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| Ferguson to Leave as Manchester United Manager | Ferguson to Leave as Manchester United Manager |
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| LONDON — Manchester United confirmed Wednesday that Alex Ferguson would retire later this month after 27 years as manager of the world’s most iconic soccer club. He will stay at United as a director — a presence that will be a daily reminder to his successor of a legacy that will be impossible to match in its longevity, its style and the number of titles won. | |
| Ferguson has managed and coached Manchester United since 1986. He gives up those roles with his team back on top of the English Premier League after its neighbor, Manchester City, won the title a year ago on the final day of the season. | Ferguson has managed and coached Manchester United since 1986. He gives up those roles with his team back on top of the English Premier League after its neighbor, Manchester City, won the title a year ago on the final day of the season. |
| ‘'It is the right time,'’ Ferguson said in a short statement on United’s Web site. | ‘'It is the right time,'’ Ferguson said in a short statement on United’s Web site. |
| It is unlikely anyone will ever surpass the length of time Ferguson has managed at one club. Ferguson has seldom missed a day on the training field, much less a night in the competitive arena, where as a coach his teams accumulated 49 trophies — including 13 seasons as England’s champion but only two, in 1999 and 2008, as the Champions League winner. | It is unlikely anyone will ever surpass the length of time Ferguson has managed at one club. Ferguson has seldom missed a day on the training field, much less a night in the competitive arena, where as a coach his teams accumulated 49 trophies — including 13 seasons as England’s champion but only two, in 1999 and 2008, as the Champions League winner. |
| Ferguson’s reign makes him the most successful manager and coach — rolled into one — that the sport has ever seen. It is difficult to think of any comparable tenure in sports, politics or business during his time at United. | Ferguson’s reign makes him the most successful manager and coach — rolled into one — that the sport has ever seen. It is difficult to think of any comparable tenure in sports, politics or business during his time at United. |
| ‘'The biggest challenge?'’ he once said. ‘'Managing change.'’ | ‘'The biggest challenge?'’ he once said. ‘'Managing change.'’ |
| A man of volatile temperament — sometimes a bully, often a father figure — he built and ruthlessly rebuilt five squads of players over more than a quarter of a century. One player, Ryan Giggs, grew up from a 14-year-old apprentice to a winger who is still running on Ferguson’s first team, through all the triumphs and the rebuilding. Giggs is almost 40 now, and still under Ferguson’s wing. | A man of volatile temperament — sometimes a bully, often a father figure — he built and ruthlessly rebuilt five squads of players over more than a quarter of a century. One player, Ryan Giggs, grew up from a 14-year-old apprentice to a winger who is still running on Ferguson’s first team, through all the triumphs and the rebuilding. Giggs is almost 40 now, and still under Ferguson’s wing. |
| Ferguson’s style was defined by his giving youth its chance and clinging to experienced players while they still gave him value. But above all, he is a manager driven by a single goal: to win. | Ferguson’s style was defined by his giving youth its chance and clinging to experienced players while they still gave him value. But above all, he is a manager driven by a single goal: to win. |
| Ferguson, knighted in the British custom for outstanding service to his ‘'industry,'’ is now 71. He faces hip surgery when this season is done. He may not admit it, but he has just steered a team nowhere near the best squads in his reign to the title he vowed to regain the moment the neighbor, City, took it from him on goal difference a year ago. | Ferguson, knighted in the British custom for outstanding service to his ‘'industry,'’ is now 71. He faces hip surgery when this season is done. He may not admit it, but he has just steered a team nowhere near the best squads in his reign to the title he vowed to regain the moment the neighbor, City, took it from him on goal difference a year ago. |
| His desire to go out on top was insatiable, but the reality this year is that no English team was good enough to even make it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. And Ferguson knows that Champions League success is the measuring stick in modern soccer. | His desire to go out on top was insatiable, but the reality this year is that no English team was good enough to even make it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. And Ferguson knows that Champions League success is the measuring stick in modern soccer. |
| Whoever replaces him will have to take that challenge on, because United, owned by an American family, the Glazers, is a multibillion-dollar franchise that markets itself around the globe as being among the biggest and the best. (United was recently ranked by Forbes Magazine as the second-most-valuable sports franchise on earth at $3.2 billion, just behind Real Madrid.) | Whoever replaces him will have to take that challenge on, because United, owned by an American family, the Glazers, is a multibillion-dollar franchise that markets itself around the globe as being among the biggest and the best. (United was recently ranked by Forbes Magazine as the second-most-valuable sports franchise on earth at $3.2 billion, just behind Real Madrid.) |
| One man touted to be the next United manager has been José Mourinho, the simmering Portuguese coach who is expected to leave Madrid soon. | One man touted to be the next United manager has been José Mourinho, the simmering Portuguese coach who is expected to leave Madrid soon. |
| Coincidentally, Madrid knocked United out of the Champions League this season. | Coincidentally, Madrid knocked United out of the Champions League this season. |
| Mourinho has been viewed as negotiating his way back to Chelsea, his former club. But he made what was widely viewed as an audition to be Ferguson’s successor when they met in the Champions League, though questions about Mourinho’s behavior might prevent him from getting the United job. | Mourinho has been viewed as negotiating his way back to Chelsea, his former club. But he made what was widely viewed as an audition to be Ferguson’s successor when they met in the Champions League, though questions about Mourinho’s behavior might prevent him from getting the United job. |
