Manchester United’s Class of ’92 contained players who were a “slave army” to “control freak” Sir Alex Ferguson, according to the club’s former youth player Mads Timm.
The Dane made only one appearance for United’s first team, as a late substitute in a 3-0 Champions League defeat against Maccabi Haifa in October 2002, before leaving in the summer of 2006. The former forward said that ex-United boss Ferguson once swore at him and called him an “idiot” for turning up to training in a Porsche.
Writing in his autobiography, called Red Devil, Timm said: “He implemented and insisted on a leadership culture and ruthlessly made sure his players dedicated themselves unconditionally to his ideas and hierarchy.
“He was a control freak, and he often motivated players with fear. In his way, he was good for the time and fitted well to the players who were at United then.
“David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and the Neville brothers’ personalities all fitted perfectly into Ferguson’s slave army.”
Timm — who was sent on loan to Walsall while he was at United — said Ferguson would struggle to manage modern-day players.
“I am not sure he could create the same success, in the same way, today,” he wrote. “Today you cannot get the footballers to subject themselves by talking about honour and willingness to die for the club.”
Timm was part of the squad that won the FA Youth Cup final against Middlesbrough in 2003, with a group including the likes of Tom Heaton, Phil Bardsley, and Kieran Richardson.
Discussing that triumph, Timm said: “We won 3-1 on aggregate and that secured us the trophy, as an axe-wielding Ferguson had demanded. But we were not allowed to rest on our laurels. ‘Do not celebrate. Keep winning,’ commanded Ferguson.
“You may never enjoy anything too much sounded a part of his core philosophy.”
Timm’s career at United was tarnished after being handed a 12-month sentence in a young offenders’ institute in 2005.
He was found to have been the partial cause of a car accident after racing team-mate Callum Flanagan on a public road.
While Flanagan was sacked, Timm survived but was released a year later without playing again for the first-team.
Timm announced his retirement from football in August 2009, citing a lack of motivation following a string of injuries.