Fergie talks bollocks shocker

following on from Small's post below

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Trading Places
There's also nothing new in Sir Alex's claim that, not only did he want to sign Paul Gascoigne, but he could have saved him from the demons that have since consumed the Geordie.

United - as everybody who has read Sir Alex's autobiography in the ten years since it was first published will know - made contact with Gascoigne in the summer of 1988 and Ferguson even received the personal assurance of the midfielder that he would sign on the dotted line once the Scot had returned from his summer holiday. Barely had Ferguson arrived in the south of France when he was interrupted by the news that Gascoigne had signed for Spurs instead.

"The disappointing one not to sign was Paul Gascoigne, the best player of his era in English football," recalls Ferguson in his Sky interview, billed as his first feature-length interview in over a decade although it is probable that, in terms of words spoken, he says far more every week in his Friday press conferences.

"We would have taken the London out of him. We had Bobby Charlton, a Geordie. We had Bryan Robson, a Geordie. Steve Bruce, a Geordie. We had Gary Pallister from Middlesborough. We had a structure of players who could have helped him and I think that it would have given him some discipline, maybe it would have helped him too."

Once again, Ferguson's memory is playing tricks on him, with Gary Pallister not arriving at the club until the following year.

Meanwhile, the impression given to readers of Ferguson's autobiography is that the only "structure" that Manchester United had in place at that time was a drinking culture - hardly the discipline and help the soon-to-be-alcoholic Gascoigne required.

While London can be blamed for many of life's ills, blaming Gascoigne's decline on the capital is somewhat dubious. Even Ferguson would probably concede that it was during the years that he was based in London that Gascoigne produced the best form of his career.

from Mediawatch

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Posted By: blindasabat, Jun 3, 22:14:14