Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson will always be remembered as one of the greats. He took Manchester United from second-bottom of the old First Division and turned them into the global powerhouse they were for his tenure.

In this challenge, I'll be simulating to November 6th - the date Sir Alex took over at United - and taking control of whoever sits second bottom of the Premier League. The aim of the game is simple, I'll be trying to replicate Ferguson's achievements with United at whoever I take over, but quicker.

Sir Alex was at the helm in Manchester for 27 seasons, and in that time he won:

• Premier League (13)

• Community Shield (10)

• FA Cup (5)

• League Cup (4)

• UEFA Champions League (2)

• FIFA Club World Cup (2)

• UEFA Europa League (1)

• UEFA Super Cup (1)

This spreadsheet should make things easier to manage and let us see when we tick off all of the trophies Sir Alex won. Now.. on to find out who I'll be managing.

Wow! I didn't expect it to be Brighton, with their £70m transfer budget to start the game. It seems that since Graham Potter's departure, things haven't gone to plan for The Seagulls

One win in 14 league matches isn't good enough, but I'm more than confident that we can comfortably survive. That is, until I look at the Premier League net-salary table.

I'm a big believer in the proven thesis that net wage spend is a more accurate indicator of league position than net-transfer spend, so it surprised me to see that Brighton's net-salary is 18th in the league. The squad desperately needs improving in January, however, we are expected to finish 12th.

For the board, this season, the aim is simple: Avoid Relegation. And boy.. can we do that.

We've still got 70 million pounds to work with!! In the summer, Brighton bought Paul Dummett for £3m, Danilo D'Ambrosio for £1.4m and Devyne Rensch for £15m - definitely not what I would have done with the money, but it's still a very strong squad.

With no in-game permanent departures, we've still got the likes of Trossard and Caicedo to build around, considering the wads of cash falling out of my pockets as well, we should really be challenging for midtable.

In the trophy cabinet, the only competition win Brighton have from the list is a solemn Community Shield, lifted in 1910.

I think it's fair to say that I'm going to enjoy the January transfer window, very much. That, and the second half of the season will be in the official Part One, which I'll try and have done in the next week or so.

If you're looking forward to this blog, then it'd mean a lot if you could upvote - it helps push it to more people and build a viewership for the story! As a bonus, if you'd like to follow me on here, it'll help inform you when part 1 is out, to make things a little easier for the algorithm.

Until next time.

Sir Alex wrote a letter to my dad. It was lovely and incredibly thoughtful of him and something I'll be forever grateful to him for. That gratitude will be forever tied up with this community for making it happen, and specifically . You guys are wonderful.

The letter didn't make it in time. Things moved really fast in the end, faster than we could ever have believed and between me not thinking to let his PA know and the postal strikes, it was just too late. My dad passed away peacefully almost two weeks ago.

In the week leading up to his death I told him about the letter and it woke him up; he was very sleepy but he seemed happy to hear about it. A few days later he told me loved me. Two days after that he passed away really peacefully.

He'd be so happy knowing a big pile of United fans are thinking about him. Merry Christmas and much love x

posted by in on 23 Nov 2022

A Question about Sir Alex

Hi all. This is a long shot (and then some).

I'm trying to find some way to reach Sir Alex. My dad was chair of a supporters club for almost 20 years and met Sir Alex on multiple occasions. Unfortunately my dad is now getting palliative care due to an aggressive cancer and I'm trying everything I can to reach out and possibly get a short message for him.

As I say, I know it's a long shot but if anyone has any idea how I might manage it I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

posted by in on 25 Nov 2022

UPDATE: Sir Alex's team contacted me!

Guys I am so indebted to you all. A contact provided by redacted panned out and I got an email initially from the club and then from Sir Alex's PA. They're arranging something for my dad now.

It's easy to flick by things like this and I guess I just want everyone to know that the kind messages, suggestions and even the upvotes mean a lot to me. More than that, the end result will give my dad an incredibly happy memory in the final chapter of his life. Thank you doesn't cut it, but it's all I've really got, so thank you, thank you, thank you.

I AM NOT THE OP