How 3 musicians summed up Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest managerial feat
- lukebentley360
- Mar 26, 2023
- 3 min read

During a stop in Tallahassee, Florida on Nirvana’s “In Utero” tour, frontman and genius Kurt Cobain’s A string on his Stratocaster guitar broke while playing the song Lithium. What then transpires is a seamless, almost rehearsed move where Cobain removes the plug from the guitar, removes the guitar from over his shoulder, hands over the guitar to a guitar-tech guy, picks up his new guitar, puts it on, checks is everything is plugged in, and then continues the song as normal. All of this he did while singing.
During the concert Farm Aid on September 22nd 1985, Blues legend and master of both the major and minor pentatonic scales BB King’s high E sting broke while playing the song How Blue Can You Get. What then transpires is a testament to the man’s skill and cool-headedness. When the string breaks BB King is handed not a replacement guitar like Kurt was, but a replacement string. Then, in what you wouldn’t be wrong in calling an act of pure showmanship, BB King then proceeded to remove the broken string, and replace the string while singing to perfection.
During a concert at Austin City Limits on October 10th 1989, another Blues legend and another master of the major and minor pentatonic scales Stevie Ray Vaughan broke a string whilst playing a solo during the song Look At Little Sister. When the string breaks, he is not immediately handed a replacement guitar or replacement string. Instead, he uses bends and other techniques on the lower strings to seamlessly continue his solo, before switching guitars seamlessly just before the first verses are sung. He never misses a note, and the audience are none the wiser.
I use these three musical moments, because they exemplify what I consider to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest feat as a football manager. The ability to maintain a high level whilst adjusting and adapting to a given situation.
The treble is what most consider to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest achievement, and that may be true. The man himself said, “This is the greatest moment of my life and I'm struggling to take it all in”. Winning the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League all in one season is something that no team, no manager, no club has ever been able to replicate in English football. It’s a true mark of a team’s domination, both of their country and their continent.
In the laws of logic, anything less than winning a treble must be a step down in quality or level of achievement of course. BB King’s performance would’ve been better with his brilliant guitar licks underpinning his vocals, Stevie’s performance would’ve been better if the solo was note and tone perfect, Nirvana’s performance would’ve been better with his guitar part further punctuating the intro to Lithium. All of them affected by a broken string. All the performances arguably lesser for it.
In the 4 years post-treble, Peter Schmeichel, Teddy Sheringham, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Jaap Stam and others had left. Sir Alex’s strings were breaking. Lesser managers, lesser musicians would’ve crumbled in those tough moments and yet, Kurt, BB King, Stevie, and Sir Alex didn’t. They stayed shining, mid-performance, whilst fixing what had been broken.
At some point, however, the strings have to be repaired, the instruments have to be replaced in order for the performance to carry on as normal. Fresh faces like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo. Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick and others were all brought in. All of this came to ahead in the 07/08 season, where Manchester United were able to once again claim total dominance over England and Europe, winning both the Premier League and Champions League. The great performance that was Sir Alex’s Manchester United had returned to their dominant norm.
In the post treble years, things obviously dipped for Sir Alex in terms of success. The year after the treble, United didn’t participate in the FA Cup and they failed to defend their UCL trophy. However, they won the Premier League. Next year, they failed the FA Cup and UCL, but won the league. A Community Shield and FA Cup in 03/04, a League Cup in 05/06, never finishing below third place in the league and giving the best a fight.
Of course, a recovery is notable, but a recovery requires a lull period to recover from. Many don’t manage to stay fighting in the lull period. Many shy away whilst they scramble to fix any blemishes before proudly announcing their return to form. Kurt kept on singing, BB King kept on singing, Stevie kept on playing, and Sir Alex?
Sir Alex Ferguson kept on winning.
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