Fabio da Silva has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson got him confused with twin brother Rafael, and ended up giving the wrong Brazilian his famous hairdryer treatment.
Ferguson’s ‘hairdryer’ became famous throughout his time at United, as the Premier League side often turned things around after getting shouted at during the half time break.
Frankly you’d have the thought the threat of being on the receiving end of the tellings off would have been enough to stop Manchester United players from underperforming in the first half.
The shouting was usually directed at one or two players for their underperforming, with even Paul Scholes, who said he got it less than many others, revealing the worst occasion he was on the wrong end.
However on one occasion the wrong player was shouted at, with Brazilian full back Fabio revealing that due to staff at Old Trafford getting him confused with twin Rafael, it was him who got the telling off.
“When we arrived from Brazil, there was no one who could tell us apart,” Fabio told the Athletic.
“You would arrive for training and, in the space of a few minutes, people would say ‘good morning’ twice. You had already said ‘good morning’ to that same person just a few minutes earlier and now they were saying it again.
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| You can see why Fergie got the pair mixed up. Image: PA Image |
“Then came the misdirected hairdryer.
“I’d plead my innocence and he would get angrier for a second before he realised the entire dressing room was quiet because I was telling the truth.
“‘Oh, f*cking hell’, he would say, and then everyone would just burst out laughing. Him, too.”
Despite the fame of his hairdryer treatment, so much so that it became pretty well used parlance in British football, the legendary Scot actually played it down.
Speaking in 2016, the 13 times Premier League winning manager claimed he didn’t actually do it very often.
“There was a lot of myth about it. It happened about half a dozen times in 27 years and the players will tell you that. The problem for me was if a player answered me back, I headed towards them. That was my problem,” the former United boss said.
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| Fergie claimed he didn’t shout that often, at the players at least. Image: PA Images |
Whilst Fergie might not have had a problem with the Da Silva twins, Fabio surprisingly revealed that Steven Gerrard did.
According to the Nantes full back, the Rangers manager once told Wayne Rooney on international duty that the pair were ‘pr***s’
Featured Image Credit: PA