Sir Alex Ferguson: 'I place discipline above all else and it might have cost us several titles...' but Manchester United boss wouldn't change it

Ferguson's new book is to be serialised on United's Facebook page

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Manchester United great Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that his disciplinarian style of management may have cost the side titles during his reign at Old Trafford.

The Scottish manager won 13 Premier League titles but famously fell out with the club's top stars, with Jaap Stam and David Beckham among those famously sold after falling foul of Fergie.

But in his new book Leading, which is not released until 22 September, Ferguson has revealed that he wouldn't change anything about his style - even though he thinks it cost the team chance at more silverware.

The first of our exclusive audio extracts from Sir Alex’s new book, Leading, features the former United manager...

Posted by Manchester United on Friday, 4 September 2015

 

"People will give a manager plenty of opportunities to crack the whip so it’s best to pick and choose your moments," writes Ferguson.

"You don’t have to dish out a punishment very often before everyone gets the message. I place discipline above all else and it might have cost us several titles. But if I had to repeat things I’d do it precisely the same because discipline has to come before anything else."

The extract was released exclusively on Manchester United's Facebook page, with six further extracts to be posted in the next week, titled Listening, Distractions, Pipeline, Teamwork, Decisions and Preparation..