The Sir Alex Ferguson rebel who ignited the power shift from Manchester United to Man City

“They're a small club with a small mentality. All they can talk about is Manchester United; they can't get away from it.”

Sir Alex Ferguson delivered many a scornful assessment during his career but this scowling indictment in 2009 was his fiercest attack on Manchester City. The noisy neighbours were starting to grow louder and show their teeth a year on from Sheikh Mansour’s takeover.

Outbursts often tell the tale of a manager’s true emotions on a given topic, and current United boss Erik ten Hag has been accused of feeling the pressure following his rebukes of Jamie Carragher and Fulham’s TikTok admin this week.

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United are now the club playing catch-up and go into Sunday’s derby the comfortable underdogs. Supporters are hoping that Sir Jim Ratcliffe can close the gap.

Take a drive along Wharfside Way and you will see a red-printed ‘Welcome To Manchester’ sign emblazoned with Ratcliffe’s portrait. It is a retaliation to the Carlos Tevez version produced by Man City in 2009, which prompted that furious reaction from Ferguson.

That Tevez poster was located three miles away in Deansgate and perhaps signalled the start of the power shift in Manchester. City boss Mark Hughes played down the gesture as harmless fun between rival fan bases but his former United boss did not concur.

“They think taking Carlos Tevez away from Manchester United is a triumph. It is poor stuff,” Ferguson added. Sir Alex had announced that United had tabled an offer for the West Ham loanee in May 2009, despite the attacker