Dubai: Legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson showed his ironic sense of humor when he said he was in a position to ‘forgive’ Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp for waking him up in the middle of the night to tell him he had won the Premier League title.
Klopp won the Alex Ferguson Trophy on Monday after being named League Manager of the Year (LMA) By guiding the Merseyside club to its first top-tier name in 30 years.
The name was sealed when Chelsea beat Manchester City 2-1 on a Thursday night in late June, but Klopp obviously waited a few hours before making contact with the Scottish brus brus.
“I’ll forgive you for waking up in the morning at 3 and part to tell me you won the league! Thank you,” a Ferguson jovial said in a congratulatory video.
“You deserved it. The functionality point of your team was fantastic. Your personality runs through the total club. I think it was glorious functionality.
Ferguson, who fulfilled his promise to take down Liverpool by leading United to thirteen titles between 1993 and 20, has a date with Klopp and has already polled the German to succeed him at Old Trafford.
Klopp, who was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame last year and is the most productive coach reigning for FIFA’s most productive coach, succeeds 2018-19 manager Chris Wilder, with the last winner of Brendan Rodgers the Reds in 2013-14.
“Surely I am very happy to win this magnificent trophy. It’s glorious and I’ve already had a chance to take a look at those who’ve won it before and obviously there’s a lot of big Names from Liverpool involved,” Klopp told the club’s official website.
“Not only the names of Liverpool, but also the big names of Liverpool. I think Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny (Dalglish) looks like he’s everywhere in the trophy! Brendan (Rodgers) won it, well deserved.
“I’ve said many times that I’m good as a coach, but they make me, they make us a special organization of football brains and I love running with them. Working with Pep Lijnders, Peter Krawietz, John Achterberg, Vitor Matos and Jack Robinson is a pleasure,” he added.
The annual Manager of the Year award, inaugurated in its current form in 1993, is voted through professional managers and given to the “manager who, in his opinion, has made the greatest use of the resources available in the season”.
Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes has been named Women’s Super League Coach of the Year after helping the club in a league and League Cup double.
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