Sir Alex Ferguson stands by the succession plan which brought David Moyes to Manchester United only to see him fired after less than one full season. He insisted that United undertook a 'perfect process' to find his successor when he left in 2013.
Manchester United's legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has launched a new book titled, "Leading". The book was launched with a tour which started on Monday night at the Royal Festival Hall in London where Ferguson appeared on stage with co-author, Sir Michael Moritz and Financial Times editor, Lionel Barber.
Ferguson received a raucous reception and a few chants of 'Red Army' before he amused his audience with tales from his years at United. He retains his ability to hold the room in his thrall, and a gift for comic timing.
On his decision to Retire:
I made a decision in October after Cathy’s sister died. I told her I was going to retire but how would I convey that to the Glazer family? I knew what it meant to them, winning the title.
On how he finally left:
I was ready to tell them in March and then (chief executive) David Gill tells me he’s going to retire. That was a serious blow. What did I do now? But I’d made my mind up. It was the right decision.
Once I’d conveyed it to the Glazers, then the process started of looking for successors. We chose David Moyes. He had been consistent in his job at Everton, had a good spell there — 11 years and showed appetite. No one knew apart from the Glazers, David Gill and myself. When we appointed him, the press were enthusiastic for a British manager. Unfortunately, somehow it didn’t work out for David. The process was perfect. It was a good process.
On how he met Pep Guardiola in 2012 to ask him for replacement:
I asked Pep to phone me before he accepted an offer from another club but he didn’t and wound up joining Bayern Munich in July 2013. We established that several very desirable candidates were unavailable.
On his failure to land Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp as new coach of Man United:
It became apparent that Jose Mourinho had given his word to Roman Abramovich that he would return to Chelsea and that Carlo Ancelotti would succeed him at Real Madrid. We also knew Jurgen Klopp was happy at Borussia Dortmund and would be signing a new contract. Louis van Gaal had undertaken to lead the Dutch attempt to win the 2014 World Cup.