Clive Tyldesley recounts a crossing of swords with Sir Alex in the Telegraph:
‘I have received the two biggest rollockings of my life from Sir Alex Ferguson. I remember them both as if they were yesterday.
‘In fact, when it comes to the single most vivid recollections of my time on earth, those two bellowing reprimands are right up there with my first hot date, my eagle on the 17th at Wentworth and the birth of my children. Fergie's tongue-lashings are not intended to be forgotten.
‘I wouldn't mind but I was 50 miles away from him when he delivered the first of them. I only phoned him to apologise for a question I'd innocently asked in a post-match television interview the night before. Alex's almighty verbal blast tore down telegraph poles and incinerated underground cables on its way to bursting my right ear drum. I was still trembling days later.
‘The offending game was United's Rumbelows Cup second-round first-leg tie against 92nd-placed Halifax Town at the Shay in September 1990. You will no doubt recall that United won 3-1 thanks to late goals from Brian McClair and Neil Webb and that the gulf in class between the sides was embarrassingly minimal. The manager declined my invitation to offer his version of the evening's events for a regional highlights programme.
‘Unbeknown to me, my head of sport did succeed in persuading Alex to honour a promise to record a few thoughts on the forthcoming League fixture with Nottingham Forest that was to be aired live on ITV four days later. A message was sent to me but never arrived.
‘So when the Manchester United manager suddenly appeared at my touchline position ready to be interviewed, I didn't know he didn't want to talk about the Halifax match. I think it was probably my third question about the night's game that caused him to terminate the interview with an exploding stare.
‘I have seen that look on Alex's face on several toe-to-toe occasions since. You get half-a-dozen words into a difficult question before his head just tilts slightly and his gaze intensifies with peculiar interest as if you are about to reveal the secret of eternal life to him.
‘It's like that terrible teenage moment when you realise you have just offered a fight to someone twice your size. It is at this point that you begin either to stutter and ramble or press on bravely with the initial line of inquiry.’