Top 143 Quotes & Sayings by Alex Ferguson
Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Scottish coach Alex Ferguson.
Last updated on December 24, 2024.
If my parents were still alive, they would be very proud. They gave me a good start in life, the values that have driven me, and the confidence to believe in myself.
Her Majesty said she hoped I would have time for my horses - I own two and have shares in four.
Myths grow all the time. If I was to listen to the number of times I've thrown teacups then we've gone through some crockery in this place. It's completely exaggerated, but I don't like people arguing back with me.
I'm going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France. They fly in V-formation but the second ones don't fly. They're the subs for the first ones. And then the second ones take over - so it's teamwork.
Football management is such a pressurised thing - horseracing is a release. I'm also learning to play the piano - I'm quite determined - it's another release from the pressure of my job.
You are responsible to each other because when you win a game of football, you only need eight players to perform well.
As long as there are games to play it is not over.
If I have my health I can carry on. There will be a point when I do quit but I have absolutely no idea when that is.
I don't like losing but I've mellowed. I maybe have a short fuse but it goes away quicker now.
In England, it's a rare thing to see a player smoking but, all in all, I prefer that to an alcoholic. The relationship with alcohol is a real problem in English football and, in the short term, it's much more harmful to a sportsman. It weakens the body, which becomes more susceptible to injury.
The time I have already spent at Harvard has been a stimulating experience, and I look forward to developing my relationship and activities with the students, faculty and friends of the Harvard Business School community.
Sometimes you're not sure about a player. Sometimes you doubt. Sometimes you have to guess. Sometimes... you just know.
I tell the players that the bus is moving. This club has to progress. And the bus wouldn't wait for them. I tell them to get on board.
Well, football is a hard game; there's no denying it. It's a game that can bring out the worst in you, at times.
Bobby Charlton's record was quite substantial. I couldn't think anybody would beat that. It is an achievement par excellence.
The culmination of three trophies was the pinnacle of my career and it has been rewarded with a knighthood.
There are members of the London press who seek to antagonise me, deliberately.
I do believe in fate.
Sometimes in football you have to hold your hand up and say, yeah, they're better than us.
I've never played for a draw in my life.
Human beings of today are more fragile, whereas people born in wartime, during the Second World War, eventually became the great players like Pele. They were fantastic players.
I feel sympathy for the working class lad. I've always championed about ticket prices and try to equate that to people's salaries.
One of the things I always thought about as a young coach was finding solutions to things that happened, but the most important thing I always referred to was never giving in.
The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work.
I think you have a duty and a responsibility to entertain. We have to always remember that there's a public to be entertained.
You can't applaud a referee.
He has an awareness of what's happening around him on the edge of the box which is better than most players. As a kid he always had a knack of arriving in the penalty area just at the right time, but he's proving just as effective from outside the box because he's using his experience in the right way. It doesn't matter who I am thinking about bringing into my midfield, Paul Scholes will be included, as he would in any side in the world.
They say it was Cesc Fabregas who threw the pizza at me but, to this day, I have no idea who the culprit was.
There is no evidence that changing your managers repeatedly leads to success, but there is evidence at Manchester United, I was managing there for 26 years I won 38 trophies.
Pippo Inzaghi was born in an offside position.
If he was an inch taller he'd be the best center half in Britain. His father is 6 ft 2 in - I'd check the milkman.
If you're going to be a footballer, be a great one.If you're going to have a dream, dream big.
We once went 13 games without winning. There's always pressure here. Winning is always important here. How do you handle yourself and compose yourself is important.
(on Manchester United)
They say he's an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages! I've got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!
You start with what you believe in. I believe in building a football club rather than building a football team.
My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f*****g perch. And you can print that.
When an Italian tells me it's pasta on the plate, I check under the sauce to make sure.
To not apologize for the behavior of the players to another manager is unthinkable. It's a disgrace, but I don't expect Wenger to ever apologize...he's that type of person.
I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell.
The work of a team should always embrace a great player, but the great player must always work.
It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing as if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him.
Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that.
I always say prepare to be a coach to anybody who wants to be a coach. At 24 years of age when I left engineering to become full time in football, I made sure that I was never going back to engineering.
Ronaldo could play for Millwall, QPR, Doncaster Rovers or anyone and he'd score a hat-trick. I'm not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo's got two feet, he's quick, he's good in the air and he's brave, though Messi's brave too of course. I just think Messi is a Barcelona player.
I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cockier spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.
That lad must have been born offside.
I always used to say to players at half-time, 'Be patient. The last fifteen minutes throw the kitchen sink at them. It's worth a gamble'. You are going to lose the game anyway. There is nothing better than when you get to that last fifteen minutes and you actually win the game late on. The fans are going out of the gates I gave it a try and it worked.
Liverpool can play for only five minutes and win the game, that is the way they are. They pump the ball into the box and with good set-piece delivery they keep you under pressure.
Go make your mistakes in the first team. You'll learn more in a month in the first team than you will in two years in the reserves.
There was one or two offers that did come along during my time at United, but I always came back to this point; why would you leave United? Where is the bigger challenge? And the thing about challenges is, once you have won something, you can't live on that. Not at Manchester United - you have got to win the next one. And that's the challenge. Maintaining that consistency of winning which is a mentality that I have had.
Promise is one thing. Fulfilling that promise is quite another.
Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.
Kindness is a universal language regardless of age, nationality or religion.
I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. His contribution as a goal threat is unbelievable. His stats are incredible. Strikes at goal, attempts on goal, raids into the penalty box, headers. It is all there. Absolutely astounding.
As long as there are games to play its not over
I bet him he wouldn't get 15 league goals and I'm going to have to change my bet with him. If he gets to 15 I can change it and I am allowed to do that because I'm the manager. I'm going to make it 150 now!
Gianfranco Zola once sent Gary Pallister the wrong way to such an extent that he needed a ticket to get back in.
Hard work will always overcome natural talent when natural talent does not work hard enough.
Distinguish between power and control, delegate, be decisive - and always remember people's first names.
It's a horrible part of the game when you have to tell a player, probably somebody who has helped you win so much that his time is up. You treat them like family, and because they are your family it becomes even more hurting in the sense that you have got to say "well son, I'm sorry, you won't be a regular here, but you will still have a career elsewhere.' It's happened more than a few times but it is not an easy thing to handle.
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