Sir Alex Ferguson’s resignation sparked a mixed reaction. His influence and popularity is such that his announcement triggered a response from even beyond the football world.
Alex Ferguson, in himself, is almost as big a brand as Manchester United itself. After all, if any manager stays at the helm of any club as big as the Old Trafford club, he is bound to greatness. But not everyone can survive at a club as big as United for so long.
Let’s briefly take a look at the career stats and see if he really is as good as Manchester United’s trophy cabinet suggests.
- According to Opta, Ferguson’s win rate at United was 60.2% in the 1,498 matches he has played.
- Ferguson’s best win record was in the Premier League (65%). Although it’s higher in the FA Cup but you get knocked out when you lose. His worst win record is in the UEFA Cup where he won only one of the eight games United played.
- Alex Ferguson’s teams have scored more than twice the goals they have conceded.
- Most of Ferguson’s trophies are league titles but he did accumulate 38 in 26 years. Roughly that’s three trophies every two years – no wonder the Glazers love him.
- Since the inception of the Premier League, Alex Ferguson claimed the trophy 13 out of the 21 times it has been contested. Leaving just eight trophies for the rest.
- Under Ferguson, Manchester United have picked up a total of 49 cards across 27 seasons.
- Not many are a stranger to Ferguson’s gum-chewing. Journalists have often discussed how many sticks of gum he consumes during a single game. Assumptions have ranged from just five to staggering 85.
- According to Transfer League, in the last five seasons Manchester City have spent just over £6 million more than what United have spent since 1992. Also, that the Red Devils managed to recoup £317.7 million by selling players, whereas City only recouped £147 million.
If we average him at 10 sticks-a-match, in his tenure at United Ferguson has gone through just under 15,000 gum sticks. May be if he had held back on his habit, he could’ve been the sole owner of the Rock of Gibraltar (the horse, not the Iberian rock).
- The biggest mysterious controversy of Alex Ferguson’s career has been the phenomenon called the ‘Fergie time’. The widespread belief is that whenever United are losing a match, referees tend to award more injury time in order to allow them to clinch a late goal.
BBC did a little research on it last year and they found it to be quite true. Here are BBC’s findings:
Have Alex Ferguson-related data of your own? Let us know in the comments below and we will add it in the post above (with due credits, of course).
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