SIR ALEX Ferguson has suggested that FA medics distrusted him because he was Scottish.
The former Manchester United manager admitted in his new autobiography that he often took it as an “insult” when England team medics turned up to his training sessions to keep an eye on top players such as David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.
The Govan born football manager stated that people often accused him of “not wanting England to do well” because he was Scottish.
Despite admitting that he would rather Scotland beat England if they were to meet now, he always had the interest of his players at heart – most of which were English.
In his book, Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography, he writes: “People accused me, because I’m Scottish, of not wanting England to do well. If England played Scotland today, bloody right, I wouldn’t want England to do well. But I had more players in my teams who were representing England than any other country, and always wanted them to shine.
“When you have a player of Beckham’s profile (and I had another later, in Rooney), there is a convergence of medical staff always wanting to interfere. England’s medical staff would want to come to the training ground.
“Often I felt that this was an insult to us. I wondered whether my Scottishness was a factor, a reason not to trust me.”
The Football Association declined to comment.
However, despite criticism Ferguson claims that his Scottish roots are responsible for his footballing success.
He writes: “Years ago, I read an article about me that said ‘Alex Ferguson has done really well in his life despite coming from Govan.’ Spot the offending phrase. It’s precisely because I started out in the shipbuilding district of Glasgow that I achieved what I did in football. Origins should never be a barrier to success. A modest start in life can be a help more than a hindrance.”
Earlier this week it was revealed that Ferguson had twice turned down the opportunity to manage England.
He said that he had been approached in 1999 just before Kevin Keegan took the role, and then two years later before Sven- Goran Eriksson took the job.
Ferguson said: “There was no way I could contemplate that. It wasn’t a bed of nails I was ever tempted to lie on.”
