by England after an infamously disastrous 16-month spell. Although their dynamic looks set to be flipped on its head in the Old Trafford dugout, the highly-thought-of tactician has already experienced what it’s like to be the boss in Manchester - Maine Road to be precise.
“I’m not sure too many managers would have left their assistant in charge, particularly for a game of that magnitude, but when we sat down for a conversation a few weeks before the game, it was all very matter-of-fact,” McClaren told manutd.com, recalling at length the one-off promotion.
“‘You’ll be taking the game’. Simple as that. Then he wrote down the team. ‘There’s the team. Those boys will look after it. Don’t worry’.”
With Ferguson’s absence offering even more headlines to the televised clash, an 11:30 kick-off, his assistant was feeling the pressure and attempted to shut out the noise. “I just focused my team-talk on what I thought needed addressing,” McClaren explained. “It was all about controlling the emotion, focusing on the game and not the circus which was surrounding the first derby in many years.
“The media had been really building it up, part of which was an awful lot of talk around Roy Keane and Alf Inge Haaland, so one of my concerns was Roy’s emotional control because there was obviously some previous between them already – and of course, there was more to come in the derby at Old Trafford later that season.”
Symptomatic of the foundations Ferguson had laid throughout his glory days, United - whose starting XI was based around British talent who knew the rivalry well - got off to the perfect start. David Beckham lashed in a free-kick with only two minutes on the clock and sent the away section wild.
Heading into half-time 1-0 up, a satisfied McClaren was able to hear from the father of the groom, who’d been watching from the southern hemisphere. Despite the positive scoreline, Ferguson wanted his stand-in to send a firm message to one of player who wasn’t living up to the task, Dwight Yorke.
“When we got to the dressing room, our kitman, Albert Morgan, already had a text message from the gaffer,” McClaren revealed. “Sure enough, he was watching the game over in South Africa, and the message to Albert was clear: make sure I told Yorkie just to pull his finger out a bit more.
“Well, words to that effect, and not quite so politely. Even from afar, the hairdryer was there, even if I toned it down to level one, rather than level five. The gaffer was watching intently, without a doubt. We all felt his presence. He may have been in a different hemisphere, however many miles away, but he was always there. That’s the aura that he’s got; the aura that he had created over many years.
“He may not have been in the dressing room that day, but everybody knew he’d be over there watching the game and there would be repercussions when he got back if they didn’t produce.”
Thankfully for everyone, whether in Africa or east Manchester, the Red Devils got over the line after an unspectacular second period which was only somewhat memorable for a touchline scuffle after City defender Danny Tiatto's nasty tackle on Phil Neville in the 83rd minute. Earning three points which would help them to a third successive Premier League title - meaning McClaren lifted the famous trophy in all three of his campaigns at the club so far - United’s players and their one-time manager had contrasting reactions to the anomalous occasion.
“For them, it was just job done, move on,” McClaren admitted. “For me, it was job done, sheer, massive relief, a glass of red wine and finally I could sleep again!”
Those sleepless nights weren't uncommon for him either, having worked himself into the ground in order to help the Red Devils win the yet-to-be-matched treble during his first half-season. Speaking to FourFourTwo, the former Middlesbrough, Derby County and Newcastle manager added: “Did I have to prove myself? Wow, did I! My first five months were the toughest five months of my life – from January 1999 to the end of May when we won the Treble.
“Every night I would be up until 3am, planning a session for the following day knowing it had to be perfect. I’d start putting cones out and Teddy Sheringham was the worst. He’d say to me, ‘Steve, did you have a glass of wine too many last night? Those cones aren’t in a straight line!’ For everything it was, ‘Why are we doing this, Steve?’ I had to have all the answers.
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“Eventually, I was accepted because sessions were bright, intense and competitive. I had to make it that way, so the players knew it would be difficult but enjoyable. They were all competitive – it could have been a war zone every day, because there were so many winners within that squad.”
As incoming boss Ten Hag hopes to replicate Ferguson’s trophy-laden Old Trafford tenure, the return of McClaren is no guarantee of the same amount of silverware. But, amid all of the challenges that lay ahead of the Dutchman, at least he knows he can leave his assistant in charge for a weekend.
