In the end its unpredictability was strangely predictable –
after the farrago around his previous attempt to retire in 2002 Sir Alex
Ferguson was never going to announce his retirement in advance.
Yet the announcement in some ways still comes as a shock;
the end of an era, to use a phrase that will adorn social media networks and
lazy hagiographies.
Despite his unprecedented success in the game, with only the
combined total of Liverpool’s boot room boys competing as far as honours are
concerned, Ferguson still is a polarising figure and one whose achievements
have been difficult to love.
