A superb insight into life behind the scenes at Manchester United has revealed some interesting stories. Here are our favourites.
The Daily Mail has published a very detailed and fascinating look into life at United, not only under Louis van Gaal but in previous years when Sir Alex Ferguson ruled the roost as well as David Moyes' ill-fated 11-month spell.
Here are our five favourite tidbits the piece details. Whether
you're a United fan or not, you'll find some of this to be excellent
reading.
1) 'One big happy family' under Sir Alex
The story documents how "under Sir Alex Ferguson's egalitarian rule, all staff dined together — from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo
to the security guard on the gate." It's very easy to believe this,
considering how swift Fergie was to sell even his top players when they
began to disrupt the club's harmony.
It's also a challenge to the often-portrayed image of United as
an elitist superpower who treated members of the general public with
contempt.
"The place had a family feel,' one source said in the piece. "'Everyone felt like they were in it together."
Today, LVG has non-playing staff in a separate room down a corridor, the piece states.
Sir Alex Ferguson wollte als eigenen Nachfolger eigentlich Pep Guardiola oder Jürgen Klopp verpflichten - Imago
2) Original prankster
While Ferguson boosted morale with the feeling of community and,
unlike David Moyes, allowing the consumption of chips, one of the more
interesting revelations is that he had a penchant for pulling the
occasional prank on his staff.
The story states:
" On more than one occasion he was spotted craftily locking the door to the gym. When the buzzer sounded for training and players discovered they could not get out, panic took hold. Anyone who turned up late was fined — and within seconds first-team stars were seen frantically scrambling through an alternative exit to race around the building and ensure they got there on time. Ferguson also enjoyed sneaking up behind unwitting canteen staff before unleashing one of his famous hairdryer tirades — with his startled victim often sending food flying. "
It cannot be confirmed which other types of practical jokes
Fergie would play, but the thought of him potentially stuffing OXO gravy
granule cubes into shower nozzles or replacing shampoo with honey is an
amusing one.
Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring their first goal - Reuters
3) Food fight!
The players were also given wiggle room for fun and games, as suggested by a brilliant story about one time Wayne Rooney made the schoolboy error of leaving his breakfast eggs unattended for a moment:
" When he got back they were covered in yoghurt and all sorts. That was it. Within seconds it had erupted. There were crumpets, toasted teacakes and plastic bottles of pop flying through the air."
The incident wasn't the only time Wayne was the butt of a joke -
in 2011 he was reportedly parodied by a youth team player who showed up
for training dressed in a shirt with 'Rooney 10' on the back, a Shrek
mask and a daft curly black wig - shortly after the Merseyside-born
England captain had undergone a hair transplant.
While the prospect of a furious Rooney flinging crumpets around
the canteen is a great one, it probably runs neck-and-neck for best
wind-up with the anecdote of an unnamed fringe squad player from the
mid-2000s who sent everyone in the room into a panic when spotted
sticking a metal knife into a toaster:
" He was trying to prise a stuck slice of bread from the toaster. With staff and players screaming at him to pull the knife out before he electrocuted himself — and brought a promising career to a premature end — the player, who was in and out of the first team and suffering a poor run of form, said he had had enough and was going to end it all."
As it turned out, the player had unplugged the toaster before
attempting to liberate his breakfast, and those in the room with him had
failed to spot this vital detail. When they began to panic, he milked
the situation like a pro with his melodramatic outbursts.
Patrice
Evra, le latéral gauche de Manchester United, buteur lors du quart de
finale retour de Ligue des champions face au Bayern Munich. - AFP
4) 'Finest restaurant in Manchester'
Food fights, fake suicide attempts and chip bans aside, the
Carrington canteen is very highly regarded by anyone who has had the
pleasure of dining there. Insiders contributing to the Mail piece even
go as far as to say the food and service is up there with Manchester's
finest commercial restaurants.
With plenty of the more popular food and drink items available
en masse - such as chicken, fish, pizza and (when Fergie was in charge)
chips, the players also had special requests readily catered for.
Patrice Evra, apparently, was an absolute fiend for a nice bit of lamb.
A former cook at the club told the piece:
" United's former left back was a huge fan of lamb cutlets. He was like a swarm of locusts when there was lamb on the menu; Patrice would sit down, get cracking and they would be gone in seconds."
Mike, the head chef, even has 'club icon' status to those who've worked or played at the club.
Louis van Gaal has documented how Mike, a lifelong United fan,
contributed to preparations for one of United's games with fierce rivals
Liverpool
last season by explaining to the Dutch boss and the mostly-new-look
squad exactly what winning this fixture means to the supporters.
Dimitar Berbatov signing for Manchester United - Reuters
5) The lone wolf
Despite the emphasis placed on a community-like team spirit at
United, and Van Gaal taking further steps to boost camaraderie by
replacing rectangle tables with round ones to encourage more interaction
at mealtimes, one player in recent United history is infamous for
keeping to himself.
Dimitar Berbatov,
signed for over £30million from Tottenham in 2008, was, in the words of
the piece, "not a great socialiser and would often retire to 'his'
table with a bowl of pasta to dine alone."
The report even states that 'his' particular corner of the room remains dedicated to the Bulgarian striker.
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