Sir Alex Ferguson won’t find filling his spare time a problem.
David Moyes is presently at the other end of the world, preparing Manchester United in Thailand, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong for his first season at the helm.
He has many questions to answer over the coming weeks and months, not least the Wayne Rooney saga.
The one question I have is how his predecessor will survive not being directly involved in football for the first time in 56 years.
Sir Alex Ferguson particularly enjoyed pre-season, getting a kick out of producing the unexpected for players and chairmen!
In his early days at Aberdeen, a trip to the Highlands was as far as the Dons went.
However, Fergie always had something new to unleash, whether it was different training methods, fresh signings or an unexpected glamour friendly to fire everyone up.
During his first summer at Pittodrie, Fergie told me he’d arranged a pre-season friendly against Tottenham at home, and the story duly appeared in The Sunday Post.
Unfortunately, this was the first Aberdeen’s legendary chairman Dick Donald had heard of it, so some explaining was required from the bold Alex.
Knowing Fergie as I do, I’m sure he’ll take the present period and beyond in his stride. Given his active mind and strong interest in a vast array of different things, he won’t find filling his spare time a problem.
Sir Alex always felt he wasn’t around enough when his three sons were growing up, so he definitely wants to be there for his grandchildren.
Unlike a previous Old Trafford manager, Sir Matt Busby, Fergie won’t be near the place very often. Busby’s problem was he retained an office at the ground, and felt obliged to be there every day. That left his successors feeling cramped.
Fergie will undoubtedly provide Moyes with any help required but only when he’s asked. He has continued to support every Aberdeen manager who has followed him at Pittodrie.
Fergie takes absolutely no pleasure from the fact his former club has never adequately replaced him to this day, 27 years on. So he’ll be fervently hoping Moyes gets it right from day one, especially as Sir Alex appointed the former Celtic centre-half in the first place.
Whether this will make Moyes’ task any easier remains to be seen.
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