21
WInnING THE TREBLE IS SO LAST SEASOn
Bill Beswick Consultant sports psychologist, 1999-0 1
I remember the first day of pre-season in the summer of 1999, just a
few weeks after the team had won the Treble. One of the players
showed up carrying a sack full of baseball bats that had ‘Treble
Winners’ written on them, and then began handing them out to the
rest of the United players.
Alex marched over and started to collect up the bats and put
them back in the sack, before throwing the lot in the bin. “That was
last season, boys,” he said to the players. “That’s all done now. This
is this season.” He would always stamp out deviation from the
focus on winning.
22
A SPOT OF In TERn ATIOn AL DIPLOMACY In BELGIUM
Danny Higginbotham United defender, 1997-2000
The abiding memory I have of Alex is how he stood by me and
Ronnie Wallwork when we were in trouble with the Belgian FA in
1999 during a loan spell with Royal Antwerp. There was an incident
at the end of a play-off match: Ronnie was accused of holding the
referee by the throat; I was accused of headbutting him. It was all a
load of nonsense, but I was initially given a year-long ban and Ronnie
was banned for life.
Alex chose to fly over to Belgium to be our character references at
our appeal hearing, and he spoke about us in glowing terms. He
didn’t have to do that for us – he could have stayed in Manchester
and focused on defending the Treble – but he did. You could say he
put his reputation on the line for us, but he didn’t see it that way. He
trusted us – we might not have played much for the first team, but
we’d been at the club for about nine years and he knew everything
about us. Both of our bans were massively reduced, and
when we got back to Manchester he gave
us both new four-year contracts.
23
n OBODY IS SAFE
Paul Scholes United midfielder, 1992-2013
Once, I was a substitute for a game away at Newcastle. We were 3-1
down when I came on after an hour, and we quickly got it back to
3-3. We’d created a couple of chances and I think I missed one
myself. Then I gave the ball away and they hit us on the break, scored
and won 4-3. After the match, that is all he remembered: me giving
the ball away. I got a real roasting for that.24
DELEGATIOn KEPT HIM TWO GAMES AHEAD
Bill Beswick Consultant sports psychologist, 1999-01
Of all the coaches I’ve worked with, he was the clearest about his own
role. Most hover between coaching and management, never quite
sure what they are, labelled ‘managers’ but far more comfortable on
the training pitch. Alex was a good delegator: he’d let the coaches
and other staff get on with their own jobs as he trusted them. He
believed that you were an expert in your field and he was an expert in
his, and so as long as you had a positive influence on the team, you
were on board. It created an environment focused on winning, and he
could focus on the next match and how to win it. He knew his team
for the next game and the game after that. He’d have three teams up
on his board at any one time.25
PEOPLE WATCHER
Mick Clegg United power development coach, 2000-11
To me, he was the ultimate observer of human character. He used to
get to Carrington at 7am – his office would overlook the car park.
He’d watch every player turn up and get out of their car, and he
would see what kind of mood they were in. Some would almost be
dancing down the path, others would be arguing with
the wife on their phone, some would look depressed,
and some would have their chests puffed out as if to
say, ‘I can’t wait to start training.’ Once they had
all come in and gone through the warm-ups, had
their massages and so on, he’d observe them all
as they walked onto the pitch. He watched his
players all of the time. He didn’t take the
training sessions – he’d just walk around
the edge of the pitch and
observe. He could see
who was up for it“WHEn I BROKE MY LEG HE CAME TO MY HOUSE TO GIVE
ME A CHRISTMAS PRESEn T BY HAn D. IT WAS TOWELS”
ImagesGetty Images; PA; AlamyFourFourTwo.com The Managers 47FERGIE