My decade covering Manchester United for the Daily Mirror, by David McDonnell

By David McDonnell in Mirror Football Blog

Published 08:00 30/12/09

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Six Premier League titles, one European Cup, one FA Cup, two League Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup.

The past decade has certainly been one of continued success for Manchester United, unquestionably the world's biggest club with the largest global fanbase.

But that does not tell the real story of the last 10 years. Far more fascinating than the mere roll of honour at Old Trafford are the stories behind the triumphs, the behind-the-scenes access to which we are privy as reporters whose brief is to cover United.

It's not an easy job with a manager whose mistrust of the Press is legendary and a communications department whose remit seems to be to make life for the media as difficult as possible, but it means there is never a dull moment covering United.

From the big-name departures like Roy Keane, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo to the Glazer takeover and the Rock of Gibraltar scandal which almost ruined Sir Alex Ferguson, it has been a decade of unremitting drama at United, as it always is, not to mention the achievements on the field.

At the focal point of all the drama at United is one man - Ferguson. He polarises opinion like no-one else in football, while his fame and notoriety transcend the sport in which he has made his name. Everyone knows who Fergie is and everyone has an opinion on him.

The public perception of Fergie is that of a bully who thrives on conflict, a football manager with a winning mentality who will stop at virtually nothing to achieve his goals. And much of that is true.

Yet one of the more remarkable aspects of this past decade is how much Fergie has mellowed. He's still capable of the occasional stinging rebuke, of course, but as he celebrates his 68th birthday on New Year's Eve, the customary belligerence has certainly been diluted.

Every football journalist worth his salt has a Fergie rollocking story and I remember my first one only too well. It came in Basle, on a Champions League trip in November 2002, after I had compared the finishing skills of former United striker Diego Forlan to those of Norman Wisdom, the hapless comedian.

This was in the days when Fergie held a mini-conference on European trips at the luggage carousel for the national Press, and there was no hint of the volcanic eruption that awaited me at Basle Airport as the United boss strode over to us.

Fergie rounded on me, deliberately so in front of my colleagues - most of whom were sniggering at my plight - so as to cause me maximum humiliation. He was in full hairdryer mode, berating me for my harsh portrayal of Forlan and telling me I should have some "dignity for my profession".

The rant lasted no more than a minute, yet the most remarkable aspect was that when we had traded verbal blows and it had finished, I decided to fill the ensuing uncomfortable silence with a question about the upcoming tie against FC Basle.

Thinking Fergie would blank me or exclude me from the huddle - a favoured tactic of his when he's taken offence at something a reporter has written - he stunned all of us by giving me a fulsome answer, as if the outburst moments earlier had never occurred.

Yet the episode proved one of the most fascinating traits of Fergie's complex character - that he does not bear grudges.

The BBC, with whom he has not spoken for much of the decade following their screening of a documentary about his son Jason's dealings as a football agent, would laugh at such a suggestion.

Fergie, for what it's worth, says the ongoing stand-off with the BBC is a stance on principle, not a grudge. You make up your own mind.

But if anything, what the past 10 years covering United has taught me is that Fergie, despite his inherent combative manner, actually respects you more if you have the courage stand up to him.

One such episode occurred a few years ago when I arrived at the training ground for Fergie's media briefing, only to be told I was not welcome beacuse of his objection to a particular story we had carried that day in The Mirror .

The fact the same story had been carried by another paper, who had not been banned from the briefing, infuriated me and I was so incensed by the injustice I decided to have it out with Fergie in the crowded reception at the training ground.

As he approached, everyone around us stopped, in classic Wild West mode when a stranger enters the saloon bar, waiting for the mother of all conflicts. But as I made my feelings known, Fergie listened intently before accepting my version of events, to the astonishment of those watching.

Of course, the great man is not always so charitable. There was the infamous episode on the eve of Arsenal's visit to Old Trafford in May 2002, where a win would clinch Arsene Wenger's side the title, when Fergie lost the plot completely, the pressure of a rare season of failure spilling out as he went beserk.

