[spellbound]

After the Hargreaves or Fletcher head to head…lets raise the stake and go for the only interesting head to head with Manchester United involved.

In a game between Manchester United vs a team from hell (Chelsea, fools or any other team of your choice) who would you let manage the team?

The options are Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Matt Busby.

Who do you trust the most? The man who started to transform Manchester United to be the best team ever or the man who brought us there?

 

[Check the Milkman]

I think the lack of replies is because no one can decide who to pick. I would go for Fergie. Only just

 

[stretty]

sir matt for me he started the ball rolling, i hate to repeat myself but busby laid the foundations on which fergie built an empire

 

[the boss]

sir matt set the standards for utd and made us what we are today.fergies job was to get us back to the top following the decline after sir matt stepped down.as managers go there is nothing betwean them ,but without busby there would be no fergie

 

[Guest]

Who do you trust the most?...I'm ignoring that line, because the answer is always going to be.....BOTH.

My heart says Sir Matt because without him there is no way that United would be
where we are now.

But because of the way football and management has changed so much since
the great days of Sir Matt, my head says SAF.

.

 

[thekeanefella]

too hard way too hard.

 

[asaf cohen]

im going with fergie because i never saw Busby in action so i don't actually know how he operates.

 

[spellbound]

Who do you trust the most?...I'm ignoring that line, because the answer is always going to be.....BOTH.

My heart says Sir Matt because without him there is no way that United would be
where we are now.

But because of the way football and management has changed so much since
the great days of Sir Matt, my head says SAF.

.

My answer would be both too but if it was a poll with two options and either you had to pick Busby or Ferguson. Im struggling to say who I prefer of the two.

The reason I posted this was to see how you were thinking since I know posters here have opinion about everything.

My opinion (at least today) is that Ferguson is my choice. Why?
I know the history with Bubsy and how he were ahead of his own time with lots of things. Still I have the feeling what the average fan remembers the most of Busby era is the Munich tragedy and not so much how he was one of the first, if not the first one who understod playing in Europe was the future for not just Manchester United but for British football.

When I first knew United was my team we had a manager called Dave Sexton. I cant say I remember much about him. But I do remember a lot more from the Big Ron years. That was not always a shiny happy days.
So I understand Stretty when he say Busby built the foundation where Ferguson now work as a King Midas. Thats a bit to re-write the history to a more glorious one then it actually is.
If you lived during the time where the fools where having their '15 years of fame' and everyone but you and maybe one other guy were having fool shirts and nasty flags, scarfs and banners you know we havent always been a trophy winning team.

The game of football have changed a lot only over the last 5-10 years. So I wont compare the two genious merits of honour but I still think so many of us dont really understand the greatness of Sir Alex Ferguson. Sadly he have to retire before some of us open our eyes and see what we got right this moment.

So the question is still...who is our no 1?

 

[scottsati]

two different managers who had similar charachteristics, but who operated in two totally different eras which makes comparison very difficult. would only pick SAF because i have lived through his time in charge and seen what he has done, but almost am impossibility.

 

[RyanGiggs]

Diffcult question. Both are great. Sir Matt set the standards for this great club, and we wouldn't be where we are without him, but Ferguson bought us 3 Champions Leagues and kept us at least at the top 10 for as long as I can remember.
To hard to answer though.

 

[Red Devil]

great, another either or thread

 

[Jazz 16]

sir matt for me he started the ball rolling, i hate to repeat myself but busby laid the foundations on which fergie built an empire

Id agree with this, but I find it impossible to say that one of them is 'better'
They have both been extremely successful. They are the 2 most important
men in the history of Manchester United. More important than any particular player.

 

[RedForceRising]

We owe a HUGE chunk of success and hstory to Sir Matt Busby - that is undeniable, but if I put my hand on my heart, I must choose Sir Alex Ferguson.

I have only known Manchester United under Ferguson (before he got knighted) and that's the football I fell in love with.

Some years were lean and frustrating, some years were packed with trophies and exhilirating, but I always appreciated the football on display and the type of players that wore the red of United under Fergie.

Fergie built several winning squads and came back time and time against after receiving fierce criticism from fickle-minded fans. 10 premier league titles, 2 CL titles, several FA cups and a league cup is an astonishing haul in a period when football in England has been very competitive.

Fergie for me please....

 

[babysenorita]

1969: Matt Busby retires from Man United

Football legend Sir Matt Busby has announced he will retire as manager of Manchester United at the end of the season - FA Cup final day on 26 April.

Sir Matt, who is 59, told a news conference at the club's ground at Old Trafford: "It's time to make way for a younger man... a track-suited manager".

He said the pressures of managing a top-class team were becoming too great for a man of his age and he would now take on the role of general manager.

"United is no longer just a football club," he said, "it is an institution. I feel the demands are beyond one human being."


The new team manager has not yet been chosen but one man that may well be considered for the job is Wilf McGuinness, a former United wing-half, a coach and manager of England Under-23s.

Munich air tragedy

Sir Matt is English football's longest serving manager. He took over United in 1945 and has since had a superlative record of achievement.

With the £1 million in profits he has since made for the club he rebuilt Old Trafford, which had been badly damaged by the blitz.

He has managed three highly successful teams. The first won the 1948 FA Cup Final against Blackpool.

The second team of talented young players, known as the "Busby Babes", included Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards.

In 1958 tragedy struck when eight players were killed in an air crash at Munich after competing for the European Cup against Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia.

