Date: 3rd December 2012 at 12:26am
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Having been manager of Manchester United for over for 26 years, it will take a special person to replace Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Scot lives and breathes the club so anyone hoping to follow in his footsteps will know they have big shoes to fill.

It isn’t easy following in the footsteps of a giant, Wilf McGuinness wilted under the pressure of replacing Sir Matt Busby and unless they are  mentally tough the person that follow Sir Alex may find themselves in a similar position.

A few names have been mentioned as potential follow ups but one that continually pops up is Jose Mourinho.

Once Sir Alex’s nemesis, there is a respect between the two and a friendship born out of their battle to rule England in the middle part of the last decade.

It appeared Jose’s arrival would loosen and finally break Sir Alex’s grip on the Premiership and in a documentary on the Portuguese manager to be aired on ITV 4 tomorrow, Sir Alex speaks on the qualities of the man that could replace him in the United hot seat as well as that infamous interview upon his arrival in England:

‘He can manage anywhere, absolutely.

‘I would never think a guy who hasn’t played a game could be a top coach but then you’ve got to look at his personality. He’s got a marvellous, strong personality and that bridges that gap.

‘I remember his first press conference [at Chelsea] and I thought, “Christ, he’s a cocky b*****, him”. He was telling the players, “Look, I’m the special one, we don’t lose games”.

‘Bloody hell, coming to England, he is only a young man and saying he is the special one! But it told all the players to have the belief they were going to win the league.’

 

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