Letting his irritation show forth, Sir Alex Ferguson vented about the unreasonable, and in some cases immoral, demands some football agents have put forward since he has been with Manchester United.
An unnamed agent demanded a block of flats to close the deal or his player would not sign. Another agent requested money for every goal scored by his player, but Ferguson pointed out that they were signing up and paying the player for exactly that. These incidents have been handed over to the directors of the club.
He was upset by the Blackburn Rovers’ agent, Jerome Anderson, because Sam Allardyce was let go. Sam is one of Ferguson’s good friends. Ferguson responded to sacking, “If Anderson had to pick something he couldn’t even pick his nose.”
During an interview with RTE Radio 1, he declared that the manager is the top of the heap at Manchester United and that if the player ever thinks he is more important it will destroy the team and they will never recover.
Ferguson also has strong opinions about the limitations that managers should have when negotiating wages for players. “A manager may phone me, and that’s when I get really irritated, when he asks for £1 million a year for a player who isn’t even a star. They believe they can work miracles like this.”
He clarifies, “The top paid players at Manchester United are getting paid what they earn. They are regularly out there performing in front of everyone, every time. Consistency and quality are the materials of star players. People expect them to perform well and it draws crows every week. That is why they get paid what we pay them.”