It’s a topsy turvy world in the Premiership these days as Bolton and Portsmouth have become teams to be feared and, even with Manchester United reminding us what the table used to look like every year, Sir Alex continues to remake himself as a rather nice chap.
When probed about the troubles Jose Mourinho had at Chelsea, Ferguson opted not to go with any crazy mind games and gave an honest assessment of the situation,
“I announced it at the start of the season and I just got a feeling as the season progressed a lot of them were saying ‘ah well, he’s not going to be here any longer…’ and maybe some genuine concerns about ‘who’s going to take his place?’ and just a relaxation possibly.
“But there was no doubt it had an effect and, once I decided not to retire, there was a genuine pick up again… it’s amazing.”
And then with just a teeny bit of cheek,
“I think that whatever has happened, the situation with Shevchenko seems to be at the core of it.”
Chelsea and Jose Mourinho’s ridiculous public persona have received the brunt of the angst these past few seasons, as winners usually do, and Sir Alex finds himself in the unique position of receiving plenty of support from rival fans who would previously have spat in his general direction. Interestingly, the whole Abramovich/Kenyon vs. Mourinho affair over Shevchenko has also resulted in similar sympathy for the Portugese.
So if people don’t take out their unreasonable and jealous anger on Manchester United or Chelsea this season, and with Arsenal and Wenger out of the title running, we wonder who fans will turn on…