Like most people here I never warmed to him as a player, i.e. I didn't like him, but was converted when he began to work for Sky. So I read the book, Red. His intelligence and analytical mind come across clearly, but what I was really struck by was the unbelievable intensity. Talk about controlled aggression allied with reflective intelligence. Frightening. No wonder United have dominated for 20-years.
Tremendous respect for others too, but especially for those who played with courage and who gave no quarter. "The Manager said Tony Adams was a United player in the wrong colour shirt". Complements don't come any higher than that.
Note he still calls "him" Sir Alex Ferguson even from the safety of the Sky Sports box. De Gea probably got fried in that dressing room. Based on Neville's account, had Roy Keane still been playing he'd have been lucky to get out alive. Having read that book I began to understand what has been so special about United during the long reign of the Manager.
What else would he call him? Everyone calls him Sir Alex
Perhaps I was too cryptic. I was trying to make a point about fear and respect. In the book Neville talks about his England career and refers, for example, to Terry Venables, casually and warmly, as "Terry". However, despite having known and worked with him for the best part of twenty years, winning multiple league titles and European Cups, Ferguson is known as "the Manager" or, occasionally, as Sir Alex Ferguson. I felt that was interesting and says a lot about the way the Club has been managed. The culture at United is clearly incredibly intense, completely intolerant of weakness or error and with a relentless focus on winning every single time a United side takes the field.
To sustain this over a twenty year period is truly extraordinary. Whilst Ferguson himself is clearly thoughtful, analytical, creative and flexible, he is also, as Neville puts it, always simmering and close to boiling point. Ruling with a rod of iron he makes sure that nobody is in any doubt who is in charge. It's almost frightening.
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To sustain this over a twenty year period is truly extraordinary. Whilst Ferguson himself is clearly thoughtful, analytical, creative and flexible, he is also, as Neville puts it, always simmering and close to boiling point. Ruling with a rod of iron he makes sure that nobody is in any doubt who is in charge. It's almost frightening.