Man Utd boss would ‘cut you to ribbons’ if you did one thing when asking him a question

Geoff Shreeves spent 33 years grappling with some of football’s most iconic managers as a Sky Sports reporter, and he learned one crucial lesson about interviewing Sir Alex Ferguson along the way

Geoff Shreeves has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson would “cut him to ribbons” if he ever tried to get a headline out of the Manchester United manager.

Shreeves worked for 33 years as a reporter for Sky Sports before eventually leaving in 2023. During that time, he became known for his post-match grillings of adrenaline-filled managers and players.

He mainly did so without any issue, though he admits Red Devils boss Ferguson kept him on his toes. The Scot – feared and respected across English football – was notorious for dishing out the hairdryer treatment whenever he felt aggrieved.

And Shreeves knew exactly how not to overstep the mark when interviewing Ferguson, claiming that the United legend would only respond aggressively if you tried to make a name for yourself with questions.

Speaking on Brian McClair’s ‘Life With Brian’ podcast, the 59-year-old recalled: “He wasn’t an ogre that you couldn’t have a conversation with. I had loads of fascinating conversations with him.

“You always had to be on your guard with him as an interviewer. The kind of rules of engagement were, you don’t try to make your name off the back of him, because he’s so bright he could see you coming a million miles away.

“If he thought you were trying to create headlines off him and his name, he would cut you to ribbons. Absolutely. You’d get a reducer, very quickly. But if you respected him and equally weren’t sycophantic, then he was great.”

Shreeves added: “When we used to finish these interviews, he’d say ‘well done Geoff’ and off we’d go. I got a bit up my own a***.

“I said to our producer, ‘why does he say that?’ and he said to me, ‘You prat. What he’s saying to you there is, you’ve asked me decent questions but you haven’t overstepped the mark’. It was his way of saying ‘Cheers’.”

Despite enjoying an amicable working relationship, Shreeves admits that the rare clashes with Ferguson were “spectacular”. One incident where Shreeves questioned a young Cristiano Ronaldo on whether he had dived to win a penalty against Middlesbrough sparked Ferguson’s fury.

The Scot stormed out of the dressing room, barking: “You and your questions, you’re out of order. The boy hardly speaks English, you’re bang out of order,” mixed in with some more colourful language.

Shreeves stood his ground, responding: “Don’t talk to me like that. I’m not one of your daft, young players,” which allegedly led Ferguson to lunge at him, with a physical altercation only prevented by the intervention of a United employee.

Shreeves later sent an email to Ferguson apologising for the heavy-handed nature of his questioning. Ferguson accepted the apology when they next met in person, stating: “Listen, you don’t need to say anything else, you apologised. It will never be spoken of again.”

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