Customer Reviews

Alex Ferguson My Autobiography

5 star:		(238)
4 star:		(98)
3 star:		(44)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(62)

 

 

I would have read this book in my own time, but the hyperbole and screaming headlines in the press, and reactions from those allegedly disrespected, prompted me to buy and read it quickly. After all, the single star reviews on Amazon were prolific and, if accurate, showed two surprising facts: 1) Sir Alex had betrayed the club; 2) there had been a sudden increase in the literary critique ability of the fans of other clubs. So I read it in three days - I had to as I could not put it down.

Sir Alex always maintained this was a book for the fans; fans who had remained steadfast with United and were owed an explanation of the gaps remaining in the journey of the last 26 years. And I found this was so. It is written in such a way as to be conversational, not great literary prose, but solid, honest words which every United fan would understand. He deals with his own errors of judgement and his drive to maintain a high standard, recognising early on that no man was greater than the club.

This is a book of Sir Alex's personal view of his time in charge and he lays everything out for a reader to digest. His dealings with Keane, Beckham, van Nistlerooy and his comments about Gerrard, Chelsea, Liverpool and all the rest from the headlines were not as reported. Even Wayne Rooney would find more praise than he may deserve - though he remains on the brink of becoming one of The Manchester United Greats, should he chose to [I hope he does]. I found the comments full, sound and robust, but not unfair. This is not a book about training methods and the technicalities of the game, though there are enough references as to tactics of particular games, or years, but a filling in of the gaps left unanswered from the last couple of decades.

If you are a Manchester United fan read it as a personal gift of information to you. If you are not, but love football, this will give you an insight to how the Premiership works, and how managers and players react to the demands. If you are not a fan, at least read the book with an open mind before dishing out a single star.

There is no ending to this book; just an open road to a new era by a man Fergie knows will succeed. Sir Alex has earned his place as the greatest manager through hard work and a resilience seldom seen. I have to give this book five stars as it gave me a great deal of pleasure. And, yes, I am a United fan (since 1967).

I am a huge fan of Manchester United and of Alex Ferguson so I was really looking forward to this book. Now I accept that Alex Ferguson is not the world's greatest author. But you'd expect the person who helped write the book to give him some good simple advice on the construction of a chapter.
I just found it a ramble. You would start a chapter on one subject and within 200 words you would be in a totally different subject area. This became increasingly annoying the further I got into the book.

All this aside there was some interesting insights, although I think there could have been more.

The rating 5 out of 5 was worth it. A must read of any fan of football especially u are a fan of man utd

Excellent true account of the pressures tantrums and success Sir Alex a true legend and icon of our footballing history.

This is a great read by a great man very enjoyable for all fans of football especially for united fans

If you follow football you will enjoy this book, if you don't follow the game I'd advise you to give it a miss.

I'm not a big football fan and borrowed this book because I'm interested in sports psychology and leadership.

I thought this provided limited insight into the man and what made him the great manager that he undoubtedly was. [ it wasn't a case of sweet F.A with regards to this, but just not as much as I hoped]

No doubt Sir Alex is a man with as many talents as A Wenger Swiss Army knife has blades, but I think that writing is not one of the skills in his arsenal. To my mind he often comes across as grudging in his admiration towards others which is a great shame as acknowledging others generally should not diminish your own worth - and he no longer needs to compete.

That's what I thought, but then other readers will be approaching this book from a very different angle.

So, if you are reading this because you are Man Utd fan then irrespective of all of the above this will no doubt find a place on your bookshelf, and you probably will love it.

I however have loaned it out and may consider letting it go on a free transfer.

Was expecting a no holds barred delve into the insides of a football club I ain't particularly keen on but ended up reading about a bitter old man sniping against people he should be bigger than.

Bought this book as I'm an ardent Manchester United fan.

When you compare this book with "Managing my life" they're two ends of the spectrum. This book is lacking in detail, overburdened with score settling (Keane, Beckham), ill advised jibes (Jordan Henderson) or complete Poppycock (Stephen Gerrard) or just inaccurate,

If I could claim my money back, I would.

Worth a read, but not as good as his last book. A lo of this is just name dropping or repetition about players abilities