Reality cheque Lavishing £2m a year on Ferguson while laying off 250 staff leaves a sour taste

Wayne Rooney had stolen the show in a 2-0 Manchester United win. The visit of the Premier League champions to Aberdeen in the summer of 2008 provided the kind of carnival occasion always guaranteed after Alex Ferguson's defining move from Pittodrie to Old Trafford. This particular friendly was to mark the 25th anniversary of Ferguson leading Aberdeen to Cup Winners' Cup glory. Friendly it was ... until post-match media duties.

- Ewan Murray

Frank Gilfeather, a household name in the north east, asked Ferguson about the potential impact of Carlos Queiroz’s recently announced exit from United to take over as the Portugal head coach. Ferguson, hitherto unaware Gilfeather was in the room, shot a glance so vengeful it made the four horsemen of the apocalypse look like cartoon characters. After a pause of three seconds Ferguson answered the question in perfectly articulate terms. As the press conference concluded a group of us dived towards Gilfeather, desperate to know the basis for Ferguson's reaction. Gilfeather had reported throughout Ferguson's spell in Aberdeen and, it was always assumed, had a decent relationship with the managerial icon.

“Michael Crick,” came the reply. “I spoke to Michael Crick for his book.” Indeed Gilfeather did. It was just that Ferguson had not encountered him in the six years between the release of Crick's book The Boss and that July afternoon. Gilfeather had recounted to Crick that seeking a soundbite from Ferguson for Grampian Television in the early 1980s was seldom a straightforward process. In the book, Gilfeather says: “The first thing he always asked was: ‘How much?’ And I'd say, ‘Look, Alex, it's only for a couple of minutes.’ And he'd say, ‘Yeah, well, how much will I get? I get £35 from STV when I do a thing for Scotsport, so how much from you guys?’”