Ryan Giggs would be Man United boss now had he retired, says Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson says Ryan Giggs would have
been his successor at Manchester United had he
retired earlier, while also insisting that appointing
David Moyes was not a mistake.
Giggs was 39 when Ferguson retired in 2013, but
he still played on under Moyes and later took over
as caretaker manager after the former Everton
boss was sacked in April 2014.
The Welshman hung up his boots at the end of
that season and took up a backroom role under
new manager Louis van Gaal.
But speaking in a BBC documentary set to be
shown on Sunday, Ferguson said he would have
liked a few years to groom Giggs himself.
"If Ryan Giggs had retired six or seven years ago
-- say he'd retired at 35, quite likely I'd have
made him my assistant, and quite likely he could
have moved right into the job, with the
experience of being assistant manager to me, as
he is helping Louis van Gaal at the moment,"
Ferguson said.
"But I would never ask a player to quit."
The comments came as a surprise to Giggs, who
when told in the progamme said: "He said that?"
Moyes left Everton to take charge at Old Trafford
following Ferguson's retirement but lasted just 10
months before being sacked.
Ferguson, who recommended Moyes, recently
suggested the former Everton boss had not been
first choice but defended the process by which he
was appointed.
Now he has gone further by saying Moyes was
definitely the right choice at the time the decision
was made.
"I don't think we made a mistake at all," Ferguson
said. "I think we chose a good football man -- [he]
did a great job at Everton, had 11 years there.
We picked the right man. Unfortunately it didn't
work for David."
Ferguson touched on a number of other subjects
in a documentary which examines the methods
behind his phenomenally successful career and
coincides with the release of his new book,
"Leading."
Ferguson felt Liverpool scored an own goal when
they arrived at the 1996 FA Cup final, which they
lost 1-0 to United, wearing cream suits.
The 73-year-old said: "Why did they do that? I
said to [assistant] Brian Kidd, '1-0!'
"I think that's -- what would you call it? --
arrogance or over-confidence? I don't know. It
was absolutely ridiculous. Blue shirt, red-and-
white tie and a white suit, and a blue flower. Who
designed that? They said it was Armani. I bet his
sales went down!"
Ferguson's success, which brought him 13
Premier League titles and two Champions League
wins while at United, has also led to his expertise
in man-management, motivational tactics and
team-building being sought by others outside the
game.
The programme says Ferguson was asked by
former Prime Minister Tony Blair how to deal with
"a particularly difficult member of his own team."
Ferguson said: "I said to him, 'You have to keep
control.' I didn't know who he was talking about
at the time. 'You can't lose it. You're the Prime
Minister, you have to have control.'"
Ferguson was then asked if he thought Blair
might have been referring to Gordon Brown.
He said: "I didn't know actually. I don't think
anyone knew until later on there was some sort of
feeling between the two."
Blair was himself interviewed for the programme
and said: "We weren't actually talking about an
individual but a hypothetical case. But his
attitude was, 'It doesn't matter if he is your best
player, if he is difficult, put him out of the room.'"
Information from Press Association was used in
this report.


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