Sir Alex Ferguson held meetings with Man Utd players whilst 'cradling' a sword

Sir Alex Ferguson used to hold a sword during meetings with Manchester United players and would tell them where they could and couldn't live.

It's no surprise really that there a great many almost mythological stories about Ferguson's 27 years managing at Old Trafford.

With 13 Premier League titles behind him many consider him the greatest manager in history, especially when you add his achievements for Aberdeen.

But it's the stories behind his success that often cause the most intrigue, with Dwight Yorke explaining that after United's Treble success in 1999 he asked the Scotsman for a year sabbatical.

And one player was paid the biggest compliment by his former manager, when Fergie commented on the size of Dion Dublin's huge member.

However not everyone had a run in with the 81-year-old that left them feeling as wonderful as the Home Under the Hammer presenter must have.

In fact some of his players went into meetings with the former Scotland boss and were met with a man holding a sword as they spoke to him.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, former United player Eddie Johnson revealed that he went in to chat with his manager about moving house.

"You had to go and ask him," the former academy player said about moving.

"And he had a big long sword which I think Nelson Mandela gave to him. And sometimes he would just sit there holding it!

"Put it this way, I was guided where I could and couldn't go to live, I was told how much I should pay for my rent and I stuck to that."

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It wasn't just the manager who Johnson ended up listening to, as he didn't eat butter for 10 years thanks to Gary Neville's words at the training.

The former Bradford City player explained that he had struggled with his body fat and had been told when eating toast that the butter wasn't helping, by the right back, and it put him off for many years.

Clearly though he enjoyed his time at Old Trafford, having played with some huge names, adding: "I came through probably the best youth team ever with [Giuseppe] Rossi and [Gerard] Pique and Jonny Evans, every one of us went on to have a really good career."

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Gary Neville

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

@Sidler28