Sir Matt was seriously injured but survived, along with Charlton who said of him today: "Matt Busby's presence will always be at Manchester United. He is Manchester United."

After the Munich tragedy, Sir Matt built up his third team, which included the transfer of Denis Law from Italian side Torino for a record fee of £116,000.

In May last year United beat Portuguese team Benfica 4-1 to win the European Cup - the first English side to do so.

In June Sir Matt was awarded a knighthood.

=========================================================

I dont think we can compare the two of them as they both were from different eras and went thru the different challenges.There is little to choose from when comes to building players. But if anything...what sir alex did is still short of what Sir Matt went thru. He is the creator of United history, not too much for me to say he is manchester united. When you cried for someone you didnt even get to see over the things he went thru( not only munich!)..you know that he is special. To lost almost the whole squad and come back again to win the european cup tell us everything about the greatness of this man. If i didnt get to learned in details about Sir Matt (thanks to someone whom i hold so dear who taught me alot about united history), then i would go for Sir Alex. That said both leave a huge impact to where we are now..One thing about Sir alex is, he works in the eras where multimillion paid players got big headed and too big for their boots compared to players sir matt have to handled where most players walk or cycle to the training grounds. That itself not an easy task to do especially with players who have big egos. I cant possibly choose between the two if i can be honest but what im sure of is im proud we have both of them part of man utd and that, Sir alex will be missed dearly just like sir matt when he decided to call it a day.For all i care, they both have the same winning mentality and have the similar strong character that is respected by many..Not forgetting their appreciation and respect for the fans...I really cant choose, and wont! To me they along with a certain Bill Shankly are top of the list of all managers there is & that good thing is two of them are from man utd!

 

[scott 4 evra]

This is close. For Sir Matt to create a team, for it to be destroyed and create another domiant team was remarkable. Some of the best players in the world played under him and he has to be given credit for the likes of Law, Charlton and Best.

Both had trust in their youth policy, both had created 2 or 3 excellent teams.

However, Ferguson took over when we were quite poor. He has survived in the biggest club in the world when the norm in football clubs around the world is to sack the manager within a year.

Ferguson took over when Liverpool were 18-7. He promised to knock Liverpool off their perch but who would have thought he'd get to 18-17 and on the brink of catching up.

Add 2 European Cups and a host of FA cups and League cups and for me not only does Sir Alex win this bout but he'd beat any manager ever. period. no disrespect to Sir Matt, he laid the foundations but Sir Alex has brought us to whole new level.

 

[Zense_United]

they both are superb!!
SMB, made manchester united a great club
first english team to grab big ears!
SAF, made manchester united grab all trophies!!
made united a united !!!

they both are GODs of united!

 

[reddwarf]

Wow, this is a toughie.

As has already been mentioned, Busby laid the foundations for this great club. Without him there would have been no Fergie era. You have to wonder how many European Cups he would have won had the Munich air disaster not happened. However, the fact that he was able to rebuild the club and another great team shows what an amazing man and football manager he was.

However, I'm going to give the edge to Fergie because imo he has built 3 great teams. When he took over United were poor. It took a lot of effort and few seasons but he built us into a trophy winning side domestically and in europe (European Cup Winners Cup). Then when that team disbanded he built a team that conquered all before them when they won trophy after trophy, including the glorious treble. Then, when faced with Arsenal 'the Invincibles' and the amazingly wealthy Chelsea, he overcame perhaps his greatest challenge to build a team that again dominated domestically and in Europe.

Both tremendous managers and both will go down in history as 2 of the greatest.

 

[TheManc]

I think its nearly impossible to decide. Usually when you compare managers you look for A. What they won and B. Who they managed.

Thats why for me I think its impossible to decide because how can you put a 'price' on Munich. If it came down to trophies then Sir Alex would walk it, but as we know the Busby Babes were on there way to becoming great team, if they weren't already. We would have won many more trophies, and we'd hear none of this 18-5 crap from the scousers.

Thats why, for me, Sir Matt just shades it. Not because I actually think he was a better manager, but because his accomplishments can never be duplicated. (I think it would be safe for me to assume that there won't be another disaster of some sought)

Although its unlikely there is a chance that we may have a manager in the future who wins us even more trophies than Sir Alex did - so unlikely as it may seem he can be surpassed.

There will never be another manager who set the ground work for our famous history, or another manager who, after suffering great loss both personally and proffessionaly, takes us European Cup final 10 years later. I know technically Sir Matt never 'started' us, but he is the one who put us on the map globally.

Thats why for me, although both managers are equal, Sir Matt just edges it, because his achievements can never be surpassed.

 

[ayrton-senna3]

Sir Alex Ferguson as team manager and Sir Matt Busby as assistant. Was a joke!

To be honest, I think they are great team managers but in their own decades.

Sir Matt Busby in the 1950's and 1960's, especially when he re-builds the team after the Munich disaster.

Sir Alex Ferguson in the 1990's and 2000's, as he makes Man United to a world class club again, after 26 years without a league title.

 

[antdevil78]

sir matt

to build a team like the busby babes that was world beaters in waiting. to then have all that wiped away in such tragic circumstances and to then be close to death yourself. To then get the team built up again and 10 years later win the European Cup. All this during a time when United never had as much of a kudos status as it does now.

Fergie has this history and honour for running out in a United shirt on his side. If Munich was to happen to a club nowadays, we would end like Leeds United or even worse.

It close but Sir Matt for me.