Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel revealed the moment he thought he would be sold by Alex Ferguson.
Schmeichel left the club in the summer of 1999 after their famous treble victory, and was replaced by Mark Bosnich the following season.
The Dane is regarded as one of the three finest ‘keepers the club had in the Premier League, alongside Edwin van der Sar and David de Gea, but he might have left far sooner had Ferguson not changed his mind.
Speaking to William Hill , he explained Manchester United’s squandered 3-0 lead at Liverpool that ended in a 3-3 draw precipitated a spat between the pair. He said that the manager felt he had gone too far and decided to sell him.
Schmeichel said: “I came off the pitch and we were 3-0 up and although it should’ve been seven or eight – we ended up drawing 3-3. I felt like I kept us in it for one point because for some reason we just stopped playing and you can’t do that at Anfield. Then your feelings get mixed around without having any time to cool off before you get into the dressing room, and on that day it was me who got picked on.
“I got picked on a lot by the manager because I was one of the strongest characters in the dressing room and by that time I understood that. But on that particular day, my brain was completely fried, and I just couldn’t take it, why me? I was thinking, ‘look around, you could do that to literally anyone else in here, but not me, I kept us in it.’ That was how I felt. I said things to him I shouldn’t have said, but I’m one of those guys that thinks whatever happens in the dressing room should stay in the dressing room.
“Could you argue against him? All the time. Was he looking for it? All the time. In front of the dressing room? All the time. In a way, it made him respect you. It was just this one time that I was wrong and didn’t realise it. The reason I mentioned it in my book and put it out there was to take responsibility because that was very, very stupid! It was also a way to give an example of why this guy is so unique, why Sir Alex has achieved what he has achieved.
“He called me into the office on the Monday morning the week after the game and said, ‘You were out of order and you know I have to let you go’,” continued Schmeichel. “At that point I still didn’t understand that I was in the wrong, I still felt very hurt about me being blamed for that game.
“We rarely had a meeting in the dressing room at the training ground, but it was the week after the 3-3 against Liverpool and Sir Alex was angry. He said nothing about me and then told us, ‘I’ll see you on the pitch”, then he left. I then stood up and said, ‘Guys, I just want to say I really am sorry about what I did and said, I embarrassed you and I embarrassed the manager, I was really out of order’. It turns out he told my agent that he was listening by the door and changed his mind.
“He is the best manager I could have ever wished to have worked with, he made me play 100% every time. That’s how he got the maximum out of everyone because he trusted every player. If you weren’t doing what you were supposed to, you’d suffer the consequences, but that’s the sign of a good boss. That’s what you’re there for, you’re there to play in the team and that team is there for the fans, so we had a great responsibility. Especially back then with Manchester United, the responsibility that you have is so heavy, if you can’t deal with it, it’s there for the whole world.”
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