Product Description

1999 was an outstanding year for Alex Ferguson – not only did he lead Manchester United, the most glamorous club in the world, to a unique and outstanding treble triumph, but he was awarded the highest honour for his sporting achievements; a Knighthood from the Queen. Universally respected for his tough, but caring managerial style, Ferguson is an unusually intelligent man with a fascinating life story. Covering his tough Govan upbringing through to his playing days and onto his shift into management, Managing My Life is told with the fine balance of biting controversy and human sensitivity which made it such an unprecedented success in hardback. Alex Ferguson is a legend in his lifetime.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19122 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 520 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
When considering the public face of Sir Alex Ferguson--the unsmiling, world-beating football manager who has taken just about all the honours the British game has to offer--it is difficult to imagine that he grew up as the son of a ship builder on the banks of the Clyde in Glasgow. Yet Ferguson's story is much the same as many others who have made it to the top in the sport: a boy with talent who rose above the expectations of his working-class background to become a household name throughout the world.

Such is the power of football; but more relevantly, such is the power of raw talent, pure determination and a bit of good luck. In Managing My Life Ferguson tells the story of just how he developed from a football-mad youngster to the first British manager to win the FA Cup, the Premiership and the European Cup in one season; but whereas others with a similar experience romanticise their tough upbringing and eulogise it from the comfortable position success affords them, with Ferguson there is the feeling that the tough, uncompromising way he runs his team is a direct product of values instilled in childhood that he still holds close.

I grew up accepting that shipbuilding was part of the fabric of my existence. In a community that relies heavily on a single industry, there is an intensity of shared experience that draws people together and tends to make them appreciate the need to support one another. It has been said that the values great managers like Jock Stein, Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley brought to their jobs in football were rooted in their mining background. I have no doubt it is true and I am sure, too, that any success I have had in handling men, and especially in creating a culture of loyalty and commitment in teams I have managed, owes much to my upbringing among the workingmen of Clydesdale.

Opening the book with a word on his recent Treble success (after all, who could be expected to wait until the end of this extraordinary story for all the gory details?), Ferguson soon reveals the big secret of his success--family support. The constants throughout his life have been close friend and family relationships and an absolute passion for winning, and both are constantly recurring themes throughout the book. Candid, thoughtful and passionate, this is certainly a story no Ferguson lover can miss. But, more importantly, it is one those who hate him should be made to read--if you thought the dour face and frequent complaints to the referee were his whole character, you are sorely mistaken; they are symptoms of his never-ending quest for perfection.--Lucie NaylorThis text refers to the hardcover edition of this title.

Independent
‘The richest and most enthralling story in post-war British sport'

Review
'The best football autobiography I have ever read’ (The Sunday Times )

‘The richest and most enthralling story in post-war British sport’ (Independent )

‘Danielle Steele meets Geoffrey Archer, with a Booker Prize quality injected by Hugh McIlvanney’ (Independent on Sunday )

'A treat' (Sunday Express )

'Ferguson emerges from this account as a genuine national hero, one of the great Scots of the 20th century' (Mail on Sunday )

'Provocative, stimulating, emotional and honest' (The Herald )

Customer Reviews

Toy boxes, second-hand boots and foreign holidays
There are many football fans who would turn their noses up at the idea of reading a book about the manager of another club, particularly, Manchester United's boss. They would be wrong to do so. Managing My Life, instead of merely retelling the all too familiar story of Manchester United's ascendancy to the top of English football under Alex Ferguson's stewardship, charts the full span of his interesting, occasionally tumultous, life and career; from his rough and tumble childhood in Glasgow's Govan through to the ups-and-downs of the 1999 Champions League Final. Indeed, we are given glimpses of aspects of Ferguson's personality hitherto subdued or obscured in his many media appearances. His almost child-like innocence and glee about being selected for the Scottish international team's world tour in the summer of 1967 shows that vividly. Detailing the itinerary, which included Israel, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Canada he notes that he had "never been further than Spain, but the Govan boy was ready for the faraway places with strange-sounding names". In his description of his troubled times, as a player, with his boyhood heroes Glasgow Rangers, a suggestion of vulnerability and self-doubt creeps into his words. Pointedly, he remarks that in his forty years in professional football no experience had "created a scar comparable with that left by the treatment I received at Ibrox".

That is not to suggest that with this autobiography Ferguson has grown soft, sensitive and likable. Many of his reflections show why he is respected and admired rather than loved and adored. He derides his one-time player Paul Ince's desire to be called by the tag of the `Guvnor' as "nonsense [which] should have been left in his toy box", despite recognising that it was just a mask for the player's insecurity. Aberdeen player Gordon Strachan's statement in the 1983-84 season that he was bored and intended to quit the club was met with the plain, uncomplicated 'advice' to "Go and get yourself unbored". In many of the more bullish statements on subjects he is reminiscent of managers of a bygone age, like, Bill Shankly and Brian Clough; individuals who are willing to say what they feel and believe without regard for the consequence or affect their words will have. Ferguson's comments about his eight successful years at Aberdeen, where he picked up the League, Scottish Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup with Aberdeen, indicate that clearly. Boldly, he declares in a statement which may come across as heresy to followers of Manchester United that, "no matter how well things go at Old Trafford it will be difficult to surpass the satisfaction of turning a provincial club... into the benchmark of quality in the Scottish game".

Alex Ferguson's choice of Hugh McIlvanney, his friend and fellow Scot, as a ghost-writer for this forthright autobiography is as shrewd as any manoeuvre he has made in the transfer market. The highly-acclaimed sportswriter has brought structure, coherence and a touch of linguistic flair to this (successful) attempt to explain how Ferguson went from a childhood where he had to wait for a neighbour to give him second-hand boots so that he could turn out for his street team to becoming a knight of the realm.

As with all autobiographies there is an element of hubris in Ferguson's recollections upon matches, events and his actions. Those who are looking for a critical, dissenting voice, therefore, may wish to consider political journalist Michael Crick's well-researched, unauthorised biography The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson [2003].

Great Book About a Great Manager
Despite not being an avid supporter of Manchester United I have always been very keen to have an insight into the life and times of club's greatest ever manager.

The book clearly portrays the great mans early days and his tough upbringing in Govan, Glasgow. Uniquely, in a city which had major religous differences Alex's parents were from a mixed marriage. We get a great insight into Alex's early footballing life and the tough times that his family endured in surviving.
A fascinating discussion about Alex Ferguson's time as a player were amongst other clubs represented Glasgow Rangers. Even as a player we could to realize that he had a volatile temperament which would continue to serve him as a natural football leader.

From success at the unfashionable Aberdeen football Club to the pressures of managing one of the biggest sports clubs in the world Alex remains how much his childhood upbringing continues to be a major backbone of his life.

A truly great read into the one of soccers most respected characters.

What Makes Him Tick
A lot of people myself included do not know of Alex Fergusons early beginnings. It was interesting to read how he started at the bottom and worked his way up through sheer grit, determination and being able to nurture his players.