Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has revealed the four players Sir Alex Ferguson never gave his famous hairdryer treatment to.
Ferguson was at the helm of United for nearly three decades between 1986 and 2013 and Giggs was one of the Scotsman’s longest-serving players.
Giggs, now manager of the Welsh national team, has revealed that Sir Alex never had a go at four specific players during their time together at Old Trafford.
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“There were three or four players that he never had a go at,” Giggs told beIN Sport, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.
“[Eric] Cantona was one – Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo. They were all in their own ways matchwinners.
“They did the stuff on the pitch, so he never felt [like he had to].
“Eric, there were some games where Eric didn’t do anything.
“He didn’t score, he wasn’t running about like a Tevez or a Wayne Rooney, he didn’t have any impact. But he knew sooner or later he would come good.
“We would be sat in the dressing room thinking ‘he’s got to have a go at him, he’s got to have a pop at him because he didn’t do anything today.’
“But the next week he’d score the winner or he would produce a moment of magic, so he handled the big names really well as long as they were doing it on the pitch, he handled them in a different way.”
He added: “He was a master of psychology, he was a master at getting the best out of certain individuals like whether to put an arm around, or whether to give them a rocket at half time or at the end of the game or leave them out knowing that the player would react in a positive way.”
Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League titles with United, with Giggs in the squad and the Welsh winger revealed that he didn’t always get along with his boss.
“I fell out with him plenty of times,” Giggs admitted.
“I mean the amount of times I would say over my career, six or seven times where it was a couple of weeks wages I was fined for talking back, for having an argument.
“At the time it’s not very nice, you’re in the dressing room, you’ve just got beat or you’ve had a bad performance. And I just couldn’t help myself have a go back.
“He actually, later in his career, he told me he like that, it meant that you cared. He’d still fine you two weeks because he wanted to show that he was in charge but he actually quite liked it, as long as it didn’t cross the line of course.”
Giggs’ comments certainly serve as intriguing talking points about a man who is one of the greatest managers in football history and it’s certain that Sir Alex Ferguson’s record as manager for Man United will take a long time to equal or surpass.