Alex: The Man Behind The Legend

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Ferguson himself said that the decision to announce his retirement had resulted in a negative effect on the players and on his ability to impose discipline. Ferguson took the blame for the defeat, saying he should have made changes to the team for the replay. The season began well with a 4–1 win over defending champions Arsenal on the opening day, but United's league form quickly turned sour.

The player reportedly moved because of claims in his autobiography Head to Head; Stam implied that Ferguson illegally contacted him about a move to Manchester United, before informing PSV. Tributes also came from Ferguson's players, both past and present, [156] as well as his old foe, Arsène Wenger. Days after the FA Cup final, United travelled to Barcelona, the setting for the UEFA Champions League final. On 21 May 2008, Ferguson won his second European Cup with Manchester United as they beat Chelsea 6–5 on penalties in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the first ever all-English UEFA Champions League Final.

It goes in depth into how he ruled as a manager, as well into who he is as a person, opening the doors to his private life. During the season, United played two friendly matches in Bermuda against the Bermuda national team and the Somerset Cricket Club. His first game in charge was a 2–0 defeat at Oxford United on 8 November, followed seven days later by a goalless draw at newly promoted Norwich City, and then his first win (1–0 at home to Queens Park Rangers) on 22 November. Former Manchester United players Paul Ince and Bryan Robson agreed that Ferguson would be "a hard act to follow". Based on primary sources in many European languages, and beautifully illustrated with portraits done only from life, this magnificent book examines how Napoleone Buonaparte, the boy from Corsica, became ‘Napoleon’; how he achieved what he did, and how it came about that he undid it.

There were some excellent performances that season, including a 6–2 demolition of Arsenal at Highbury, but results like an early 2–1 loss at newly promoted Sunderland, a 4–0 September hammering by Liverpool at Anfield, and a 2–0 home defeat by Everton in early March (the game where 17-year-old talented prospect Ryan Giggs made his senior debut) showed that United still had some way to go.This cup win is often cited as the match that saved Ferguson's Old Trafford career, even though it has since been stated [ by whom?

After a slow start to the 1992–93 season by sitting 10th at the beginning of November, it looked as though United would miss out on the league title yet again.Ferguson hoped his team "could at least take it to a penalty shoot-out", but instead the match was settled in extra time: Giggs ran the length of the pitch and evaded several Arsenal players to score the winning goal. There was also an offer for Ferguson to replace Don Howe as Arsenal manager, but he rejected this offer as well, and fellow Scot George Graham took the post instead. To allow him to fulfil his international duties he appointed Archie Knox as his co-manager at Aberdeen.

The latter featured in four matches, the last of which a 5–0 defeat at Chelsea in October 1999; he was not selected again by Ferguson. Defeats, such as the one to Manchester City at Maine Road in November 2002, forced United to change their playing style.But the lack of a striker after Ruud van Nistelrooy spent most of the season injured saw the club finish third for the third time in four seasons. United started the following season thrashing the previous year's league runners-up Newcastle 4-0 in the Charity Shield. He was upset by how newspapers would refer to him as an "ex-Rangers player" after he had left, and rarely attended gatherings of their former players.