Why did SAF retire in 2013?

[manutddjw]

Although it might look funny in hindsight, I do believe Sir Alex believed he completed a rebuild for the next 3 years at least with a very good squad for the next manager.

He had brought along Jones, Evans and Smalling to replace Rio and Vidic, De Gea was already freakishly good, he loved Welbeck and Cleverly, thought RVP would last another 2 years at least, bought Zaha and in his book said “Powell will be the heart of the England midfield and you can quote me on that”.

 

[ghagua]

Whatever reason he stepped down, he earned the right to do that. But....looking back on it he did feck up badly when he could not persuade either Pep or Klopp to take over after him, but chose Moyes instead.

 

[tenpoless]

The man was 71 when He retired ffs. Let him enjoy his retirement.

Ask yourself, do you even want to work under immense pressure till you're 60? even 50 is questionable.

 

[SirMattlives]

I understood that he read the comments here at the time and thought 'f-this'...

 

[meamth]

Because knocking Liverpool off the perch isn't enough, the man needs to surpass that title record.

That's what I want to believe.

 

[sammsky1]

Whatever reason he stepped down, he earned the right to do that. But....looking back on it he did feck up badly when he could not persuade either Pep or Klopp to take over after him, but chose Moyes instead.

Utter nonsense.

It wasn’t his responsibility to appoint his successor, even if the board allowed him that privilege. Why should SAF bear any responsibility for what happened after him? It’s unprecedented in any industry.

Anyway, it’s been covered from Several sources that Noyes was ‘the last man standing’ as pep and Mourinho were more committed to other ventures.

 

[DVG7]

If I recall, when he addressed the crowd he said “your job now, is to support our new manager”

Maybe one day we’ll trust his advice.

 

[NewGlory]

Its just a pity it coincidence with gill leaving as well. A few more years of him to smooth the transition and replenish the squad could have went a long way

Are we certain it was a coincidence? One hell of a coincidence - SAF deciding to leave shortly after Gill left and reigns went to clueless Woodward.

 

[meamth]

If I recall, when he addressed the crowd he said “your job now, is to support our new manager”

Maybe one day we’ll trust his advice.

Watch Fulltimedevils, the mancs going to the stadium is always supporting the manager.

Caf on the other hand..

 

[roonster09]

I've never heard anything like that before, makes no sense at all either - wrestle more control for what exactly?!

This is a lesson to you to only listen to one podcast !

Yeah the whole theory doesn't make sense and it was said by Duncan castles who is just agenda driven cnut.

 

[meamth]

Although it might look funny in hindsight, I do believe Sir Alex believed he completed a rebuild for the next 3 years at least with a very good squad for the next manager.

He had brought along Jones, Evans and Smalling to replace Rio and Vidic, De Gea was already freakishly good, he loved Welbeck and Cleverly, thought RVP would last another 2 years at least, bought Zaha and in his book said “Powell will be the heart of the England midfield and you can quote me on that”.

And then Moyes came in with his own staff..

to quote his words in his first interview:

"All I can do is do what David Moyes has done before. I'll continue the traditions of the club. I am very fortunate that I am taking over the champions of England and I do hope that I can do a great job here in time."

Little did we know he is going to tear it all apart..

 

[NewGlory]

Whatever reason he stepped down, he earned the right to do that. But....looking back on it he did feck up badly when he could not persuade either Pep or Klopp to take over after him, but chose Moyes instead.

That is not correct. SAF wrote in his book that he personally asked Pep to come to United, in 2012, when Pep was lounging in NY, but Txiki Begiristain was already at City and Pep wasn't gonna go anywhere else. The writing was on the wall. Moyes was suggested after Pep declined. You can read more here: https://www.espn.com/soccer/manches...uson-says-he-approached-pep-guardiola-in-2012

As for Klopp - no idea if anybody approached him, but granted in 2012 Klopp was not as known as he is now, and he may not have been on the radar of many. The list of obvious choices before Klopp was much longer, back then.

I understood that he read the comments here at the time and thought 'f-this'...

