by Philip Reeves

Soccer fans dont often agree， but on this， theres a general consensus[意見一致]. Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football and one of the greatest in the games history. Reporter： Congratulations to the imperious[專橫的] Sir Alex...

This season， Manchester United won the English premiership[英格蘭足球超級聯(lián)賽] for the 13th time under Fergusons stewardship[管理工作]. That trophy[獎(jiǎng)杯] has gone into a cabinet[（陳列用的）室、間] stuffed[塞滿] with silverware—38 trophies in all during Fergusons nearly 27 years at the club.

Ferguson started out as a player in the rough world of Scottish soccer. Later， as a manager， he proved shrewd[精明的] and ruthless[無情的]. Hes known for his mind games with opponents[對手] and for lambasting[嚴(yán)責(zé)] referees[裁判員] and players. Ferguson says flying off the handle[發(fā)脾氣] is part of the game.

Alex Ferguson： Theres nothing wrong with losing your temper if its for the right reasons. I dont leave it till the next day.

Michael Crick： The thing about Ferguson， he had a number of personal attributes[特征]—huge intelligence， an amazing physical constitution[體格]， this ability to survive on three or four hours sleep a night， so it meant he was in the training ground first thing in the morning. Hed have all sorts of jobs done， work done before any of the players turned up.

Michael Crick is author of a book about Ferguson called The Boss. Crick says theres another side to Ferguson. Though he usually makes up[和解，和好] in the end， Ferguson tends to fall out [吵架] with people.

Crick： And particularly， he was always falling out with journalists. He would ban people from…their press…h(huán)is press conferences[記者招待會] if they asked the mildest critical[批評的] question.

Manchester United is owned by the Floridabased Glazer family. Ferguson， whos 71， says hes leaving the club in the strongest possible shape. Its become one of worlds most valuable sports franchises[職業(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)隊(duì)]. Over the years， hes nurtured[培養(yǎng)] some of soccers greatest players—Wayne Rooney， Ryan Giggs， David Beckham， Cristiano Ronaldo， and more. Thats why his resignations[辭職] caused dismay[沮喪] thousands of miles from Manchester to Ken Lai， of Manchester United Supporters Club in Singapore.

Ken Lai： We wished that he stays on forever， but its not possible. We had hoped that the day would not be coming so fast， so soon. But theres never a right time for this.

Things You May Not Know About Sir Alex Ferguson

1. Once ran a pub. Ferguson has worked outside football， starting out as an apprentice[學(xué)徒] toolmaker and shop steward[工會管事] in Glasgow and much later running a pub that he renamed Fergies.

2. Intrigued[激起興趣] by JFK注1. Gordon Brown注2 sent him CDs about the assassination[暗殺] of JFK. “Gordon sent me 35 CDs on it， which was brilliant of him，”he told Manchester radio station Key 103 in 2007. Ferguson is fascinated with JFK. He said he kept JFKs autopsy[驗(yàn)尸] report by his bed.

3. Not the longest serving manager. Ferguson was manager of Manchester United for 26-and-a-half years. The longest serving league[聯(lián)隊(duì)] manager in Europe was Guy Roux， who occupied[占據(jù)] the position at French team Auxerre for 44 years， finally stepping down in 2005. Ferguson isnt even the longest serving Scottish manager. Willie Maley was Celtic manager from 1897-1940， clocking up 43 years.

4. Used to jump over walls as a boy. He grew up in a poor area of Glasgow where there wasnt much to do apart from play football， fight and jump over walls， known as dykes[堤壩]. “Youd go to different areas of Govan to challenge each other into jumping dykes because it was very dangerous. But you do that when youre a kid because youve got no fear，” Ferguson

once said.

5. “Fergie time” is 79 seconds.“Fergie time” is the widely held belief by supporters of other teams， that if Manchester United are losing after 90 minutes， the referee will extend injury time[受傷延長賽時(shí)] long enough for them to equalize[使相等] or win. Last year， the BBC analysed[分析] Fergie time. It found that Manchester United were not unique in being given extra injury time when they were losing， although it appeared they got more than other teams. Games went on 79 seconds longer when Manchester United were losing than winning.

足球迷們往往意見不一，但在這一點(diǎn)上，他們基本上能達(dá)成共識——亞歷克斯·弗格森是英國足球界最成功的主教練，也是足球史上最偉大的教練之一。記者：恭喜專橫的亞歷克斯爵士……

本賽季，在弗格森的帶領(lǐng)下，曼聯(lián)第13次捧起英超獎(jiǎng)杯。這個(gè)戰(zhàn)利品被收入了一個(gè)擺滿銀器的陳列室里——在弗格森執(zhí)教的近27年里，俱樂部共贏得了38座獎(jiǎng)杯。

一開始，弗格森是殘酷的蘇格蘭足球界的一名球員。后來，作為教練的他向人們證明了自己的精明與無情。他最出名的是和對手玩心理戰(zhàn)術(shù)，以及責(zé)罵裁判和球員。弗格森說發(fā)火是比賽的一部分。

