Ferguson said in the Manchester United Opus: “The trouble is that a lot of managers aren’t given time to build a youth policy.
“It’s only the clubs who have a board who trust the manager enough like Arsenal with Arsene Wenger who show that patience. So you need people to understand what you’re trying to do.
“I remember saying to the United board on my first day: `Do you know what you’re getting? You’re looking at my record at Aberdeen, but what I did there, and at St Mirren, was build a football club.
“The underlying message was that it would take time. Bobby Charlton understood and said straightaway: ‘That’s why we want you here.’
“Whether he was speaking for the others, I don’t know. In fairness to the chairman, Martin Edwards, he supported me as well.
“I got everything I asked for on the youth side, more and more scouts, all needing to be paid expenses. I must say he was a good chairman.”
