ENGLAND – Former Manchester United player Eric Djemba-Djemba is said to have been left “shocked” not to be slammed in Sir Alex Ferguson’s new autobiography.
Ferguson’s book was released earlier this month and despite a number of players being singled out for stinging criticism, Djemba-Djemba admitted he was stunned to learn he wasn’t one of them.
The Cameroon international said he didn’t know what less he could have done.
Major oversight
Sir Alex Ferguson had harsh words for several former player including high-profile names like David Beckham and Roy Keane.
Going back over his time at Manchester United, Djemba-Djemba said he couldn’t think what he might have done to please Ferguson enough to be left out of the firing line.
The 71-year-old Scot even had words for players on other teams, but when it came to Djemba-Djemba there where no words to be found.
“Yes I read the entire book, and there was nothing about how badly I played or the money the club wasted on me. Nothing.”
“Steven Gerrard doesn’t even play for Manchester! I spent three underwhelming years there, the least he could do was criticise my running style.”
Djemba-Djemba is one of several players to express their disappointment at not being slated by Ferguson.
Irish midfielder Liam Miller said he distinctly remembered having “zero impact on the team or its results,” and still could not believe he was not mercilessly picked apart by his former manager.
Striker David Bellion also spoke of his “devastation” that his time at Manchester United was not casually dismissed in a sentence or two.
“I read what he said about Ruud, Bosnich, even Hargreaves got it from Fergie.”
“The guy gets a few injuries and suddenly he’s a disaster. What about me? I made as much of an impact as he did and I was fully fit the whole time.”
‘So good they named him twice’
Djemba-Djemba, who currently plays for Serbian SuperLiga club Partizan, vowed not to let the oversight take away from his poor playing career.
The 31-year-old said he didn’t need Ferguson’s withering criticism as the fans let him know how bad he was every home game.
He was confident that if he continued playing as badly as he did at United, his current manager would write some nasty stuff about him.
“If Fergie thinks Steven Gerrard isn’t a top top player then he obviously doesn’t remember me playing for a full 90 minutes.”
“Actually, neither do I.”
Leave a Reply