| Bobby Charlton, the former great player of United who remains a director, questioned whether a man who once stuck his finger in the eye of a fellow coach in a sideline argument at Barcelona has the dignity required to be the figurehead of a Manchester United. | Bobby Charlton, the former great player of United who remains a director, questioned whether a man who once stuck his finger in the eye of a fellow coach in a sideline argument at Barcelona has the dignity required to be the figurehead of a Manchester United. |
| If not Mourinho, the speculation points toward David Moyes as another possible successor. He is a fellow Scot, drawn from the same city, Glasgow, where Ferguson learned his values and his work ethic as the son of a trade union official in the Govan shipyard six decades ago. | If not Mourinho, the speculation points toward David Moyes as another possible successor. He is a fellow Scot, drawn from the same city, Glasgow, where Ferguson learned his values and his work ethic as the son of a trade union official in the Govan shipyard six decades ago. |
| Moyes shares that tough upbringing, and has shown his ability to manage players in a 10-year tenure at Everton. What Moyes lacks, however, is European experience; he has built a competitive team on a strained budget, but it is a trophyless team during his reign. | Moyes shares that tough upbringing, and has shown his ability to manage players in a 10-year tenure at Everton. What Moyes lacks, however, is European experience; he has built a competitive team on a strained budget, but it is a trophyless team during his reign. |
| Ferguson’s career was stamped with success even before he moved south from Scotland to Manchester on Nov. 6, 1986. He had galvanized Aberdeen, in the very north of Scotland, to break the Celtic vs. Rangers monopoly of Scottish soccer, and it was the vigor of that team, the attacking style of it, that brought ‘'Fiery Fergie'’ to the attention of United. | Ferguson’s career was stamped with success even before he moved south from Scotland to Manchester on Nov. 6, 1986. He had galvanized Aberdeen, in the very north of Scotland, to break the Celtic vs. Rangers monopoly of Scottish soccer, and it was the vigor of that team, the attacking style of it, that brought ‘'Fiery Fergie'’ to the attention of United. |
| The question Manchester had then, and may have about Moyes now, was whether he could manage the egos of some of the world’s highest-paid athletes. Could he persuade players who became millionaires in their teenage years to play as a team, to train as a team, and to go through whatever pain or glory the manager demanded of them as a team? | The question Manchester had then, and may have about Moyes now, was whether he could manage the egos of some of the world’s highest-paid athletes. Could he persuade players who became millionaires in their teenage years to play as a team, to train as a team, and to go through whatever pain or glory the manager demanded of them as a team? |
| Ferguson almost failed at the start. He was given something that his successor may not get — time — to build and nurture a squad that stands the test of time. | Ferguson almost failed at the start. He was given something that his successor may not get — time — to build and nurture a squad that stands the test of time. |
| That is so rare in European club soccer that no one today even comes close to the length of Ferguson’s 27-year stay as a top manager. The German Bundesliga at the moment is regarded as the pillar of stability in an impatient global scene. Jupp Heynckes will coach Bayern Munich against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium in London in the all-German Champions League final on May 25. | That is so rare in European club soccer that no one today even comes close to the length of Ferguson’s 27-year stay as a top manager. The German Bundesliga at the moment is regarded as the pillar of stability in an impatient global scene. Jupp Heynckes will coach Bayern Munich against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium in London in the all-German Champions League final on May 25. |
| Heynckes, who is four years younger than Ferguson and has completed 50 years in the professional game, has had 13 top jobs in his coaching career — in Germany, Spain and Portugal — in the same period of time in which Ferguson has moved just once, from Aberdeen to the institution of United. | Heynckes, who is four years younger than Ferguson and has completed 50 years in the professional game, has had 13 top jobs in his coaching career — in Germany, Spain and Portugal — in the same period of time in which Ferguson has moved just once, from Aberdeen to the institution of United. |
| ‘'It is important to leave an organization in the strongest possible shape,'’ Ferguson said Wednesday, ‘'and I believe I have done that.'’ He talked about the balance of youth and experience in the squad, about the training facilities that are second-to-none in the world, about the systems in place for his successor. | ‘'It is important to leave an organization in the strongest possible shape,'’ Ferguson said Wednesday, ‘'and I believe I have done that.'’ He talked about the balance of youth and experience in the squad, about the training facilities that are second-to-none in the world, about the systems in place for his successor. |
| What he did not address was the steel required of the next man in his seat. Many years ago, before Ferguson came south to the job, another Scot who had built up United from the end of World War II to the most renowned force in club soccer, remained on the board of directors. | What he did not address was the steel required of the next man in his seat. Many years ago, before Ferguson came south to the job, another Scot who had built up United from the end of World War II to the most renowned force in club soccer, remained on the board of directors. |
| It was always said that Matt Busby’s presence around Old Trafford Stadium — he started managing United in 1945, and finished in 1971 — was an intimidating factor to the managers who tried and failed to pick up his baton. | It was always said that Matt Busby’s presence around Old Trafford Stadium — he started managing United in 1945, and finished in 1971 — was an intimidating factor to the managers who tried and failed to pick up his baton. |
| Ferguson’s successor will have to live with him on the board, and no matter how well-intentioned or how paternal the outgoing giant of his trade will conduct himself in his new role, the new manager will need nerves of steel not to wilt in the shadow. | Ferguson’s successor will have to live with him on the board, and no matter how well-intentioned or how paternal the outgoing giant of his trade will conduct himself in his new role, the new manager will need nerves of steel not to wilt in the shadow. |
| The bar is set terrifyingly — or inspirationally — high. | The bar is set terrifyingly — or inspirationally — high. |