The Class of 92 Page #8

but a lot of the games

where we've won trophies.

You remember a lot more from the defeats.

It's a lot more...

(EXHALES)

it has a bigger effect on you.

You lose a cup final,

you think about it all summer.

You're lying on the beach,

having a good time,

and it will just come back to you

and it will ruin your day

or ruin your afternoon...

Can't wait to get back.

I remember I was on holiday,

I think I was in Cyprus,

and I pick up the paper

and you see all these players are going,

and you're thinking,

"Wow, what's going on here?"

They must be going to go and buy

some proper big players to replace them.

Obviously the manager

was looking at where we could improve,

but I don't think anyone could foresee

what he was going to do.

You know Mark Hughes,

Andrei Kanchelskis and Paul lnce.

You know, three massive players for United.

To be fair to the gaffer,

he stood by us, didn't he?

He could have bought any player he wanted.

He was under pressure around that time,

the gaffer, wasn't he?

The three players that went...

- Massive.

- Massive.

- Fan player. You know.

- The fans loved them.

- Fans loved them.

- Scholes, I suppose, came in for Sparky.

You came in for lncey, you for Andrei.

Me for Paul Parker. Because we were, like,

we were all replacing brilliant players,

weren't we, do you know what I mean?

I've always, if you look

at my managerial career,

from the start at East Stirling

right through to Aberdeen,

I went to Aberdeen

and then to Manchester United,

it was all about young players.

I believe in the foundation of a football

club, based on young people coming through

so there was a stream of players

coming into the first team.

It's a great risk.

But...

he knew it.

And he was right.

And for me, of course, it was great to play

with a generation of players,

win things with them.

Be a bit in the middle of that, you know?

And help the new players,

and young players.

And then we'd go back to training

and he'd still not bought any,

he's still not bought any.

And before you know it,

we were playing Aston Villa the first clay

of the year, and we was all in the team.

After the first half an hour or something,

we were 3-nil down.

It was a disaster, really...

COMMENTATOR:
And Taylor's made it three!

SCHOLES:
...at Aston Villa.

COMMENT AT OR:

It's going from bad to worse.

BUTT:
After the game we were thinking,

"We've let the manager down,

he's put his faith in us,

"we're only young,

the fans are going to hate us,

"everyone's going to hate us

because we're wrecking the club."

I think they've got problems.

I wouldn't say they've got major problems.

Obviously, three players have departed.

The trick is always buy when you're strong.

So he needs to buy players.

You can't win anything with kids.

You look at that line-up

Manchester United had today,

and Aston Villa, at quarter past two

when they get the team sheet,

it's just going to give them a lift,

and it'll happen every time he plays

the kids. He's got to buy players.

In truth, that night,

watching Match Of The Day,

I felt exactly the same as what

Alan Hansen said, we wasn't good enough.

We wanted to believe in it.

And we tried everything to win it.

But to be realistic...

With five new players

coming from the academy,

19 years old,

it's not very realistic

to think that you can win things.

I wasn't probably at that stage of my

career where I felt comfortable to sort of,

you know, "Don't worry about it,

it'll be all right."

You know, I wasn't at that...

'Cause I didn't know whether it was

going to be all right or not, you know?

They have got star names to come in.

They've got Cole and Giggs.

- Cantona, in due course.

- Cantona.

- And Steve Bruce.

- Bruce.

Still not enough.

The trick of winning the championship

is having strength in depth.

They just haven't got it.

But we tried so hard

and they were so exceptional,

and Ferguson helped them

to learn things so quickly...

that we won it.

And we won the double.

Premier League and the Cup.

Eric, when he come back

from his suspension,

he was phenomenal really and really

did carry the team quite a lot of the time.

You don't win anything

with kids, he's right.

You don't win anything with kids.

We won because we were part of a team

that had Roy Keane in it,

and we had Bruce, Palliate,

we had all these top experienced players

who got the young lads through it, really.

(SPEAKING FRENCH)

We didn't realise how special it was,

to be honest, I think, at the time.

Because, you know, we're all in the team.

There was not one piece of jealousy

between any of us

and all we were worried about

was staying in the team and doing well.

When they come from...

One's from Gorton, one's from Oldham,

one's from London,

two boys from Bury and Ryan from Salford.

You never think, years ahead,

how they became such a friendly unit.

Almost like brothers.

And they would practise and practise.

They couldn't give them enough of the ball.

Honestly, it was a joy to watch,

because they wanted to do it.

They wanted to be the best players.

It is a lot easier

coming through as a group as well,

because like, one day

Becks would be the man,

and then it would be you,

then it would be you,

then it would be you,

then it would be me...

It shares it around, it's a lot easier.

- It's amazing how...

- I'd never like to do it on my own.

There was no jealousy between us,

though, was there?

If I was knackered at half, at dinner time,

all I'd want to do is put my feet up

and I'd look out window

and I'd see you and you practising

and I'd be thinking,

"I better get out there

because I don't want to be left out.

"I don't want to get left behind."

It's like kids in the garden.

If you've got two brothers

playing football together,

they're going to be better

than a lad who's living on his own,

because he's constantly

competing against two people.

Whereas we had five, six of us.

We drove each other on,

I think that's what helped.

Like Phil said, there wasn't any

jealousy either, was there?

PHIL:
And as I said, we've all failed

at some time, haven't we?

That's why it was so rewarding, I think,

when we won what we did,

and did what we did,

and it's more rewarding

with, you know, between us.

When Phil really broke in

was the '96 season, '95/'96 season.

I'd played 25 games the year before,

I was the England right back at the time,

and I got left out

for the last three league games,

and the cup final against Liverpool.

It's a strange situation to be in,

because we shared a room,

I phone home and say, "I'm playing."

Gary then phones home

and says he's not playing.

It's really difficult. And I felt

for my mum and dad really, because

they're in a situation where they can't

show jubilation or upset to either of us.

I remember my sister

taking the mickey out of me.

"Phil's got in and you're

not," and thinking,

"That's hard that,

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