Chapter 46 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography
Today’s Chapter is based on the book “Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography”.
Alex Ferguson is known as one of the greatest football managers of all-time. During his 26-years tenure at Manchester United, Ferguson led the club to win an astonishing 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles and 2 Champions League titles.
Here’s what I have learned from the book:
Adversity
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way"
— Marcus Aurelius
Alex Ferguson’s family motto is “Dulcius ex asperis”, meaning “Sweeter after difficulties”. A saying that marked his 39 years in football management. As a matter of fact, Ferguson mentions that the recovery after losses is an important part of Manchester United’s success.
The famous Class of ‘92, a group of young players that would end up bringing major success to the Club such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, came up after a series of defeats. Notably, Ferguson mentions that “I lost three FA Cup finals, to Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea. I lost League Cup finals to Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and Liverpool. And two European Cup finals to Barcelona. (…) When we lost the FA Cup final to Everton in 1995 I said: ‘That’s it, I’m making changes here.’ And we made them.“
Ferguson mentions that after a loss, his first thought was always to “think quickly about what you should be doing.” Rather than being upset about the defeat, his mind would go straight into thinking about improvement and recovery.
“Sometimes defeats are the best outcomes. To react to adversity is a quality. Even in your lowest periods you are showing strength. There was a great saying: It’s just another day in the history of Manchester United. In other words fighting back was part of our existence. If you are lackadaisical about defeats you can be sure there will be more to come.”
— Alex Ferguson
Similarly, Ferguson realised that this ability to face adversity can also applied in finding potential players for Manchester United. He explains that while he was examining successful people, he realised that “a modest start in life can be a help more than a hindrance.” In fact, he explains that many of his greatest players excelled partly due to their working-class background.
This is extremely helpful, especially for Manchester United players who are playing in front of fans with high demands and with short patience span. As a matter of fact, the main thing Ferguson looks for in players is temperance. He would ask himself the following “Would they grow or shrink in a United shirt?”
Ferguson mentions that he has coached only one player who was totally unaffected by his mistakes, and that was David Beckham:
“You had to admire that. In a way it was a great quality. No matter how many mistakes he would make (in my eyes, not his), he would always want the ball. His confidence never suffered. Otherwise, dips of that kind are innate to all footballers, and plenty of managers. Public scrutiny penetrates the body armour, whether from the public, press or fans.”
— Alex Ferguson on David Beckham
Generally, even the best players can lose confidence. And, it is the manager’s responsibility to create an environment where players can thrive under external pressure and through success and adversity. Ferguson believes in building a culture around the training ground so that players can fall back on in cases of adversity.
Ferguson explains that “What we did at all times, in success and adversity, was make sure the training ground was sacrosanct. The work there, the concentration, and the standards we maintained never dropped. Eventually that consistency of effort will show itself on a Saturday.”
More importantly, Ferguson had the tendency to treat his players like he would treat his family. No matter their performance, he would always have their back. Even after terrible losses, while he could criticise the performance of the team in general, he would never criticise a specific individual after the game to the media. As Warren Buffett once said, “Criticise by Category — Praise by name.”
“At my end of it, I had a formula for defeat. After saying my bit in the dressing room, always, before going through that door to face the press, to face the television, to speak to the other manager, I said to myself, ‘Forget it. The game’s gone.’ I always did that. Whenever people came to my room at the ground after a game, I always made sure there was a good atmosphere. There was no gloom, no frostiness. No blaming the referee.”
— Alex Ferguson
Furthermore, Ferguson explains that after a defeat his feeling was always: “I don’t like this, but we’ll have to meet the challenge. We’ll have to step up a mark.” In fact, he enjoyed challenge and took defeats as a motivation to improve as a team.
He mentions that “Every time those moments poked us in the eye, we accepted the invitation to regroup and advance again. Those were motivating passages. They forced me on. I’ll go further: I can’t be sure that without those provocations I would have enjoyed the job so much.”
This reminds me of the story of how Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank co-founded The Home Depot. After being fired from his employment at Handy Dan, Bernie Marcus was told by Ken Langone that he has just been kicked in the ass with a golden horseshoe and that this is the greatest opportunity. In fact, Langone explained that he would finally be able to create that store he always dreamed of, which was the birth of The Home Depot.
Not only this, but for Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, their bad experience at Handy Dan played an important part in developing Home Depot's values. For example, their previous boss, Sandy Sigoloff would reward staffs based their loyalty to him rather than on their competence. As such, at Home Depot, they made sure that their associates were well compensated for their hard work and contribution to the company.
“Our theory had always been that if we were going to get rich, we wanted our associates to get rich with us. If we were going to benefit, they were going to benefit as well. That has always been a part of our philosophy. There were men and women busting their rear ends, killing themselves, working day and night for The Home Depot; if we made it, we wanted them to make it as well. From the day we opened the stores, that was a philosophy of the company.”
— Bernie Marcus & Arthur Blank
Rebuild
“Every day needs to be a journey towards growth. If we pause today, it is a step backward. We must move forward even if it means only one or two steps at a time. If we don't, we will be overtaken and soon find ourselves falling behind.”
— Chung Ju-Yung
One of the reasons why Alex Ferguson’s tenure at Manchester United was so special was that he was able to win trophies with different players. He was not only focusing on short-term success, but was always thinking about creating long-term success at the Club.
In fact, while most other managers had a short-term approach, Ferguson made it a policy to always plan much further ahead. By consequence, Manchester United under Alex Ferguson was a place where young talent could develop and Ferguson was never afraid of rebuilding when necessary.
