Sir Alex Ferguson ruled Old Trafford for over 20 years with a stern look and an iron fist.
There weren't many players who crossed the boss and lived to tell the story, but Gary Neville was one of those players and he lived to tell the tale...just.
There's no doubt that Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager in the history of the Premier League whilst the Scot could also arguably be described as the best British manager or best manager of all time.
Advert
You can't deny that Fergie's methods worked even if some prefer a much more softly softly approach to management than the former Aberdeen boss. Clashes with players often led to them being sold or worse having a football boot kicked at them, maybe.
Roy Keane's outburst against his teammates did for him despite being one of United's biggest players but Gary Neville revealed that telling Fergie to 'F off' not once but twice caused him to sit out for a few weeks:
If you haven't seen this interview, we highly reccomend you give it a watch:
"The biggest telling off that I ever got [from Ferguson] was telling him to 'f*** off" at the end of a game in Lille. He fined me a week's wages and battered me after the match.
Advert
"I did it again the day after in his office and then he basically proceeded to leave me out for the next two weeks. He put me on the bench.
"I spent the next 15 minutes of the match [against Lille] thinking, 'I'm done, I'm done, I'm done'."
Neville got away very lightly from the incident in the long run.
Advert
The likes of Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy all lost their places in Fergie's team after fallouts of different magnitudes.
The former defender turned Sky tv pundit spent his entire playing career at United and was part of the infamous class of 92. He played over 600 times for United, won eight league titles and many more trophies too but he only twice told Fergie to 'F off' and that was twice more than most.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Sir Alex Ferguson, Gary Neville