Sir Alex Ferguson's hairdryer treatment is the stuff of legend.
From David Beckham getting a boot kicked at him to forcing his entire team to change shirts at half-time, Ferguson often let his temper get the better of him – and he is said to have even reduced Cristiano Ronaldo to tears on one occasion early on in his Manchester United career.
And for a legendary manager such as Sir Alex, it seems there was no room for Christmas cheer if his players needed setting straight. For many, the festive season brings a welcome excuse to let your hair down and party but after one raucous event, the Premier League's most successful manager went on such a tirade that he "destroyed his leg" kicking an aluminium chair.
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In 2007 the United squad took their annual Christmas knees-up to extreme measures and reportedly went on a 13-hour bender straight after they left training. The night is said to have taken in some of Manchester's finest pubs, the casino, a karaoke bar and even a strip club.
Things are thought to have started with United legend Rio Ferdinand organising the festivities by collecting £4,000 from each of his teammates for the kitty - so you can imagine how long the bar tab was and how bad the hangovers were the following day. During the wild night, Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves are said to have enjoyed singing Mack Rice's 'Mustang Sally' for their teammates.
Other reports suggested Anderson, Nani and Chris Eagles were on 'top form' on the night – although many players have kept the finer details of the night to themselves. It is clear, though, that the partying went on long into the night – despite the fact that the players still had to report for training bright and early the following morning.
And when they all turned up, looking slightly dishevelled and hungover no doubt, Sir Alex Ferguson was waiting for them. The fearsome United boss was not happy with his players and wasn't afraid to let them know it.
According to former United centre-back Gerard Pique, it was quite a party, with the former Barcelona star later saying "the whole day was amazing".
Speaking to former teammate Gary Neville on The Overlap in May, Pique was asked what was the best party he's ever been to. Pique said: "I always explain the one. The Christmas party, my last year in Manchester. I was 20, the whole day was amazing!"
The defender, who retired this year, also previously revealed details of Sir Alex's furious rant at his players the following day – which left the Scot limping after lashing out at a nearby chair.
He told Barcelona's in-house media: "Two or three days before Christmas, there was a party just for the players in the team. It was the bee's knees, they really cut loose. It was all day long. We left training, left our cars there and got a bus.
"We went to the casino. Casino, party. The next day Sir Alex was waiting for us in the dressing room.
"We got a real scolding. There was an aluminum chair and he kicked it but unfortunately with his shin. You could see him start limping.
"He'd destroyed his leg. It was spectacular. From there on they stopped with the Christmas party."
While Ferguson stopped his players from having a Christmas party the following year, he wasn't a total Scrooge. The fiery Scot would allow his players to enjoy themselves around Christmas – as long as things didn't get out of hand.
Speaking to Tribuna Expresso, Nani said in July: "If I had the next day off, for example, then I could have some fun... on special days like Christmas or New Year – no one in England cares about that.
"On New Year, we could even go to training drunk and the coach didn't care about it. That's the side of [Sir Alex] that knew how to deal with the players and have the perception to say, 'this day is special, I can't make demands'.
"We had been playing non-stop all year long. It was a joy, a moment of relaxation, a different kind of training – clowning around. I won't lie, I liked nights out."
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