{"id":300792,"date":"2023-12-15T23:26:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T23:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usasportsradar.com\/?p=300792"},"modified":"2023-12-15T23:26:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T23:26:20","slug":"here-are-the-lost-heroes-of-the-fergie-era-so-why-were-they-exiled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usasportsradar.com\/soccer\/here-are-the-lost-heroes-of-the-fergie-era-so-why-were-they-exiled\/","title":{"rendered":"Here are the lost heroes of the Fergie era&#8230; so WHY were they exiled?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Here are the lost heroes of the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Man United&#8230; so WHY were they exiled?<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Sir Alex Ferguson&#8217;s era in charge of Manchester United brought huge success<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Who were the figures behind the scenes making it tick, and why did they leave?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Do Man United have what it takes to exploit Liverpool&#8217;s defensive vulnerability? It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sir Alex Ferguson&#8217;s time in charge of Manchester United brought unprecedented success.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to imagine their dominance given the club&#8217;s state now, but the club won 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, five FA Cups, and four Football League cups under his tutelage.<\/p>\n<p>While they had superstars on the pitch, ones reared in the academy and imported from abroad, several figures behind the scenes were crucial in making things tick.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mail Sport looks at some of the behind-the-scenes heroes of Ferguson&#8217;s era in charge and explains why they left.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/22\/79022145-0-image-a-95_1702677835698.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Sir Alex Ferguson&#8217;s era at Manchester United had many influential figures behind the scenes<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<h2>David Gill, chief executive\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>David Moyes, who was sacked after less than a season in charge by Ed Woodward, said he wished Gill had stayed a year longer rather than stepping down at the same time as Sir Alex Ferguson.<\/p>\n<p>Gill was the quiet statesman with a personal touch. He earned Ferguson\u2019s confidence yet could put all staff at ease. He is 6ft 5in, but it wasn\u2019t unusual to see him raise a laugh by squeezing into a dodgem in the old West Stand car park during Christmas parties he laid on for staff. He would often leave his office to mix in the canteen, unlike other executives.<\/p>\n<p>Gill went on to be a FIFA vice-president and remains a UEFA vice-president.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/22\/79022297-0-image-m-99_1702678239476.jpg\" height=\"438\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Chief executive David Gill, right, was a quiet statesman with a personal touch and earned Ferguson&#8217;s trust\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Les Kershaw, academy director\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>A chemist who had the formula for developing young players. He was a close friend of Ferguson and along with academy co-ordinator Mike Glennie kept youngsters such as Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford away from rivals such as Liverpool. Many a player also owe thanks to coach Warren Joyce, who left in 2016. \u2018The discipline, hard work and fitness are what they are missing since Warren left,\u2019 said one staff member.<\/p>\n<h2>Jim Lawlor, chief scout\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>His role was diluted after Louis van Gaal brought in Marcel Bout. Lawlor\u2019s judgment was trusted by Ferguson as he understood what a United player should be. Didn\u2019t get them all right but he suggested signing Henrik Larsson on loan in 2007, a move that saw the title race swing back from Chelsea to United\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n<h2>Tony Strudwick, sports scientist<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/22\/79021379-0-image-a-97_1702678070136.jpg\" height=\"495\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Head of fitness and conditioning Tony Strudwick, right, would remind players of &#8216;standards&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/22\/79022363-0-image-a-100_1702678357631.jpg\" height=\"569\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Phil Townsend, director of communications,\u00a0was a close ally for Ferguson and Gill\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ebullient sports scientist who was head of fitness and conditioning, Strudwick would greet colleagues brightly in the morning and along with coach Mike Phelan would shout to remind players of \u2018standards\u2019. He would keep order around the training ground but was sidelined under Van Gaal and would later join Ryan Giggs\u2019 Wales set-up.<\/p>\n<h2>Phil Townsend, director of comms<\/h2>\n<p>He was not always a great help to the press but Townsend was a close ally for Ferguson and Gill and remains so now at UEFA.<\/p>\n<p>Having worked in government, he was wise to the brewing politics at Old Trafford and kept harmony between the corporate and football departments up until 2018.<\/p>\n<h2>Albert Morgan, kit man<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/15\/22\/79021431-0-image-a-96_1702678014841.jpg\" height=\"486\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Kit man Albert Morgan stepped down when Ferguson retired and was a glue with the squad<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Morgan stepped down when Ferguson retired and was viewed as the \u2018glue between the manager and the players\u2019. Alec Wylie was a popular replacement, but had big shoes to fill.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was like being a glorified baby-sitter,\u2019 Morgan said. \u2018Any dirt I\u2019ve seen or heard will go to my grave with me.\u2019<\/p>\n<h2>Mike Donnelly, club chef<\/h2>\n<p>Surly, acerbic club chef and United fan. Revered by senior players, he was never afraid to remind them of their shortcomings. He once cooked a prawn dish at the request of a young pro only for him to say \u2018I don\u2019t want it now\u2019. Patrice Evra jumped to chef\u2019s defence and made the youngster apologise. Retired after Rangnick era.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12870235\/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-era-Manchester-United.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are the lost heroes of the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Man United&#8230; so WHY were they exiled? Sir [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Here are the lost heroes of the Fergie era... so WHY were they exiled? - USA SportsRadar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usasportsradar.com\/soccer\/here-are-the-lost-heroes-of-the-fergie-era-so-why-were-they-exiled\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here are the lost heroes of the Fergie era... so WHY were they exiled? - USA SportsRadar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are the lost heroes of the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Man United&#8230; so WHY were they exiled? 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