Renowned Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves has revealed all about his memorable falling-out with Sir Alex Ferguson.
The legendary Manchester United manager was left infuriated with a particular line of questioning from Shreeves after his side had controversially beaten Middlesbrough in December 2006.
Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to tumble inside the penalty area despite Mark Schwarzer failing to make contact with him, and Ferguson fired back by telling Shreeves to ‘f*** off’ after being asked about the incident.
Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves has revealed all about a falling-out with Sir Alex Ferguson
The iconic Manchester United manager was irked after a victory over Middlesbrough in 2006
During his extensive career speaking to managers in the tunnel and on the touchline, Shreeves has set the agenda for many memorable interviews and regularly draws memorable titbits from those involved at the highest level of the game.
But the 55-year-old has also endured a number of heated moments, typically after full-time, and was no stranger to experiencing Ferguson’s darker side. The worst of these came at The Riverside 14 years ago, in the midst of Ronaldo being widely panned for winning United a spot-kick.
When questioned about his experiences with the fiery Scotsman, Shreeves said: ‘Do you want the top ten? The biggest was over Cristiano Ronaldo going over for a penalty against Middlesbrough and we had a huge falling-out which threatened to get very out of hand in the tunnel. Fergie came after me physically, never got there. People jumped in.’
After Ferguson fired back in an aggressive manner, Shreeves replied, ‘Don’t talk to me like that. If you want to behave civilly, fine.’
Ferguson took exception to Shreeves’ line of questioning after a divisive penalty was given
Cristiano Ronaldo tumbled inside the box despite Mark Schwarzer failing to make any contact
But the pitch-side interviewer revealed he had later patched up his differences with Ferguson and even believes he had been in the wrong. Shreeves also reflected on the mind games used by managers, for which Ferguson was notorious, during their matchday press duties.
He added: ‘Fergie was in the right and I was in the wrong and I addressed that with him. We sorted it out very amicably, very quickly and it was never mentioned again.’
‘Managers use us. Fergie was the master at it, not just reflecting on the game, but to send a message to their players, to the board.’
Shreeves made his way into TV production after initially starting work as an estate agent and has been working for Sky Sports since 1992, when the Premier League was created.
Shreeves has also opened up on his mental health struggles and the support he has received
A series of touching and in-depth interviews have revealed the extent of mental health in football, and Shreeves is able to empathise after suffering from similar struggles of his own.
‘I’d had an operation that went wrong which required very invasive and difficult corrective surgery and that surgery also subsequently went wrong,’ he explained. ‘When I went back to the hospital for a second time they said to me, “Your body’s in so much flight-and-fight mode you will fall into depression.” I said, “Don’t be silly. Me? Upbeat! I’m fine.” They were 100 per cent right.
‘Depression manifested itself with me in chronic fatigue. Say I was doing a game at Manchester United, I’d drive up, stop at Toddington [services], get a black coffee. Stop at Corley, have a sleep for a couple of hours. Get to Manchester, go straight to the hotel, sleep for an hour or two, Mars bars, coffee, get to the ground. I was lethargic.
The touchline reporter joined Sky Sports in 1992 – when the Premier League had been created
‘I didn’t feel like I could open up that I had a problem. When you’ve had a mental illness, people will look at an interview, and if I make a mistake, they’ll say, “He’s not as good as he was.” I didn’t want to expose myself to that so I tried to carry on through it and that ultimately was a big mistake.’
Shreeves believes he had become fully aware of the extent of his depression during an interview with Steven Gerrard in Los Angeles.
He said: ‘I knew I was in real trouble when I was live in LA, with Steven Gerrard in the dressing room [at Galaxy in 2015], he was speaking and I couldn’t take on board what he’s saying. Thankfully, he’s another person who’s always been very good with me. I thought I’ve got to get help. Sky were good with me. They knew I was ill.’
He was later recommended a psychiatrist by current Fulham boss Scott Parker, and said: ‘I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful time for which I’m enormously grateful and I’m still enjoying it.’