Alex Ferguson haunted David Moyes during his short-lived reign at Old Trafford, scowling down on his anointed successor from the director's box in full view of the TV cameras as results went from bad to worse.
But although Ferguson has been in his usual seat in the director's box this season too, and even ventured out onto the Old Trafford turf to take part in a presentation last week, he appears to have complete faith in Louis van Gaal.
Talking to MUTV, the man who led United for 27 years even appeared to accept that the Dutch manager was right to try and start afresh at Old Trafford.
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"Louis van Gaal has made a lot of changes and, thinking about that, actually maybe he's doing the right thing, to clear the decks and build his own team," mused Ferguson.
He also appeared to damn Moyes still further by noting that Van Gaal was in a position to dismantle and rebuild the Old trafford squad "because he's got the experience and coaching ability to do that".
Ferguson even praised Van Gaal's no-nonsense attitude. "The way he's approached it I think has been brilliant," he said.
It was the former manager's first public statement since the Dutchman arrived at Old Trafford and set about spending £150m on new players, notes The Guardian.
Although the Scot "has repeatedly insisted he has no regrets about his decision to step down" the Daily Telegraph notes that in another part of the interview he revealed the occasional hankering for his old life at United's training ground in Manchester.
Recalling a break last winter Ferguson said: "It was the first time I've ever had a holiday in my life in December. And I'm sitting there at pool side in Abu Dhabi and I said to [wife] Cathy: 'I should be at Carrington.'"