Even during successful times, Ferguson was consistently asking himself which players were coming to an end. He once said that “With a major trophy in your possession, you should always buy players to refresh the squad and avoid the risk of stagnation.” As such, with experience, Ferguson always stockpiled young players in important positions to make sure someone would be ready to pick up the slack once a player depart the club.
To do so, it was important to give those young players a chance. This was especially true at a club such as Manchester United where success is expected and long period without trophies was not acceptable. By consequence, you had to expedite the rebuilding process by continuously identifying and testing young players. Being in a winning environment is also very beneficial for the growth of young players as they learn how to win.
As a matter of fact, Ferguson explains that there is only one abiding truth at Manchester United: “we are always capable of producing new players, fresh names, and we had them on tap again as Roy was heading out. Fletcher was acquiring maturity and experience; I brought Ji-Sung Park to the club; Jonny Evans was breaking through.”
“There was no resting on the status quo, even in the best times. The longer I stayed, the further I looked ahead. Regeneration was an everyday duty.”
— Alex Ferguson
Furthermore, Ferguson realised an important benefit to thinking long-term: you are never in a sudden rush to solve problems. As a matter of fact, considering they always had young players to replace core players at important positions, Manchester United was rarely in a position where they had to rush a decision.
As we have learned previously with decision-making, it is difficult to make good decisions when you are in a position of weakness. By planning ahead, Ferguson made less panic buys of players which led to less mistakes over the years.
“We were at our best when we worked from a plan, over years, and studied players, compiled detailed information. We knew all about Cristiano Ronaldo before we signed him. We tried to get Rooney at 14, and tried again at 16. Finally we cracked it when he was 17. You could plan for Rooney. He was an obvious target for us. That was Manchester United’s scouting at its very best.”
— Alex Ferguson
This reminds me of what we have learned from Harvey Firestone who always made sure that his companies had enough money on the balance sheet. This would avoid being forced to make quick decisions due to financial pressure. This lesson was taught to him by his father who would often tell him “Never rush in on a deal. Let it come to you.”
Likewise, in a recent podcast with Tim Ferriss, Shane Parrish explains how everybody can look like an idiot if put in a bad situation and anyone can look like a genius if they are in a good position. Here’s how Parrish would describe the success of Warren Buffett due to his ability of being always in a great situation:
“And so what he’s always doing is everybody thinks he’s out of touch and he looks like an idiot. But he always wins because no matter what the outcome is, he wins. If the stock market goes up, he wins. If the stock market crashes, he wins because he’s put himself in a position where no matter what happens, he can take advantage of circumstances rather than having circumstances take advantage of him. And I think that that’s a key element we don’t realize. If you put Warren Buffett in a bad position where all of his options are bad, it doesn’t matter how smart he is, it doesn’t matter how Warren Buffett he is.”
— Shane Parrish
Control
“Policy-making, decision-taking and control: These are the three functions of management that have intellectual content.”
— Anthony Stafford Beer
Being a football manager is not as easy as it seems considering that it is a never-ending sequence of challenges. More importantly, Ferguson believes that football management is not only about football tactics but “a study in the frailty of human beings.”
This makes sense considering that at a club like Manchester United, you have players of various backgrounds; big players, wealthy players and even world-famous players. And, it is the manager’s responsibility to rule over them and to lead them in becoming a successful football team. As Ferguson once said, “There is only one boss of Manchester United, and that’s the manager.”
As a matter of fact, Ferguson explains that “The minute a Manchester United player thought he was bigger than the manager, he had to go. I used to say, ‘The moment the manager loses his authority, you don’t have a club. The players will be running it, and then you’re in trouble.’” Ferguson reiterates that the authority is what counts and a manager cannot have a player taking over the dressing room.
“The most important thing in my job is control. The minute they threaten your control, you have to get rid of them.”
— Alex Ferguson
While one can see a football manager being in a position of power, Ferguson explains that to be a successful gaffer, one must be in control of the situation rather than to just use brute power. He explains that “Power is useful if you want to use it, but I don’t think it resonates with footballers, who are mostly working-class men. But control was my aim. I could use my power if I wished, and I did, but when you reach the station I attained at United, power came with it naturally. The big decisions you make in those jobs are usually seen by outsiders as exercises in power, when control is really what it’s about.”
By consequence, Ferguson mentions that it is important for the manager to stand up for himself. He gives examples of his days at St Mirren where the captain made a gesture behind his back in a team photo that was published in the local newspaper. The next Monday, Ferguson called him into his office and informed him that he was going on a free transfer. He explained to the player that “For a start, doing a V-sign behind a manager doesn’t tell me you’re an experienced player, or that you’re a mature person. If I’m looking for a captain I’m looking for maturity. That was a childish schoolboy trick. You have to go.”
Furthermore, to be able to control his players, it was important for Ferguson to build a strong manager-player relationship with all of his players. He explains that the core component of this relationship is to make players accountable for their own actions and mistakes, without discouraging them. Football is a results based industry and a winning culture could only be maintained if every players play their part.
If a player was not performing at the level he is required, Ferguson explains that it is the manager’s role to confront the player. But to do so, it was important to balance criticism with encouragement. As mentioned above, criticisms, fines or punishments should remain inside the locker room and not to be made public to the media.
“I would have felt I had betrayed the one constant principle of my time as a manager: to defend. No, not to defend, but to protect them from outside judgments.”
— Alex Ferguson
A good way to do this is to try to look for a moment through the players eyes. Ferguson elaborates that “You were young once, so put yourself in their position. You do something wrong, you’re waiting to be punished. ‘What’s he going to say?’ you think. Or, ‘What’s my dad going to say?’ The aim is to make the biggest possible impact. What would have made the deepest imprint on me at that stage of life?”