When Sir Richard Greenbury ran Marks and Spencer, he used to take Sir Alex Ferguson out for lunch and pump him for management tips. That was smart.
Manchester United’s manager celebrates his 70th birthday on December 31 as the most trophy-laden individual in football’s history. Sir Alex wins prizes not merely because United can afford excellent players. Stefan Szymanski, economics professor at the University of Michigan, has compiled a “Soccernomics index” of overachieving managers in England: the men who have reached the highest league positions relative to their clubs’ wage budgets since 1974. Sir Alex ranks second, after Liverpool’s Bob Paisley.
In other words the Scot adds exceptional value to his teams. Better, he seems capable of doing so unto eternity.