Sir Alex Ferguson given an easy ride – aside from being praised as a great leader by Tony Blair

View from the Sofa: Sir Alex Ferguson: Secrets of Success, BBC1

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (Getty Images)

You may have been forgiven for switching off Sunday night’s documentary about Sir Alex Ferguson within the opening 20 seconds.

Because who was the first talking head to gush about the former Manchester United manager but Tony Blair, the ex-Prime Minister famous for stitching up his mate – oh, and that war he led the country into which is still having after-effects on great swathes of the world today.

“I thought what was interesting was his strength as a leader combined with what was a very reflective self-analysis,” Blair said. He was one of many big names gathered by the BBC political editor Nick Robinson to give their views on Ferguson’s brand of leadership. Others included former United players Cristiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs.

Later in the documentary, which was part instructional video for business hopefuls (key points include: learn everyone’s name, pay attention to detail, maintain discipline and keep total control) and part This is Your Life-style hagiographical retrospective (“what was your father like?”), it transpired that Blair sought advice from Fergie on how he could deal with “such-and-such an individual who might be very brilliant but is tough to work with”.

Ferguson’s advice was to get rid of him. After all, he had done exactly the same with players such as Roy Keane and David Beckham, with little effect on the club’s success.

Blair’s response was to say that this “hypothetical situation” – clearly Gordon Brown, Robinson put to Ferguson – involved “this person staying in the dressing room after you’d told him to go”.

“That would be a problem,” Ferguson apparently answered. He was right.

Blair’s problem was one that Ferguson never had to deal with, we learned. Players like Roy Keane stayed gone.

Ferdinand recounted Keane’s exit from the club: “It was a way of him telling the players that nobody is bigger than the club. We could see that the captain had gone. So where does that leave us? It was a powerful message.”

There were two eyebrow-raising moments in the show. One is when Ferguson speaks about his infamous temper, which he revealed that sometimes he unleashed for effect. “I would shout, but then it would be over,” he said. “I never held a grudge, ever in my life.”

Never ever? Really? So that seven-year period where he refused to speak to the BBC was a calculated step, was it? Not a fit of pique because the Corporation was mean about one of his sons?

Another was the complete lack of dissenting voices. There is no denying that Ferguson’s methods work – the ex-players lined up to praise his man-management skills and 30 years of trophies speak for themselves – but he has made mistakes beyond letting Jaap Staam go, the only error he admitted to. He even maintained that anointing David Moyes as his successor was the right decision.

Because there are players and members of the media who have been on the wrong side of an unjustifiably nasty side of him. Tales abound of journalists being belittled with no good reason. It’s a shame none of them were invited to take part in last night’s show. If for the only reason that it would have meant less Blair to listen to.