Upholding Standards

Ben Foster, former Man United goalkeeper told a story on this podcast (https://youtu.be/r3Hteh_gU5s) about how Sir Alex Ferguson went ballistic at a preseason friendly loss.

Now for those unfamiliar with the term, a preseason friendly means absolutely nothing.

It is largely used to remove the rust from the off season.

The results hold no weight whatsoever in the real season.

So, losing a game does not warrant the hair dryer treatment and yet there was Sir Alex berating his players for the defeat.

Now you could use this wee vignette to argue that Sir Alex has an anger management problem.

I think this story also highlights the gaffer’s view on standards.

It was probably a foundation stone of his massive success.

I reckon Sir Alex did not view guidance on technical knowledge as his responsibility.

He most likely delegated that to others.

I suspect that Mr. Ferguson saw the enforcing of standards as his primary role.

Now whilst I don’t agree with berating others, I think Sir Alex was bang on for trying to uphold standards because without them a team can quickly spiral into mediocrity.