Gordon Strachan on his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson: “I’ve received shocking abuse but feel so privileged”
Gordon Strachan has opened up on his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson and has provided his thoughts on the modern game, where player power has become so prominent.
Strachan had a long coaching career that included spells in charge of Coventry, Southampton, Celtic and Middlesbrough, before his story concluded with a spell as manager of the Scotland national team until 2017.
Now 68, Strachan’s time on the touchline has come to an end, and he believes the man-management tactics he used to get the best out of the players under his watch may not have the desired impact with the current generation.
“I would find it difficult relating to the kids playing the game now, I would imagine,” Strachan told Planet Football in an exclusive interview with Esports News. “I used to be all right when I was early 40s and the world was a little easier.
“I had a sense of humour that even late in my career that people warmed to. It probably took people five or six weeks to work out whether I was being serious or if I was joking, but now I might be on the back foot a little.
“Every day when I walked in, I always wanted to have a laugh at something, enjoy the experience, but I don’t know if I could do it now.
“A lot of players from my era do after-dinner speaking, but I look at the lads playing now and I just don’t think they could stand up and do that.
“There will be no experience of Alex Ferguson throwing things at me or characters like Howard Wilkinson and Ron Atkinson giving us so many stories to talk about. Things are very different now and not just in football.
“I look at players when they get off the bus now and they are isolated in their own world. They have their headphones on, they don’t talk to anyone, so I feel lucky to have been in an era when everyone mingled with each other and had fun.
“What I would say is I wouldn’t find it difficult on the training field. Absolutely not. I know more about the game now as I have studied the game more. I’ve had more time to study the game and I think I would be able to be more effective than some of the stuff we see from managers now.
“I think there is a lot of propaganda around the game and I think I could bring a reality to winning games of football, that’s for sure.”
Strachan spent a large part of his playing career working under Alex Ferguson’s watch at Aberdeen and then at Manchester United, with the duo falling out on numerous occasions during fiery exchanges.
The animosity between the pair lingered for some time after their working relationship ended, but Strachan has confirmed they are not on good terms.
“We get on fine now,” he added. “In fact, I was I was at his table at Old Trafford the other day with some friends who have been very good to me and my family in recent years. So, yeah, we are fine. We are good.
• • • •
READ: Gordon Strachan: “The rule change knackered Leeds as it allowed a different style to take over”
“Like anything, when you get people who are dogmatic and things like that, you can have problems. We’ve always been respectful of each other, but now we’re actually enjoying our path together, which is great. Life is better when you’ve got even more friends.
“I worked with him for nine and a half years and I’ve been on the receiving end of some shocking abuse, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I feel so privileged to have had those nine and a half years with him.
“People would pay a million pounds to spend one day in a dressing room with Sir Alex Ferguson, to see what he did, what the best did when he was at his best, people would pay a million pounds to be in there with him. I was lucky. I got to do it for nine and half years.
“When I say lucky. I was lucky I got the way some flying cups every now and then! But we are good now. When we meet up now, we roll about laughing at the stupidity of things that happened 30 or 40 years ago.
“There are probably only two or three people in the world that I probably wouldn’t want to be in the same room with and I’ve been a fortunate fella to work with great people. I’d be mad not to look back and be grateful for what I’ve had in my life.”
By Kevin Palmer
READ NEXT: The best XI in football history according to Eric Cantona: Maradona & Cruyff, but no Pele…
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to get 20+ Premier League assists for Man Utd?