The Irreplaceable Great

"Would you be angry at me if I told you I cried a bit this morning and it wasn't because you were in hospital?" I asked my friend as she lay in her hospital bed and I sat beside her.

True story.

This was a conversation I had with a friend on Wednesday 8th May. I awoke at 07.28. Two minutes before the alarm I forgot to set. The land awash with the the pouring of the Heavens. I prayed this would not prove to be pathetic fallacy for the same situation that had plagued my mind the night before.

09.20. It was true. Sir Alex Ferguson announces his retirement from his position as manager of Manchester United Football Club.


 The day I didn't want to see come. The day I never believed would come, least not voluntarily by the gaffer. It had come.

I said to one of my closest friends, a Manchester United supporter, that I don't even know if I want to blog about it, if I can do the matter justice. He responded, "What do you say about a man that you have never met but has had such an influence on the happiness in your life?"

Well, there is much to be said, but how much of it has not already been said? You can learn a thing or two from the man in what he's achieved and how he's done it, that's for sure. Something I've touched on slightly in a previous blog post. An in-depth look at this will be saved for a rainy day.

As for Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement, I've come to the realisation that, even if we had got the manager I wanted, this feeling would still remain. How can I be excited about an era without the greatest manager of all time, the only manager I've ever known at my club? I'm still mourning and, beneath the brave face, many of us will be for a while.

Gratitude. Gratitude for a man who's dedication to the game is unrivalled. A man who has rebuilt squad after squad of champions. A man who vowed to knock Liverpool off their fucking perch, and did. A man who has knocked down any team/manager that tried to stand in his path of domination in temporarily being English champions. A man who has seen 1,198 managers come and go in the English game during his tenure. A man who spoilt us rotten and never allowed for our pain to be more than temporary. A man who no amount of superlatives can do justice.

I will leave you a quote from the great man himself:

"I'm going to love every minute of it here." Day 1, Nov 1986, Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Irreplaceable Great. 

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Currently watching: Sir Alex Ferguson tribute video