What a man, What a manager. He brought us Joy and Happiness year after year. Best ever.
Alex Ferguson’s Farewell Letter to Cantona
- Thread starter Lennon7
- Start date
Its a beautiful letter. I've never read it before. What is most amazing with hindsight is how even then Fergie's motivation was both to win the Champions League, and to uncover a "new young Cantona" - in many ways he did both didn't he? He won the Champions League twice, and discovered Ronaldo.
Fergie was the greatest man manager of all time. Just intuitively could read any individual and make them tick and did so time and time again throughout his entire career in football management.
could someone post the content of that letter as text here, my work internet has blocked the original link/image. thanks in advance!
Dear Eric
Some months have passed since we last spoke and I felt that I should write to you as a mark of respect and esteem in which I hold you.
When we re-started training, I kept waiting for you to turn up as normal but I think that was in hope not realism and I knew in your eyes when we met a Mottram your time at Manchester United was over. Although, I still fell you should have taken both your Father's and my advice and taken a holiday before making such a major decision.
One thing, I would like you to remember is to remain active and fit. I always remember when I finished at 32 and I started management, I was more concerned about organising training and he coaching of players that I forgot about my own fitness and then when I realised about six years later what was happening, I started to train again to recapture my fitness and it was murder, so you do need to keep your fitness.
I am sure you have been keeping an eye on our results and as you can see we are doing quite well as you know we have signed Teddy
Sheringham to replace you but at the moment he is finding it difficult to find the space he got at Tottenham and is playing deep so we have some adjusting to do. Players sometimes don't realise how difficult it is to play at our level as every game is a Cup Final for our opponents so I just hope he can do it for us.
Our pre-season tour wasn't too bad. The Far East tour was better than expected and our games against Inter Milan were very good. The Charity Shield wasn't a great performance but we were better than Chelsea and deserved to win, even though it went to penalties.
I still feel as we discussed at the end of the season that a top class striker is what is needed and that is always going to be the problem at our club as the financial restraints will always stop us getting the past because of our wage structure and it is such a pity because when you are at at the top you should buy the best to stop the others getting to you. If I was younger, I suppose I would look at it differently, but from a personal point of view, I have not won the European Cup and it does get to me at times. However I just carry on and not put up a mental barrier and I have always had that belief and trust in my players and wish to continue to do so. I keep hoping that i will discover a young Cantona! It is a dream!
As I close this letter, I would like to hope that we will have a chat, a drink, or a meal together soon. I know the club has written to you about the forthcoming dinner and I hope you will manage it, but that is not the most important thing, for it is to remind you how good a player we were for Manchester United and how grateful I am for the service you gave me. I will never forget that and I hope you won't either.
You are always welcome here and if you just pop in unexpectedly for a cup of tea, no fanfare, just for a chat as friends, that would mean more to me than anything. Eric you where I am if you need me and now that you are no longer one of my players, I hope you know you have a friend.
Good luck and God bless,
Yours sincerely
Alex Ferguson CBE
MANAGER
Some months have passed since we last spoke and I felt that I should write to you as a mark of respect and esteem in which I hold you.
When we re-started training, I kept waiting for you to turn up as normal but I think that was in hope not realism and I knew in your eyes when we met a Mottram your time at Manchester United was over. Although, I still fell you should have taken both your Father's and my advice and taken a holiday before making such a major decision.
One thing, I would like you to remember is to remain active and fit. I always remember when I finished at 32 and I started management, I was more concerned about organising training and he coaching of players that I forgot about my own fitness and then when I realised about six years later what was happening, I started to train again to recapture my fitness and it was murder, so you do need to keep your fitness.
I am sure you have been keeping an eye on our results and as you can see we are doing quite well as you know we have signed Teddy
Sheringham to replace you but at the moment he is finding it difficult to find the space he got at Tottenham and is playing deep so we have some adjusting to do. Players sometimes don't realise how difficult it is to play at our level as every game is a Cup Final for our opponents so I just hope he can do it for us.
Our pre-season tour wasn't too bad. The Far East tour was better than expected and our games against Inter Milan were very good. The Charity Shield wasn't a great performance but we were better than Chelsea and deserved to win, even though it went to penalties.
I still feel as we discussed at the end of the season that a top class striker is what is needed and that is always going to be the problem at our club as the financial restraints will always stop us getting the past because of our wage structure and it is such a pity because when you are at at the top you should buy the best to stop the others getting to you. If I was younger, I suppose I would look at it differently, but from a personal point of view, I have not won the European Cup and it does get to me at times. However I just carry on and not put up a mental barrier and I have always had that belief and trust in my players and wish to continue to do so. I keep hoping that i will discover a young Cantona! It is a dream!
As I close this letter, I would like to hope that we will have a chat, a drink, or a meal together soon. I know the club has written to you about the forthcoming dinner and I hope you will manage it, but that is not the most important thing, for it is to remind you how good a player we were for Manchester United and how grateful I am for the service you gave me. I will never forget that and I hope you won't either.
You are always welcome here and if you just pop in unexpectedly for a cup of tea, no fanfare, just for a chat as friends, that would mean more to me than anything. Eric you where I am if you need me and now that you are no longer one of my players, I hope you know you have a friend.
Good luck and God bless,
Yours sincerely
Alex Ferguson CBE
MANAGER
Yeah,I”ve read this letter before,but it’s always great to relive the SAF era again...
Great stuff. Feel sorry for the fans in here who missed out on the Cantona experience. For all the success that followed, nothing will ever beat watching him strut around the pitch like he owned the league.
I just happened to be cutting onions whilst reading the letter.
I also remember the heartfelt letter to Jaap Stam in 2001 that put a lump in all our throats.
No need to disparage other players, teams, coaches. Let's just admire two brilliant ManUtd legends. They were not right all the time and they were not perfect but they were and still are one of the greatest that have ever been at our club. We should be lucky and thank them for what they have done for our club to be successful.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Eric Cantona. The respect they have for each other is something out of the ordinary.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Eric Cantona. The respect they have for each other is something out of the ordinary.
I don't think I'll ever get over fergie 
Started off thinking how terrible the punctuation was and was nearly in tears at the end. What dear, dear man our Fergie is.
We are blessed to have had him.
We are blessed to have had him.
I think that because he did own it, he was born to play at old Trafford. The difference he made to us was that when we went out we knew and the opponents knew that we were going to either win or give them the toughest game they were going to have that season.
United legend Cantona to receive UEFA President’s Award
Former Manchester United star Eric Cantona has been chosen as recipient of the 2019 UEFA President’s Award. UEFA said the award “recognises outstanding achievements, professional excellence and exemplary personal qualities.”
https://www.football365.com/news/man-utd-legend-to-receive-uefa-presidents-award
Former Manchester United star Eric Cantona has been chosen as recipient of the 2019 UEFA President’s Award. UEFA said the award “recognises outstanding achievements, professional excellence and exemplary personal qualities.”
https://www.football365.com/news/man-utd-legend-to-receive-uefa-presidents-award