Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Martin Tyler, Manchester United, Football, Premier League
Sir Alex Ferguson was furious with Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, believing he leaked Manchester United’s team tactics to Sunderland ahead of an FA Cup match.
Ferguson, 83, was and remains a revered figure in English football, having guided Manchester United to 13 Premier League titles between 1986 and 2013.
The Scot, although tactically astute, was different from the modern-day tacticians like Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
Ferguson ruled United with an iron fist at times and even fell out with his best players, including David Beckham and, infamously, Roy Keane, back in 2005.
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But it was not just his own players that caught the brunt of his fury. At times, referees, assistants, and journalists were on the receiving end of some curse words from ‘Fergie’.
Even iconic commentator Martin Tyler was involved in a confrontation with the ex-United boss after he was accused of leaking Ferguson’s tactics for a match against Sunderland.
Speaking on The Overlap, the 80-year-old commentating legend explained how Ferguson had told him during a phone call that he was “going to play differently” before the FA Cup tie and would employ Paul Parker as a “sweeper”.
However, someone else had caught wind of the change and told then-Sunderland boss Peter Reid, which made Ferguson suspicious of Tyler, who has strenuously denied leaking the team news.
Tyler said: “When I arrived at the ground, I went into the office where Peter Reid and his close friend Andy Gray were already talking. Andy looked at me and said, ‘Guess what – Manchester United are going to play with a sweeper’. And I’m thinking, ‘I know, but I can’t say that I know, because I’d be betraying a confidence’.”
The commentator continued before explaining how his wife picked up the phone to Ferguson the following morning.
“Sunderland scored first through Phil Gray – not many remember him, but he scored – and then Parker was taken off, and United went back to their normal way of playing,” Tyler added.
“They scored twice in the second half, won 2–1, and went through to the next round.
“The next morning, when I got home, my wife said, ‘There’s a Mr Ferguson on the phone’. I picked up, and he went straight in: ‘You so-and-so. Sunderland knew this was happening.’ I told him, truthfully, that I hadn’t told anybody. But he didn’t believe me, and I genuinely think to this day, he still doesn’t.”
The 80-year-old then explained that he found out a former United player who had signed for Newcastle had leaked the team news to the club, as he still had friends at the Red Devils.
