Former Manchester United player Liam O'Brien was interviewed recently. He said that after leaving Manchester United, Ferguson had not spoken to him for many years, but he did not regret it.
Liam O'Brien moved to Manchester United in 1986. He stayed in Manchester for just over a year and a half before deciding to switch to Newcastle. The midfielder made just 34 appearances for the Red Devils but that didn't stop Ferguson being furious with his decision to leave.
O'Brien told the Chronicle: "I didn't expect him to be satisfied with what I had to tell him."
"I said to him at the time: 'I've got something to tell you, I've signed for Newcastle.' And there was a silence. A pregnant pause. He was not satisfied at all, and he gave me a beating. Who did he think I was that dared to leave a club like Manchester United? After he expressed his opinion, the call suddenly hung up. "It took a while for Ferguson to talk to me again. When I met him a few months later, he ignored me. Eventually, the ice melted, although it took two or three years. "There were suggestions that there was a big falling out between Ferguson and me before I left Old Trafford, but that was not the case. There was no big argument."
"Do I regret leaving Manchester United, especially. Especially considering what they later achieved under Ferguson? No, I didn't then, not now, all these years later."
Despite his relationship with Ferguson becoming frosty when he left, Liam O'Brien, now 61, remembers a time when Ferguson showed his softer side. Liam O'Brien has found himself under unprecedented scrutiny and pressure after being sent off on his debut away to Southampton at Manchester United.
Sir Bobby Charlton even rushed onto the team bus before it left and sternly reprimanded O'Brien for his tackle on Mark Dennis. But O'Brien said Ferguson understood the situation better.
He said: "I made my TV debut against Southampton and Sir Alex Ferguson gave me my Manchester United debut. "In Ireland, I think it was the first live football match from England, so all my friends and family were watching and I was told to be small. Mark Dennis, said he was 'dirty'. "I made a tackle and Dennis was worse. I thought it was going to be a yellow card. In those days, you got a warning, and then the referee gave the red card in the 85th second."
"I went back to the dressing room. "Knowing that everyone at home was watching, it puts you in a dark place and you wonder how things are going to go at a club like Manchester United. Ferguson initially thought I had insulted the referee."
"He later watched the video with me on the team bus but he didn't fine me. Because he knew it was a misjudgment. All managers have good and bad sides, and as a manager you have to show a certain level of ruthlessness."
"But Ferguson cares about his players first, and he, like Kevin Keegan, always supports his players."