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Jul. 16th, 2007 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99From June Sarpong's blog on msn.co.uk, she was blogging about Sir Alex Ferguson, but this is an Eric Cantona story so I have to repost it:
Lesson 1: Adopt the practise ethic
Sir Alex Ferguson told a great story about Eric Cantona, who he signed to Manchester United fully aware of his reputation as the “bad boy” of football. Ferguson and Cantona had a chat on the first day and agreed they would leave all his history behind him and begin at the club with a clean slate.
At the end of his first training day, all the players ran back inside for a shower, but Cantona stayed outside and continued to practise. After a while, he went to Ferguson and asked if any other players could be found for him to play with. At that moment, the club’s youth team were running out for a practise, so some of the boys were brought aside to play with him. They played for a while, but Cantona still wasn’t content, asking for a goal keeper to be brought over for him and the youth team to play with.
By this time, all the rest of the United team were getting ready to leave the club. Looking around for Eric Cantona, they believed, considering his bad reputation, that he had been first off the pitch first and had already left the ground. A whisper started around the room that he was still out there practising, and when the rumour was confirmed to be true, the other players couldn’t believe it. The “bad boy” had proved his commitment: when the rest of the team had left at the earliest opportunity; he remained to improve his game.
Ferguson described that the next day at practise: after the players had been excused, none of them left the pitch. They remained to practise, following Cantona’s example: none of the players wanted to be the first to give up and leave the pitch.
Sir Alex described how, at that moment, the whole ethos of Manchester United changed: they became a winning side. Ferguson took none of the credit for himself. It was the work of just one player, Cantona, which inspired the whole team to work that much harder, to want to achieve that much more and to continually strive for perfection. It’s amazing how an individual can make such a huge impact... and what a great story!
Lesson 1: Adopt the practise ethic
Sir Alex Ferguson told a great story about Eric Cantona, who he signed to Manchester United fully aware of his reputation as the “bad boy” of football. Ferguson and Cantona had a chat on the first day and agreed they would leave all his history behind him and begin at the club with a clean slate.
At the end of his first training day, all the players ran back inside for a shower, but Cantona stayed outside and continued to practise. After a while, he went to Ferguson and asked if any other players could be found for him to play with. At that moment, the club’s youth team were running out for a practise, so some of the boys were brought aside to play with him. They played for a while, but Cantona still wasn’t content, asking for a goal keeper to be brought over for him and the youth team to play with.
By this time, all the rest of the United team were getting ready to leave the club. Looking around for Eric Cantona, they believed, considering his bad reputation, that he had been first off the pitch first and had already left the ground. A whisper started around the room that he was still out there practising, and when the rumour was confirmed to be true, the other players couldn’t believe it. The “bad boy” had proved his commitment: when the rest of the team had left at the earliest opportunity; he remained to improve his game.
Ferguson described that the next day at practise: after the players had been excused, none of them left the pitch. They remained to practise, following Cantona’s example: none of the players wanted to be the first to give up and leave the pitch.
Sir Alex described how, at that moment, the whole ethos of Manchester United changed: they became a winning side. Ferguson took none of the credit for himself. It was the work of just one player, Cantona, which inspired the whole team to work that much harder, to want to achieve that much more and to continually strive for perfection. It’s amazing how an individual can make such a huge impact... and what a great story!
