Alex Ferguson Quotes

Alex Ferguson mixes sharp humor with bold claims, giving a glimpse into the fierce confidence of a football legend.

50 quotes

1. 'You must be joking. Do I look as if I'm a masochist ready to cut myself? How does relegation sound instead?'

2. 'Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that'

3. 'You're a fuckin' bottler Incey! You cannae handle the stage, can you? You are a fuckin' bottler!'

4. 'I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell.'

5. 'I thought the first 45 minutes were the best of my time as a manager.'

6. 'I'm privileged to have followed Sir Matt because all you have to do is to try and maintain the standards that he set so many years ago.'

7. 'That's absolute bollocks, that. Absolute nonsense.'

8. 'At the end of this game, the European Cup will be only six feet away from you and you'll not even able to touch it if we lose. And for many of you that will be the closest you will ever get. Don't you dare come back in here without giving your all'.

9. 'It would have been Sir Matt Busby's 90th birthday today, but I think he was up there doing a lot of kicking.'

10. 'My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. And you can print that.'

11. 'Just fucking patch him up'

12. 'It was a freakish incident. If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn't happen again. If I could I would have carried on playing!'

13. 'It's getting tickly now - squeaky-bum time, I call it'.

14. 'On you go. I'm no fucking talking to you. He's a fucking great player. Yous are fucking idiots.'

15. 'It keeps those fuckers from the media out.'

16. 'I am such a bloody talented guy. I might go into painting or something like that.'

17. 'He's a bully, a fucking big-time Charlie'.

18. '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!'

19. 'David Beckham is Britain's finest striker of a football not because of God-given talent but because he practises with a relentless application that the vast majority of less gifted players wouldn't contemplate.'

20. 'What the fuck are you lot playing at? That is the biggest load of shite I've ever seen. Not one of you can look me in the eye, because not one of you deserves to have a say. I can't believe you've come here and decided to toss it off like that crap you're playing out there.'

21. 'If he was an inch taller he'd be the best centre half in Britain. His father is 6ft 2in - I'd check the milkman.'

22. 'When an Italian tells me it's pasta on the plate I check under the sauce to make sure. They are the inventors of the smokescreen.'

23. 'Whether dribbling or sprinting, Ryan can leave the best defenders with twisted blood'

24. 'Cole should be scoring from those distances, but I'm not going to single him out.'

25. 'That lad [Filippo Inzaghi] must have been born offiside.'

26. 'I think he is the top man in the world for football.'

27. 'He goes to more funerals than anybody I have ever met.'

28. 'We were together in my office. He asked me, 'What did you say to the press, young man?' We laughed, we joked, we spoke, we drank and when we go to Old Trafford for the second leg on Jan 26, it is my birthday. I will bring a beautiful bottle of Portuguese wine for after the game. The wine we drank at Stamford Bridge was very bad. And he was complaining about it. He is a wonderful, great manager. I have a lot of respect for the big man. I call him 'boss' because he's our [the other managers'] boss. He's the top man, a really nice person and he deserves to be the boss. Maybe when I am 60 the kids will call me the same.'

29. If we can play like that every week well get some level of consistency.

30. If we can play like that every week we'll get some level of consistency.

31. The lads really ran their socks into the ground.

32. Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it's a better cow than the one you've got in your own field. It's a fact. Right? And it never really works out that way.

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. As with every young player these days, Ronaldo is 18.

36. I've got a temper if I need it. Nothing wrong with losing your temper, if it's for the right reasons.

37. The credit to them, the better team won and there's nothing we can do about that now.

38. 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.

39. Her Majesty said she hoped I would have time for my horses - I own two and have shares in four.

40. 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.

41. We have to try to beat Everyone.

42. Funnily enough we have never had one enquiry for Paul Scholes. You know why? Because they all know he will never leave. in my time he would be in the top six or seven (best United players ever) without a doubt. His contribution and quality have been great, even without the fantastic goals he has scored. [ . . . ] He has that wonderful velvet touch on the ball. When he gets it, it goes stone dead. It is wonderful to see that amidst all the mayhem that can happen in a football match.

43. You are responsible to each other because when you win a game of football, you only need eight players to perform well.

44. At the last minute, from what I can gather, either Emmanuel Adebayor or his agent phoned us after they had agreed a deal with City and then did the same with Chelsea. He was desperate to get to either Chelsea or us.

45. I think his team are mirroring Stuart Pearce as the player he was. (on Manchester City)

46. It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt such an honor to be associated with such a player.

47. It was time for me to spend more time with my wife. I'm not saying I do spend more time with my wife, because she would throw me out of the house, but we have breakfast together. I never did.

48. 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.

49. 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.

50. It's a conflict of parallels.