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<SPAN class=art-title2>Sir Alex Ferguson: 20 years at the top</SPAN> <TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
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<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates 20 years in the Old Trafford hotseat today.
</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">06 Nov 2006</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>For a man who confessed earlier this year that he was still driven by a fear of failure, the only statistics worth noting today are those that show Manchester United three points clear of Chelsea at the top of the English Premiership after recording a fifth straight win on Saturday.
For the rest of British football, however, the 20th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson's arrival at Old Trafford is an achievement to reflect on with admiration and awe. "I hope everybody realises what it means to remain coach at the same club for 20 years," Eric Cantona told FIFA.com. "And it's not a normal club, it's 'Man United' where everybody expects a lot from you every year."
Ferguson has been carrying the weight of expectation ever since he replaced Ron Atkinson as United manager on 6 November 1986. Having broken the Celtic-Rangers stranglehold on Scottish football with Aberdeen, his brief was to end United's long, 19-year wait for the league championship. It took time but since capturing the first of eight Premiership titles in 1993, United have gone on to become one of the world's leading clubs. After 20 years and 24 trophies, the 64-year-old's drive remains undiminished. He still gets up at 7am each morning eager to tackle the new day and when asked the secret of his success, it is his work ethic that he points to first.
<TABLE id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR id=TRCAP><TD vAlign=bottom align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Sir Alex Ferguson (L) holds the Premiership trophy aloft with Roy Keane after Manchester United won the title in May 2001.</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRSOURCE><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRAUTHOR><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
A winter's tale
Andy Roxburgh, UEFA's technical director and a FIFA technical and development committee member, has known his fellow Glaswegian since the 1960s. Citing Ferguson's passion for football, Roxburgh recalls a winter's night at St Mirren, the club Ferguson managed from 1974-78. "It was pouring with rain, the floodlights were on in the stadium and he was out on the pitch working away with 30 14-year-olds," he told FIFA.com. "I was taken aback. I said, 'Wow he is the manager of the first team and he is out doing that work to develop the players of the future'. And he has never ever lost that - either the ability or the enthusiasm to do that."
Ferguson took his first coaching course at 23 and Roxburgh, who partnered him in the Falkirk forward line at the start of the 1970s, remembers him "always talking about the game". He added: "Alex scored a lot of goals because of his ability to read situations and to anticipate things. When I look back I recognise he was a really good reader of the game, he had leadership qualities and was tough both psychologically and physically - he could take a knock and bounce back again. Clearly the qualities were there."
It was during an eight-year spell at Aberdeen that Ferguson made his name, winning t
</TD></TR><TR class=paddingall><TD vAlign=top>
<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates 20 years in the Old Trafford hotseat today.</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">06 Nov 2006</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>For a man who confessed earlier this year that he was still driven by a fear of failure, the only statistics worth noting today are those that show Manchester United three points clear of Chelsea at the top of the English Premiership after recording a fifth straight win on Saturday.
For the rest of British football, however, the 20th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson's arrival at Old Trafford is an achievement to reflect on with admiration and awe. "I hope everybody realises what it means to remain coach at the same club for 20 years," Eric Cantona told FIFA.com. "And it's not a normal club, it's 'Man United' where everybody expects a lot from you every year."
Ferguson has been carrying the weight of expectation ever since he replaced Ron Atkinson as United manager on 6 November 1986. Having broken the Celtic-Rangers stranglehold on Scottish football with Aberdeen, his brief was to end United's long, 19-year wait for the league championship. It took time but since capturing the first of eight Premiership titles in 1993, United have gone on to become one of the world's leading clubs. After 20 years and 24 trophies, the 64-year-old's drive remains undiminished. He still gets up at 7am each morning eager to tackle the new day and when asked the secret of his success, it is his work ethic that he points to first.
<TABLE id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR id=TRCAP><TD vAlign=bottom align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Sir Alex Ferguson (L) holds the Premiership trophy aloft with Roy Keane after Manchester United won the title in May 2001.</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRSOURCE><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRAUTHOR><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A winter's tale
Andy Roxburgh, UEFA's technical director and a FIFA technical and development committee member, has known his fellow Glaswegian since the 1960s. Citing Ferguson's passion for football, Roxburgh recalls a winter's night at St Mirren, the club Ferguson managed from 1974-78. "It was pouring with rain, the floodlights were on in the stadium and he was out on the pitch working away with 30 14-year-olds," he told FIFA.com. "I was taken aback. I said, 'Wow he is the manager of the first team and he is out doing that work to develop the players of the future'. And he has never ever lost that - either the ability or the enthusiasm to do that."
Ferguson took his first coaching course at 23 and Roxburgh, who partnered him in the Falkirk forward line at the start of the 1970s, remembers him "always talking about the game". He added: "Alex scored a lot of goals because of his ability to read situations and to anticipate things. When I look back I recognise he was a really good reader of the game, he had leadership qualities and was tough both psychologically and physically - he could take a knock and bounce back again. Clearly the qualities were there."
It was during an eight-year spell at Aberdeen that Ferguson made his name, winning t