亞歷克斯·弗格森：如果理由恰當(dāng)，發(fā)脾氣一點(diǎn)兒沒錯(cuò)。我當(dāng)天就會忘得一干二凈。

邁克爾·克里克：關(guān)于弗格森，他有著一系列個(gè)人特質(zhì)——他智慧超群，有著驚人的體格，這令他可以每晚只睡三四個(gè)小時(shí)，所以也意味著他早上總是第一個(gè)到達(dá)訓(xùn)練場地。他在每一個(gè)球員出現(xiàn)之前已經(jīng)做好所有工作。

《老板》一書寫的是弗格森，邁克爾·克里克是該書的作者?？死锟苏f弗格森有著另一面。弗格森總是跟人爭吵，雖然最后都能和好。

克里克：尤其是，他總和記者過不去。如果他們問了批評性的問題，即使毫無惡意，他都會禁止人們……他們的記者會……進(jìn)入他的記者發(fā)布會。

曼聯(lián)的擁有者是來自（美國）佛羅里達(dá)的格雷澤家族。71歲的弗格森說他為俱樂部留下了最強(qiáng)陣容。曼聯(lián)成為了世界上最值錢的體育強(qiáng)隊(duì)之一。多年來，他培養(yǎng)了數(shù)名偉大的足球運(yùn)動(dòng)員——韋恩·魯尼、瑞恩·吉格斯、大衛(wèi)·貝克漢姆、克里斯蒂亞諾·羅納爾多等等。所以他的離任讓遠(yuǎn)在千里之外、新加坡曼聯(lián)球迷俱樂部的肯·萊倍感失望。

肯·萊：我們希望他能永遠(yuǎn)執(zhí)教下去，但那是不可能的。我們曾希望這一天不要來得太快，但哪一天都不是我們所愿。

亞歷克斯·弗格森爵士不為人知的二三事

1. 經(jīng)營過一家酒吧。弗格森從事過足球以外的行業(yè)。一開始，他在格拉斯哥當(dāng)過工匠學(xué)徒和工會管事，之后還經(jīng)營過一家酒吧，名字被他改為“老弗”。

2. 對約翰·肯尼迪很感興趣。戈登·布朗給他寄了關(guān)于肯尼迪遇刺案的一系列CD?！案甑墙o我寄了35張CD，他真是明智，”2007年弗格森在曼徹斯特電臺“Key 103”這樣說道。弗格森對約翰·肯尼迪的事相當(dāng)著迷。他說自己在床頭放著約翰·肯尼迪的驗(yàn)尸報(bào)告。

3. 非執(zhí)教時(shí)間最長的教練。弗格森在曼聯(lián)執(zhí)教了二十六年半。歐洲執(zhí)教時(shí)間最長的聯(lián)隊(duì)教練是居伊·魯。他在法國球隊(duì)歐塞爾執(zhí)教了44年，在2005年才離開。弗格森甚至不是執(zhí)教時(shí)間最長的蘇格蘭教練。威利·馬雷于1897年至1940年間擔(dān)任凱爾特人隊(duì)的教練，執(zhí)教時(shí)間長達(dá)43年。

4. 年少時(shí)經(jīng)常玩跳墻。他成長于格拉斯哥的貧民區(qū)。在那里，除了踢足球、打架和玩跳墻（也叫堤壩），沒什么事可以做了?！澳銜礁邽车母鱾€(gè)地方向人發(fā)出跳堤壩挑戰(zhàn)，因?yàn)檫@事很危險(xiǎn)。當(dāng)你還是孩子的時(shí)候就會做這種事，因?yàn)槟闾觳慌碌夭慌?，”弗格森曾?jīng)這樣說。

5. “弗格森時(shí)間”為79秒?！案ジ裆瓡r(shí)間”是其他隊(duì)的球迷普遍持有的觀點(diǎn)——如果曼聯(lián)在90分鐘后依然落后，裁判會延長傷停補(bǔ)時(shí)，令曼聯(lián)可以追平或反敗為勝。去年，英國廣播公司（BBC）分析了弗格森時(shí)間，發(fā)現(xiàn)在落后的情況下，很多球隊(duì)會得到更長的補(bǔ)時(shí)，曼聯(lián)不是特例，但曼聯(lián)似乎比其他隊(duì)獲得更長的時(shí)間。在曼聯(lián)落后的情況下，比賽時(shí)間會比曼聯(lián)領(lǐng)先時(shí)多79秒。

數(shù)字弗格森

1999年6月獲英女王頒發(fā)1個(gè)爵位

執(zhí)教過5支球隊(duì)：東斯特靈隊(duì)（1974）、圣米倫隊(duì)（1975—1978）、阿伯丁隊(duì)（1978—1986）、蘇格蘭隊(duì)（1985—1986）和曼聯(lián)隊(duì)（1986—2013）

以球員身份加入過6個(gè)俱樂部（女王公園、圣莊士頓、鄧弗姆林、流浪者、法爾科克、埃爾聯(lián)）

獲得9個(gè)蘇格蘭和英格蘭足總杯冠軍

由于被罰場邊停賽而缺席17場比賽

執(zhí)教曼聯(lián)期間共買入104名球員

作為球員共出場370場，攻入170個(gè)入球

帶領(lǐng)曼聯(lián)出戰(zhàn)1498場，894勝、337平、267負(fù)