Hahahahah! Good one

 

[King7Eric]

At the time he told the squad that his wife's twin sister had passed away, he felt it was his duty after years devoting himself to United that he acted as a rock for her.

This is the real and only reason, irrespective of what people might speculate. He had plans to stay on for at least a couple more years but he knew his wife would be lonely and felt it was his duty to support her after she had made so many sacrifices to ensure SAF could focus only on Man Utd for these 26 years.

 

[Isotope]

I was interested to see for Sir Alex took over England NT. Most of his career was managing (a) team in PL, thus he knew the fans, the players, the style, the FA inside out; and he'd have all the respect he needed from those laters. It was a less stress job also. Some sort of the like of Lippi, another genius of manager, with Italy NT.

 

[Sandikan]

To suggest he just selfishly stayed on to win and then dump a past it team is one of the narratives i just don't accept.

Noone could have forseen that the likes of Smalling, Jones and Evans wouldn't kick on, or that the likes of Van Persie would totally drop level almost immediately.

That team won the league at an absolute canter.

 

[Sandikan]

I was interested to see for Sir Alex took over England NT. Most of his career was managing (a) team in PL, thus he knew the fans, the players, the style, the FA inside out; and he'd have all the respect he needed from those laters. It was a less stress job also. Some sort of the like of Lippi, another genius of manager, with Italy NT.

Scottish manager taking over England?!

 

[Sky1981]

If I recall, when he addressed the crowd he said “your job now, is to support our new manager”

Maybe one day we’ll trust his advice.

Right advice, wrong manager

 

[Amar__]

Our club can't get rid off our shit medical team for years, what makes you think Fergie would go that easily? He retired to spend more time with his wife.

 

[Isotope]

Scottish manager taking over England?!

I'm sure after living in England while managing United for 20+ yrs, things like that doesn't really matter?

 

[Sky1981]

It's very sad to read these kinds of thread.

The man isn't dead yet and we're already making baseless accusations.

 

[MiceOnMeth]

Mad to think he was winning titles with Cleverly Young and Valencia. Just imagine what he could have accomplished if he was given the hundreds of millions his successors were given.

 

[Sky1981]

Mad to think he was winning titles with Cleverly Young and Valencia. Just imagine what he could have accomplished if he was given the hundreds of millions his successors were given.

This is exaggeration, while it's true that he indeed win titles with the 3 of them but they're complemented by a solid team of superstars (at that time) in Rooney, De Gea, Rio / Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Scholes, Ronaldo, etc over the time.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Would have been an even higher high if not for a shit referee in a CL semi

I can always remember my mate saying ‘he’s going to retire at the end of the season, he never reacts that badly from a referring decision’. And few weeks later he announced his retirement, I was absolutely gutted, even more so when Moyes was announced.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I've heard these rumours from time to time, and now again on that Transfer Window podcast that SAF was sort of pushed out by the Glazers, cushioned by getting him on the board and naming a stand after him - to wrestle more control. Have there been any interesting quotes close to the man himself, or credible articles exploring this?

I always thought he would retire when he wins another Champions League but he chose the 20th league title to be his final which surprised me. However, it was definitely his own decision, not sure why, may be for family, but doubt Glazers have anything to do with it, Sir Alex is the main reason why the club was making a lot of profit from winning trophies and rarely spent massive on the recent years before his retirement and Glazers have no reason to force Sir Alex into a retirement.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Is the OP some sort of conspiracy theorist? Was it, in fact, the Illuminati's fault?

 

[matt10000]

SAF wanted to devout more time to family and achieved his goal of truly knocking LPool off their “flippin” perch (domestically at least) with number of league titles.

The Glazers are businessmen. No businessman in their right mind would push out the best manager in history when he is still winning titles without spending.
The idea is utter nonesense

 

[RedRonaldo]

He was already 72 when he retired, what do you expect?

 

[wolvored]

I think he knew Utd needed another big overhaul and he just understandably didn't have the energy in him to do it again.

I think if we'd won the title in 2012 he'd have retired after that but because of what happened he stayed an extra year to make sure he went out as Champion.

