‘Pathetic and disrespectful’ – Man United fans defend Sir Alex Ferguson after provocative Sky Sports News debate

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It has been a dire season for Manchester United.

Knocked out of the FA Cup by Fulham on Sunday, the club currently sit 14th in the top-flight
after picking up 33 points from 27 games, their lowest total at this stage of the Premier League
season ever.

Lose against Real Sociedad in the Europa League and Manchester United’s season is effectively over in
mid-March.

This campaign has not been poor in isolation, however.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013, United have struggled to hit the same heights, failing to win the League and often struggling to qualify for the Champions League.

Yet speaking on BBC following Sunday’s loss to Fulham, Gary Lineker argued Ferguson left United with issues, namely a squad with players “coming to the end of their careers” and an academy that “wasn’t delivering” talent of the same ilk as the ‘Class of ‘92’.

And Sky Sports News have since added fuel to the fire during their late-night ‘Paper Talk’ segment, causing fans to respond on social media.

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Man United fans defend Sir Alex Ferguson

Sky Sports ran the segment in response to Lineker’s comments and Jim White’s article in The Telegraph agreeing with some of what the former England international said.

Rio Ferdinand was quick to defend Ferguson from Lineker’s arguments, and commenting beneath Sky’s video on YouTube, most United fans were similarly vociferous in support of their former manager.

One person wrote: ‘Pathetic – imagine putting the blame on a man that not only gave the club its most successful years, but he hasn’t been there for 12 years. Anything after that has nothing to do with [Ferguson].’

Another added: ‘This is really low; Sir Alex Ferguson gave his life for Manchester United and gave the fanbase all it has to brag about today. He deserves respect, not this.”

Similar comments followed, with one fan stating: ‘This is so disrespectful to arguably the best manager England has ever seen – [Ferguson] could’ve left a few times but didn’t and rebuilt and won more trophies.’

Their view was echoed by another supporter, who argued: ‘It boggles the mind how people blame Sir Alex. He was always the one bringing youth through the academy which once he left, was abandoned.’

Interestingly, though, some fans did criticise Ferguson for the state he left United in.

For instance, one wrote that Ferguson ‘certainly could’ve left his successor with a stronger squad, in the vein of what [Jurgen] Klopp did for [Arne] Slot, but some of his later signings felt a little lazy – [Gabriel] Obertan, Bebe, [Antonio] Valencia and [Michael] Owen spring to mind.’

This view was shared by another supporter who simply stated that Ferguson ‘left that team in need of a major rebuild.’

Ferguson defends the team he left in his autobiography

The debate over whether Ferguson left the club in a poor state has existed since David Moyes was sacked by United after just 10 months at Old Trafford.

Writing in the updated version of his autobiography following Moyes’s departure in April 2014, Ferguson defended his record.

Highlighting that ‘there appeared to be a consensus of opinion that the group was too old’ among the press as they ‘searched for reasons behind the dip in form’, the Scotsman emphasised that the squad he left behind ‘won the Championship by 11 points.’

Ferguson, one of the best Premier League managers of all-time, added that that same squad featured a string of quality players, such as Jonny Evans, David de Gea, Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck and Shinji Kagawa, all of whom were 25 or under at the time, and ‘all international players, all League champions.’

Finally, for players in the squad who were in their thirties (such as Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes), Ferguson wrote that ‘Chelsea started the [2014/15] season as favourites for the title, with a squad that also had six players in their thirties; I don’t hear any grumbles about the age of their group.’

Whether Ferguson could have left his successors with a stronger side or not, it appears to be a debate that will rumble on in the background for as long as United struggles to recapture their past glory.