Sir Alex Ferguson joked it was "absolute agony" handing over the LMA Manager of the Year award to Jurgen Klopp, before advising the Liverpool boss to "go to a club with history."
It has been a magnificent campaign for Klopp and his team.
Despite finishing a point behind champions Manchester City in the Premier League title race, Liverpool lifted the FA Cup and Carabao Cup after two dramatic penalty shootout wins against Chelsea.
As a result of his success in recent months, the 54-year-old German pipped Pep Guardiola to both the LMA Manager of the Year award and the Sir Alex Ferguson trophy at the LMA Awards dinner in London.
Speaking on stage at the event, Klopp was honoured to receive the prestigious LMA award. “This being voted for by my colleagues is obviously the most important prize you can get," the German said.
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"I don’t believe in individual prizes in football generally, it is a team sport and I would be nothing without these boys there. It is all about what we can do together and what we did together.”
In fact, before receiving his Manager of the Year prize on Tuesday night, former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson commented: “This is agony, absolute agony!” as he handed over the trophy.
Ferguson, of course, spent 26 trophy-laden years at Old Trafford between 1986 and 2013. "I should have told him to go to Scunthorpe United," joked the Scot moments later.
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The Liverpool manager responded by saying he "couldn’t understand anything he [Ferguson] said" at first but he's improved through working with Andy Robertson and Kenny Daglish.
Klopp was also handed the Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy by Ferguson on the night.
"It is a great honour and it was an insane season," Klopp said. "The last matchday when only two games were meaningless and in the rest, we all played for absolutely everything. It was not the best outcome for us, but we are already over it.
“When you win a prize like this you are either a genius or you have the best coaching staff in the world – and I am here with all of my coaching staff; they know how much I appreciate them."
Back in 2015, when Klopp was appointed as manager of Liverpool, a "concerned" Sir Alex Ferguson was convinced the German would make a difference at Anfield.
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"I’m worried about him because the one thing United don’t want is Liverpool to get above us," Ferguson said. "He’s a fantastic personality, with those big white teeth always showing.
"Even at Newcastle when they lost the second goal he goes over to Steve McClaren to congratulate him. That’s class, that. And the work he did at Dortmund.
"I know him quite well from the coaching seminars. He’s going to make a difference at that club with his personality, drive and knowledge. Things are looking up there."
Featured Image Credit: Sky SportsTopics: Jurgen Klopp, Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, Liverpool, Premier League
