Home comforts suit Ferguson
28 Feb 2008 - 11:31:41
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he turned down offers from overseas earlier on in his career, because he could not tear himself away from Old Trafford.
The Red Devils legend has been at the United helm for more than two decades and says he could not imagine leaving the club for any other.
But he told the League Managers' Association's website: "Fulham's Roy Hodgson has done what a lot of us would have loved to have done and worked abroad.
"I always remember Bobby Robson saying that the best thing he ever did was go to PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona.
"He was out of the country for maybe ten or 12 years. Working in different climates with different cultures definitely broadens your education.
"I remember meeting Roy Hodgson in Malmo in 1987 when I'd just joined Manchester United. Malmo were playing Ajax in the European Cup.
"Over the years he's gone to Inter Milan, Switzerland, Finland, Udinese, Blackburn etc. It's incredible all the teams that he's managed.
"Sometimes I used to say to myself 'I'd love to have tried managing abroad sometime', but then it was difficult for me.
"My choices were cut off simply because I was the manager of Manchester United and you don't leave Manchester United."