Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has opened up about his unsuccessful attempt to persuade Pep Guardiola to join the club as his successor during a dinner in 2012. The legendary Scottish manager spent 26 years at the helm at Old Trafford, marking one of the most successful periods in the club’s history.
Since Sir Alex’s retirement in 2013, the Red Devils have changed several managers, but have failed to find their way. David Moyes, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Erik ten Hag all struggled to live up to expectations, as did Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruben Amorim.
The Premier League giants appointed Michael Carrick as Amorim’s temporary replacement in January, before giving him the full-time job at the end of the campaign. However, United’s poor start to the new campaign – they sit 12th in the league table after five games – has put the spotlight back on their managerial issues.
Guardiola, meanwhile, achieved great success while in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, before arriving at Manchester City in 2016. The Spanish manager spent a decade at the Etihad, winning several trophies, before leaving this summer. Sir Alex has now reflected on failing to convince Guardiola to join United before his City stint.
Sir Alex wanted Guardiola to succeed him at United
In his new book, Games of My Life, Sir Alex revealed that he wishes the dinner with Guardiola had taken place a few months earlier. He said (via the Mirror): “Over the past ten years, I have often wondered what might have happened if the dinner I had with Pep in New York in 2012 had taken place a couple of months earlier.”
“At the time, I hadn’t decided for certain that I was going to retire. And Pep was convinced that, after achieving huge success in just four years in La Liga with a Continental treble as well as a League and Champions League double, he wanted to try life in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.”
“If I could rewind time, we would have dined some months earlier, I would have poured plenty of Tignanello (Italian wine) and I would have tried my hardest to convince him that his future lay in Manchester. Unfortunately for us, it did. Enough said.”
Sir Alex Ferguson Managerial Stats
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games Played | Games Won | Games Drawn | Games Lost | Win % | |||
| East Stirlingshire | June 1974 | October 1974 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 52.9 |
| St Mirren | October 1974 | May 1978 | 169 | 74 | 41 | 54 | 43.8 |
| Aberdeen | June 1978 | 6 November 1986 | 459 | 272 | 105 | 82 | 59.3 |
| Scotland | 1 October 1985 | 30 June 1986 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 30.0 |
| Manchester United | 6 November 1986 | 19 May 2013 | 1,500 | 895 | 338 | 267 | 59.7 |
| Total | — | 2,155 | 1,253 | 490 | 412 | 58.1 | |
Source: Wikipedia.
Sir Alex’s special praise for Guardiola
Sir Alex went on to heap praise on Guardiola, adding: “Pep has set a breathtaking standard for the current generation of players or anybody aspiring to become a manager.”
“Draped in Barcelona’s blue and garnet from the time he was born, he had a brilliant club career and was one of the best creative midfielders in the game during the 1990s. Pep became manager of Barcelona when he was just thirty-seven years old.”
“When I see some of the game’s biggest stars leave the field and immediately take a manager’s job without much preparation or experience, my heart sinks. It often ends badly, especially for the Premier League players.”
“The stakes are too high. You’re right in everyone’s crosshairs. The public expect that your success on the field will automatically transfer to the dugout. Former players are impatient to make the transition to the top tier. Pep Guardiola is the most celebrated example of a manager who started with a top club when he was relatively young.”
Final Thoughts
As United continue their search for Sir Alex Ferguson’s rightful heir more than a decade after his retirement, one does wonder if Guardiola could have been the solution. Fans, however, will hope that the Red Devils afford Carrick time and resources to get them back where they belong.
Featured image by Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
