The Football Insider With Mikael Silvestre: What Made Sir Alex Such A Great Manager

Since I started the column with KT we have had a lot of questions from readers – ranging from my time at Manchester United to the transfer to Arsenal. People also ask me about my time in Italy where I played for Inter Milan before joining the Premier League.

But without a doubt what people want to know more than anything is what was Sir Alex Ferguson like as a manger and more specifically what was the hairdryer like? For those who don't know the hairdryer is what everyone calls the famous blasts from the manager players would get from time to time.

Every player had it from Sir Alex at some point. He would instinctively know when your standard had dropped and be on you. He was ruthless – ruthless for success and to make sure that the team was performing as well as it could each and every week.

He was also massive on respect. Respect for each other and respect for the club and everyone who worked there. If you didn't show respect, you got the hairdryer and if you look at his amazing record then it clearly worked.

But there was also a very different side to him, and he is a person who understands just how much pressure can be on a player not only to perform but to keep a healthy family like.

Sir Alex was always super kind to me in that way.

If I go right back to when I signed for United, it perfectly sums up how superb his man-management skills were.

I flew into Manchester after playing international U21s on a Thursday night and he was there to meet me and take me to dinner. I immediately felt at ease and then he had it all planned how I would be introduced to the rest of the players and be knitted into the group.

I made my debut that weekend – against Liverpool of all teams – and Sir Alex was there for me every step of the way. That is despite him obviously having a million things to think about.

Those 72 hours show how strong and skilled he was as a manger and from that point on I never looked back as we went from success to success.

It can be a cliché to hear that Air Alex knew everyone at the club and treated them all the same, but it is genuinely true and despite the sheer size of United he always made it feel like a family.

So, there you have both of maybe the greatest footballer manager ever and certainly the one with the most stamina.

But for both the hard and the softer side of him the bottom line was that everything he did was geared to winning football matches and collecting silverware at the end of the season.

Times have changed but that philosophy would work in any place at any time which is something very unique to Sir Alex.

Unfortunately, this season I have had to analyse a lot of what has gone wrong at Old Trafford. As we look ahead to next season, perhaps, reigniting some of the Sir Alex spirit would be wonderful for the team.

(Former French defender Mikael Silvestre won five Premier League titles with Manchester United. He was also part of the United team that won the 2008 Champions League title)

MENAFN07042025000049011007ID1109399969