Sir Alex Ferguson: He is a Manchester United coaching legend. Once the Scot almost beat up a journalist – because of CR7.
Sir Alex Ferguson was Manchester United manager for 26 years and has gone down in history as the most successful manager of the Red Devils. His team shone on the pitch – and the press conferences and interviews with the now 80-year-old were more than entertaining.
Ferguson attracted attention with his matter-of-fact manner, but he was not above putting journalists in their place on a regular basis. The supposed climax of the disputes with the media came in January 2007, when the Scotsman on a sky–Sportsjournalists went off after a CR7 interview.
It all started with the FA Cup match between Manchester United and Middlesbrough FC. The English record champions won the game 1-0 – Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning goal.
The decisive goal was a penalty. Afterwards, it was discussed directly whether Ronaldo had fallen too quickly and whether the referee should have allowed the game to continue. sky–SportsReporter Geoff Shreeves wanted to broach the subject in a post-match interview with Ronaldo.
In his book Cheers Geoff! Tales from the Touchline the journalist reports on the scenes that took place after the encounter. The Sun quotes Shreeves’ book: “I asked Cristiano if he went down easily. Ronaldo remains quite vague but says it was a penalty. I certainly wasn’t aware of the imminent explosion.”
Manchester United: Sir Alex Ferguson tackles Shreeves after questioning CR7
The situation quickly escalated. Sir Alex Ferguson stood in front of his youngster – and couldn’t calm down.
the Sun quoted: “Sir Alex comes out of the dressing room and struts straight at me. ‘You and your damn questions, you’re not damn fine,’ he scolded. ‘The boy hardly speaks English, you’re completely off the hook!’ ‘Don’t talk to me like that,’ I replied. ‘I’m not one of your stupid young players’.”
That statement was to have consequences for Shreeves. He ended up being banned from Ferguson’s press conferences for a period of time, and upon reflection Shreeves realized he was wrong.
But the story didn’t end there: “Ferguson went red. He lunged at me, only United’s communications chief Di Law jumped between us and prevented a full confrontation.”
“‘Don’t even think about it,’ I said to ‘Fergie,’ to which he immediately responded, ‘Fuck off, you’re banned,’ when he was removed.”
Ferguson and Shreeves: Despite confrontation, a happy ending
So Shreeves rewatched the scene with Cristiano Ronaldo and actually decided he was wrong. “I thought I did a good job, but when I got home I looked at the scene. Then I saw that I had misjudged it.”
Of the sky–SportsThe journalist then wanted to reconnect with the United coach and settle the dispute – but Ferguson blocked it. “I emailed Fergie and admitted I was wrong. No reply,” he says in his book.
The pair’s troubles were apparently settled, however, as in Ferguson’s final game six years later, he jokingly slapped Shreeves on the back when he tried to join the legendary coach’s tribute and also collect a gift.
