Ferguson: I Retired the Hairdryer Years Ago

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he no longer has to dole out the "hairdryer treatment" to underachieving players.

Ferguson, who has hinted that he may stay at Manchester United in some capacity when he retires from management, insists he has mellowed in recent years and he no longer seeks out confrontation in the Old Trafford dressing room.

Ferguson celebrated 25 years in charge at Manchester United at the end of last year, but the Scot believes he has another two or three years before retirement.

"I don't have any confrontations really, not nowadays, although maybe when I was younger I would have," Ferguson told FIFA.com.

"If a player answered me back I would head straight for them, this is where the hairdryer treatment comes in. I didn't allow a player to beat me in an argument. Now I am older and more experienced and because of that and my time at the club the players have more respect."

"There is nothing wrong with losing your temper if it is for the right reasons - sometimes you are better getting it out of your system," he added. "My normal pattern of management is to get it out of your system. I tell players after the game and that's it finished - the next day to me is a new world."

The Manchester United manager remains adamant he rarely feels stressed when watching his side but admitted he found a valuable outlet for the pressures of club management through his love of horse racing.

"I don't feel stress, I must admit. I was more anxious watching Man City playing (Aston) Villa (earlier this month) than on my own game against Liverpool," he said.

"I was getting to a point at United where I was obsessed with the thing (the club). It is a great club but you still need to release yourself from it and it (horse racing) has helped."

"Sometimes you have to force players into better than what they think they are," he said, adding that he liked strong characters in the dressing room but had noticed a change in the way that manifested itself in the modern-day footballer.

"The character is laid back and they are not 'pushers'. You see personalities in the dressing room and we've had plenty - (Bryan) Robson, (Mark) Hughes, (Roy) Keane, (Steve) Bruce, Incey (Paul Ince).

"You knew they could not be bullied out of a game. If you wanted football they could play football, if you wanted to make it physical they could be physical. They could set the tone of any game they wanted because they were that good.

"Since then I've had deeply strong personalities but not [those who are] forcibly demonstrative about it. Players of different generations have the same strength but they do it on the pitch."

Meanwhile, Ferguson has suggested that Manchester United had the opportunity to sign Carlos Tevez on a permanent deal if the club had acted quicker to secure his signature.

The Manchester City forward spent two seasons on loan at Old Trafford between 2007 and 2009 before leaving to join the current Premier League leaders.

"He is a man for a big game Carlos Tevez, there's no question about that," Ferguson told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"He's a big game player and he did well in his season with West Ham, and it was an easy solution because he was loaned to us and we paid the loan fee for that two years and then we had the option to buy him.

"But by the time the option came round, we were maybe a bit slow of course, but his agent was everywhere with him. And the money we were quoted was not what he eventually went for, it was a lot, lot more.

"A deal could've been done if we'd acted earlier on, but I was just a bit hesitant about it, I wasn't quite sure."