Sir Alex Ferguson admits Man Utd dressing room was convinced former player was his son

Sir Alex Ferguson has hilariously revealed the Manchester United dressing room thought one ex-player was the Scotsman's son, due to him never being criticised by the temperamental Old Trafford head

Sir Alex Ferguson has hilariously shared that his Manchester United dressing room actually believed Bryan Robson was his son.

Ferguson became Red Devils manager way back in 1986, enjoying an illustrious 27-year career with the club, filled with accolades and championships. And over the years, the 82-year-old had the opportunity to play with a whole host of world-class talent – from arguable GOAT Cristiano Ronaldo to Erik ten Hag's new assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy, Paul Scholes to Peter Schmeichel.

Sitting down with fellow countryman Ally McCoist in an interview with TNT Sports this week, the former Rangers man-turned-pundit wanted to know if Ferguson treated all of his players equally, or whether he had a soft spot for certain members of his squad. McCoist asked: "You clearly worked with far and away some of the best, Robbo [Robson], [Eric] Cantona, you mentioned [Carlos] Tevez, obviously [Cristiano] Ronaldo.

"Just unbelievable talent. Did you treat them all the same or within reason did you have to do things accordingly?" To which, Ferguson hilariously responded: "Well everybody thought Robbo was my son because he never got criticised," leaving McCoist laughing.

Ferguson smiled: "I don't really believe that. But anyway, I think the most important thing for me is a manager is to be consistent. So the players, the staff, everybody recognises the man who comes in the door every morning.

"I never changed – I had the same principles all the time, the same discipline code all the time, and the same attitude towards staff in particular all the time. I never changed. It made it easier for everybody to feel comfortable with that."

Robson is undoubtedly one of United's most legendary players. The 67-year-old came up through the ranks of West Bromwich Albion in 1975 before making the move to Old Trafford in 1981 – spending 13 years with United (eight of which were under Ferguson).

Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)

A complete centre-mid, Robson scored 92 goals in 416 games for the Red Devils, lifting two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two Charity Shields and a European Cup Winners' Cup before moving on to Middlesborough in 1994. After three years in the North East, Robson hung up his playing boots and made the move to management – no doubt implementing some of the tricks of the trade learned from Ferguson over the years.

Sir Alex is certainly one of the greatest managers in football history. The Scotsman lifted 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, ten Charity Shields, and two Champions Leagues with United, dominating English and world football during his career.

He retired at the end of the 2012/13 campaign, having etched his name into the annals of history through his work on the side-lines of Old Trafford, as well as is time spent overseeing East Stirlingshire, St Mirren, Aberdeen and the Scottish international football team.

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