Branding us reporters "f****** idiots" for having the temerity to question the wisdom of paying £28million for Juan Sebastian Veron, who was to prove his most expensive flop, Fergie cut short his press conference with an outburst that would make a Tourette's sufferer blush with shame.

Yet the class of the man was borne out when it emerged Fergie travelled up to Edinburgh the following day to attend the funeral of former Daily Record journalist Alister Nicol, whose son, Gary, is the United manager's godson.

United's biggest game of the season was less than 24 hours away, with the title still at stake, yet Fergie put duty and compassion before everything else to attend the funeral, staying for some time afterwards with the family and friends before returning to Manchester.

After United lost 1-0 to Arsenal the following day to relinquish their title after three years, Fergie ordered champagne to be delivered to the away dressing-room at Old Trafford. He may hate losing, but he knows how to do so with dignity and style. 

The deterioration of Fergie's relationship with David Beckham the following season was a saga that refused to go away until the then England captain's £25million move to Real Madrid at the end of the campaign.

From the moment the stray boot Fergie struck in anger following United's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal caught Beckham above the right eye, their relationship was irreparable, ending in acrimony like so many players who leave United.

Beckham's departure coincided with an uncomfortable period of transition at United, one during which they would go without the title for three years as first Arsenal's Invincibles, then Chelsea's Nouveau Riche, took over as the Premier League's dominant force.

Yet it wasn't just on the field where United went astray. Fergie's deicison to take on majority United shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus, over the issue of stud rights to the race horse Rock of Gibraltar, came close to ruining the Old Trafford boss.

The legal dispute between the two parties became increasingly bitter and dirty, eventually being settled out of court, but it was one of the more ignominious aspects of Fergie's otherwise glittering United reign and one he must privately deeply regret.

Malcolm Glazer's takeover of United in May 2005 provoked unprecedented opposition from fans opposed to the massive burden of debt with which the American had saddled the club, even prompting the formation of a breakaway club, FC United, which continues to flourish.

Against this backdrop of ongoing fan unrest against the Glazer takeover, Fergie reached arguably the lowest point of his United reign since 1990, when he was famously one game from the sack.

Former skipper Roy Keane's acrimonious exit, following his explosive MUTV rant in which he savaged his team-mates, was followed by United's failure to make the Champions League knockout stage.

With Chelsea now the Premier League's dominant force and United a failure in Europe, Fergie's future was called into question. But the United boss knew his squad was in a period of transition and maintained his faith in the young players he was nurturing. His instinct was to prove correct.

Victory over Wigan to win the League Cup in 2006 proved the springboard for United to re-assert themselves both domestically and in Europe, as the following season they won the first of three successive Premier League titles and beat Chelsea on penalties to lift the 2008 European Cup.

The emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, aided by a solid defence and a goalkeeper in Edwin van der Sar who was finally capable of filling the void left by Peter Schmeichel, took United back to the top of the pile, where they remain the team to beat.

The past 10 years covering United have been filled with highs and lows. The highs include trips to such remarkable places as South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the Far East and most of Europe to watch them play, as well as David Beckham coming over to a colleague and I to shake our hands in front of a group of awestruck young women in a Danish nightclub. Thanks Becks, you'll never know how much that impromptu cameo worked.

The lows include the numerous Fergie rollockings, as well as one memorable expletive-filled exchange with Gary Neville as we boarded the team flight on the way back from Budapest following a Champions League qualifier in September 2005 when he - erroneously as it turned out - accused me of misquoting him.

There are too many such stories, good, bad and ugly, to include here, but as one decade ends, the next one will certainly be a defining one for United, with Fergie set to retire, his successor facing an unenviable task in trying to maintain the extraordinary success of the greatest-ever British manager.

Whether Fergie's departure sees United follow arch rivals Liverpool into years of under-achievement, only time will tell. But one thing is certain - the next decade at Old Trafford promises to be every bit as fascinating as the last.

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