Fergie's 25 years at United: How a hooky Scottish accent helped Reds get their man
Published 21:30 31/10/11 By David McDonnell
The farcical lengths Manchester United went to in appointing Sir Alex Ferguson included mimicking a Scottish accent to get their man.
United director Mike Edelson resorted to putting on a Scottish accent in a telephone call to Aberdeen to get to speak to their then boss in 1986.
Former United chairman Martin Edwards recalled: “We had to make sure Alex would at least talk to us and maybe meet us.
“I could hardly get on the phone and say ‘Hello, this is Martin Edwards from Manchester United, can I speak with Alex Ferguson?’ could I?
“So we did that, Mike passed Alex over to me, we had a quick chat and he said he was interested.
“We drove up to Scotland on Bonfire Night, met Alex at a service station and then drove to his sister-in-law’s house.
“We didn’t talk terms, we just wanted to establish he would be prepared to come to us, which we did.
“We flew up to Aberdeen the next day and everything - negotiations and compensation - was concluded swiftly.
“There was no doubt in my mind who I wanted for the job, and the rest of the board didn’t need persuading. Alex was our number one choice.”
Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Alex-Ferguson-25-years-at-Manchester-United-How-a-fake-Scottish-accent-helped-Reds-hire-Fergie-article825119.html#ixzz1cPDteLvH
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