'Loyalty' and 6 Other Words Sir Alex Fergsuon Doesn't Know the Meaning of

In the world of football, no story this week has been bigger than a 71-year-old man writing a book.

That's because the septuagenarian in question is Sir Alex Ferguson, and his second autobiography contains snippets of controversy from barbs aimed at former colleagues including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Mark Bosnich and Roy Keane.

According to The Daily Mail, Irishman Keane was criticised for having a "savage tongue," his capabilities as a manager were put into doubt, and Fergie also admitted that it was a relief when he left Old Trafford. 

In a riposte offered live on ITV's Champions League coverage, Keane attempted to bring the former Manchester Utd manager down from his moral high ground by suggesting he "doesn't know the meaning of the word 'loyalty'."

Here's some other words Fergie might not quite know the meaning of.

(Disclaimer: I am actually a huge admirer of Ferguson, and this article should not be interpreted as an attack on him. It is merely a tongue-in-cheek response to the fallout from his autobiography.)

"Intimidation"

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Ferguson is the Jack Bauer of football management: a maverick with a short fuse who gets what he wants, but often through questionable means. Instead of intimidating terror suspects, however, the Scot frequently intimidated referees throughout his career. 

He received no fewer than five separate touchline bans and fines totalling £75,000 for abusing officials or questioning their integrity. 

What's more, his trademark watch-tapping was always present when he wanted proceedings ended, and "Fergie Time" has become the accepted term for additional minutes played beyond extra time: A 2012 Opta study found that Manchester Utd were given an average of 79 seconds of bonus time when they were losing. 

Criticising Roy Keane's sharp tongue seems a tad hypercritical in light of his own lambasting of officials over the years. 

"Professionalism"

One of Ferguson's targets in his new book is goalkeeper Mark Bosnich, whom he criticises for being a "terrible professional," per Dominic Bossi of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Perhaps Fergie should take a look back through some of his curt and rude interviews throughout the years to get a better handle on the term "professionalism." 

He might also browse through the chapter in Jaap Stam's book which basically describes him tapping up the Dutchman, per Ian Gibb of The Daily Mail. 

"Enunciation"

This is by no means a snarky dig at the Scottish accent, but be honest: Do you understand every single world Alex Ferguson mumbles in his thick Glaswegian dialect?

Shinji Kagawa once admitted that he had no idea what the gaffer was saying, and Fergie himself has claimed that his foreign players always struggled to grasp his meaning. 

The autobiography says that Ruud van Nistelrooy's Utd career ended when he swore at Ferguson, per Jeremy Wilson of the Telegraph. Perhaps the confusion would never have arisen if the Dutchman could understand a single word he was saying. 

"Rock of Gibraltar"*

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A number of topics were casually glossed over in Fergie's latest tome, none more glaringly than the Rock of Gibraltar mess that led to legal action, a fallout with Manchester Utd's owners and the banning of his agent son Jason from the club. 

According to The Independent's Sam Wallace, just two paragraphs of his 350-page book deal with this inflammatory topic. 

Channel 4 journalist Jon Snow accused Ferguson of "Stalinist rule" in an interview this week (h/t Daily Mail)—perhaps this also extends to this curious revisionism. 

*Pedantry disclosure: Yes, I am aware this is a phrase, rather than a word. 

"Confidentiality"

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According to Tom Williams of Yahoo! Sports, Ferguson's book discloses several conversations with Wayne Rooney, including one where he "asked away" from the club the day after they had won the title, and another where the England striker insisted they should have signed Mesut Ozil from Werder Bremen (Fergie told him to "mind his own business"). 

When a subordinate has a private conversation with his manager about his career progression, there's an expectation that this should remain confidential—and not retold to millions of people in a bestselling book.

Just last week, amid the Roy Hodgson "space monkey" furore, Arsene Wenger insisted that all talk in the dressing room should remain private. Ferguson clearly has a lax attitude towards this concept.

Of course, the Rooney disclosure could just be a healthy dose of autobiography karma for the striker: He was sued by David Moyes after relaying information from a conversation about leaving Everton to Manchester Utd in his own memoir. 

"Paranoia"

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The Football Association also came under attack in Fergie's book, with the claim that they would deliberately go after high-profile targets like Wayne Rooney because it gave them favourable publicity, per The Guardian.

It's hard to know if this section of the book was written by Ferguson or the huge chip on his shoulder. 

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