Sir Alex Ferguson's sword, training with Ronaldo and advice from Roy Keane - striker lifts lid on growing up at Manchester United
manchestereveningnews.co.ukStepping into Sir Alex Ferguson's office during the height of his Manchester United powers was daunting enough as it was, doing so with the Old Trafford legend cradling a sword ratchets that up a notch.
Eddie Johnson went in seeking permission to move into his own place. A promising striker, the youngster was on the fringes of the first team and ready to move out of his digs. "You had to go and ask him," recalls Johnson, during an anecdote-filled chat with the Manchester Evening News. "And he had a big long sword which I think Nelson Mandela gave to him.
And sometimes he would just sit there holding it! Put it this way, I was guided where I could and couldn't go to live, I was told how much I should pay for my rent and I stuck to that." It was an example of how Ferguson wielded power at Carrington and Old Trafford during a trophy-laden spell where United reigned supreme at home and in Europe.
He knew everything and everyone and instilled a fear, respect and kindness that has forged thousands of careers and shaped the minds of plenty more who didn't make the grade. ALSO READ: Messi can reap rewards of Neville’s groundwork at Inter Miami "It was all calculated," said Johnson, who spoke of the then-manager marching academy lads around the training ground if their cleaning and tidying jobs hadn't been completed to Brian McClair's standards. "He was teaching you standards and lessons.
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