I agree. He would have gone in 2012 I think as he could see with the quality of cities squad and the backing they had it was time to jack in. Getting rvp and the way he gelled straight away was fantastic in the final year. This along with his sister laws death was the perfect time to leave.

 

[matt10000]

It is absolute bullshit.

A man that kept them at the top of the pile on a shoe string? They'd have done anything to keep him at United and im sure he has been offered the job back on multiple occasions.

He retired becaue he was 71 and had been in a job for 26 years. Half these clowns managing now can barely last 3 years without having a shit fit or fecking it up for themselves.

The reality is that sometimes external factors to life take over and you need to reevaluate what is important. Sir Alex left us champions with a sqaud that while needing investment in the right areas, was more than good enough to continue to contend with City while a new manager implemented the necessary changes to rebuild the sqaud. The problem is we got Moyes and in the space of 6 months, set the club back 10 years.

The ridiculous thing that has become apparent over the last 12 month is that the way Ole is managing United, is exactly how it should have been done at the time. Keep the experienced backroom staff, place a manager in that the players respect but understand is not the finished article like Sir Alex so the expectations are reduced and build on that foundation. The biggest mistake we've made is trying to replace the best with the purproted "next best".

Spot on I wish more on here would see the reality of where we are at instead of crying all the time.

 

[grahamo]

Moyes had the simplest of jobs. Everything was in place. experienced staff and the whole club ticking over nicely. All he had to do was say to the staff "Well done and keep up the good work" and spend a few months learning the ropes from them. instead he decided to bring in his own useless crew and mess it all up. The last 7 years stem from that!

 

[DRM]

Something to do with Cathy ? Or Cathy's mam?

 

[Sandikan]

I'm sure after living in England while managing United for 20+ yrs, things like that doesn't really matter?

Despite the man himself saying it was a total non starter for just this reason.

 

[Sandikan]

If I recall, when he addressed the crowd he said “your job now, is to support our new manager”

Maybe one day we’ll trust his advice.

Yeah, we'd be supporting Moyes from the bottom of the championship if we'd not got rid.

 

[djembatheking]

I'm sure after living in England while managing United for 20+ yrs, things like that doesn't really matter?

Of course it matters, he said himself that his family would never forgive him if he did it.

 

[Havak]

There were plenty of reasons and I do think that the family one mentioned in the first reply is probably the biggest part of it all.

However, at the same time there was a lot going on. He'd won his final challenge in dethroning Man City at least once which is probably the only reason he didn't retire a bit earlier honestly. But along with this, I do believe that he felt that this squad was in need of quite a lot of change and it would be better for someone else to take it from that point. Whether that was slightly selfish of him if you only take that part into account is down to your personal opinion, but of course I think everyone should be able to agree, at least to some extent that the work he'd done before negates that. I also think that he didn't like the way football was going in general. It had been a money-game and too businesses oriented for ages anyway, but it was clearly becoming much worse. He didn't want to have to compete with City/Chelsea etc when he'd already done it all before. He's obviously been vindicated in that building another title winning side was going to be a lengthy process, so he definitely went at the right time and on a high.

 

[Isotope]

Despite the man himself saying it was a total non starter for just this reason.

Of course it matters, he said himself that his family would never forgive him if he did it.

Thanks, I didn't know this. Although it sounds like a lausy excuse. Maybe he just doesn't care much about NT.

 

[Sandikan]

Thanks, I didn't know this. Although it sounds like a lausy excuse. Maybe he just doesn't care much about NT.

I will presume for your sake that you're not from Great Britain.

If you were, you'd understand it's a massive barrier.

 

[momo83]

The real game? Was a last 16 tie, but still. That was tough to take

Now with hindsight from his reaction to losing its obvious it was because he knew that was his last chance gone.

 

[momo83]

The fact SAF announced his retirement only months after saying he would do three more years before walking away was as much to do with his power struggle with the board over Rooney as it was to being able to spend more time with his wife Cathy.

Think the board would have backed him over Rooney. Saying 3 more years was just to end speculation and uncertainty.

 

[Isotope]

I will presume for your sake that you're not from Great Britain.

If you were, you'd understand it's a massive barrier.

Yeh. I'm not.