My retirement in 2001 was a big legendary mistake said by Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson called it “the biggest
mistake of my career”.

His error was announcing in the summer of
2001 that he would retire at the end of that
season.
Fergie had already served 15 years as
Manchester United manager and won an array
of trophies. But the news that he was entering
his farewell season caused massive disruption
at Old Trafford.
“The biggest mistake I made was announcing
it at the start of the season," details the
legendary United boss.
"I think a lot of them had put their tools away.
They thought, ‘Oh, the manager’s leaving’, but
when I changed my mind in the January, I
started thinking about United again and how
we could get back on top.”

By then chief executive Peter Kenyon had
been inundated by agents representing some
of the world’s top managers, who relished the
opportunity of succeeding Ferguson.
Sven Goran Eriksson, then the England boss,
has claimed he secretly signed a contract to
be United manager after the 2002 World Cup
finals.
But potential United transfer targets did not
know who would be in charge so the club had
problems with recruiting.
And, as Fergie suggested, results suffered.
“After that is when Wayne Rooney and
Cristiano Ronaldo came to the club and we
had to regenerate everyone.
“The youth side of it, the scouts, we’d gone to
sleep.
“Strangely enough, the period from there on
has been glorious – it’s been fantastic with
the numbers of league titles we won. The
moments you don’t win anything register very
strongly.”