With Ferguson at the helm, Jones and United had just won the Premier League, in what was the defender's second season at Old Trafford.
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Manchester United centre-back Phil Jones has opened up about how the squad reacted when legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson announced his shock retirement in 2013. In the latest episode of UTD Podcast, the Reds defender also shared details from his early days at the club. Sitting down with presenters Sam Homewood and Helen Evans, the centre-back spoke about the legendary former manager’s surprise departure. With Ferguson at the helm, Jones and United had just won the Premier League, in what was the defender’s second season at Old Trafford.
“Yeah, that was a shock. I remember coming in one morning that season and there were a few whispers on the training ground and there was a few things on Twitter the night before,” Jones said. “Anyway, they called a meeting at 10am at the training ground and he told us that he was retiring. I remember he apologised to a few of the new guys that had come in, I think Robin was one of them, because he’d promised to be there for a few years. That was that but the lads totally understood why he was doing it. What a man. What a human being, he’s unbelievable.”
Jones, who was just 21 at the time, admits that he did not realise the impact it had on the whole team. “It was a shock. I think it was a shock to everyone, he’d been at the club for so long and won so many things,” he added.
“The talk was obviously about who’s going to come in, who was going to take over? Names were being brandished about all over the place, but I didn’t realise how big of an impact it’d have or how big of an impact that was going to have on the team.
“I thought, ‘we’ve still got good players, we’re still Man United, we’re still going win’. I was just a young player. The next season was really tough. Really tough. I didn’t realise the impact it’d have.”
Manchester United legend Bryan Robson has urged the fans to not fear the tough fixture schedule in the coming weeks. United are at Leicester City when the Premier League resumes this weekend before they also play the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. “You know, things are not going too bad,” he told club media. “We’ve been beaten in one Premier League game. We haven’t been convincing in our performances but we’re getting results.
“Now I think everybody is sort of jumping on the bandwagon that this isn’t good enough because of some of the signings we’ve made and the fixture list which is coming up in October. For me, just because we’re playing the best teams doesn’t mean we’re not going to win. I think some of our fans have got it into their heads that we’re automatically going to get beaten when we play Liverpool and City.
“No, we’re not. We proved that last year, when we did really well against some of the top teams. So these players will raise their games when they’re playing the best teams. I’m sure of that. It’s so early on in the season and we’re two points off the top. So, at this stage, Ole has still got a bit of work to do to get cohesion within the team because we haven’t, apart from the Leeds game, just murdered any team on the pitch.
“But it’s not easy doing that when the signings are first starting and the interruptions with internationals and those sort of things. We’re out of the Carabao Cup and got beaten by Young Boys and so everybody is having a question mark but we’ve got to believe in the squad. Marcus Rashford is coming back and Edinson Cavani missed the first few games and has come back. I think the attacking options are brilliant at this moment in time.”
