Squeaky Bum Time

He is simultaneously the most admired and feared manager in British football. During almost forty years in the dugout, and over half a century in the professional game, he’s torn up the record books, amassed a treasure trove of silverware, and unleashed the hairdryer—as well as the odd football boot—on countless players, rival managers, referees, and journalists. But amid the sound, the fury and the mind-games lurks one of sport’s greatest wits. So here we present Sir Alex Ferguson: uncompromising, unrivalled and uncut. On Arsène Wenger: "They say he’s an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages! I’ve got a fifteen-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages." On Dennis Wise: "He could start a row in an empty house.' On referees: ‘Can anyone tell me why they give referees a watch? It’s certainly not for keeping the time.’ On his humble beginnings: ‘People say mine was a poor upbringing. I don't know what they mean. It was tough, but it wasn't bloody poor. We maybe didn't have a TV. We didn't have a car. We didn't even have a phone. But I thought I had everything, and I did: I had a football.’ After the winning the European Cup in 1999: ‘I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Football, eh? Bloody hell.’

Daniel Taylor is a football writer and has been the Guardian's man in Manchester since 2000. His last book was This is the One: Sir Alex Ferguson – The Uncut Story of a Football Genius.