London - Ryan Giggs has revealed how he wept in his car the day he feared he was saying goodbye to Manchester United.Giggs spent the final four games of last season as United’s interim manager in the wake of the sacking of David Moyes.
The 40-year-old Old Trafford legend has subsequently accepted a role on new manager Louis van Gaal’s coaching staff, though his playing days are at an end. And Giggs has spoken for the first time about the moment he feared his life at his only club was over.
After saying goodbye to players and staff at Manchester Airport on returning from United’s last game of the Barclays Premier League season at Southampton, Giggs revealed: “I was potentially saying goodbye to a lot of players for the last time and staff. I’m not a really emotional person but my car was parked right outside and I thought: “I need to get in my car here”.
“So I get in my car and I just went, started crying, started getting really emotional. ‘So I came out of the airport, at the traffic lights, and Nicky Butt has just pulled up next to me and I’m thinking: “****ing hell, I can’t let Butty know that I’ve just been crying”. “So I just give him a little wave and looked the other way and waited for the lights to go green.
“A revealing insight into Giggs’ final year as a player will be seen on TV in ITV’s Life of Ryan: Caretaker Manager. Most of the programme focuses on his four games as manager. Giggs reveals how his sleep dwindled to less than five hours a night and tells of his anger after United lost at home to Sunderland.
He said: “I was stood on the side against Sunderland just wishing I’d named myself as a substitute so I could do something about it.” For 20 years Sir Alex Ferguson used to say: “Wait until all you lot are managers and you’ll find out how hard it is to pick a team, to leave good players out” and I was just there going “Yeah, whatever”.‘But it’s like having your first baby.
Until it comes down to actually living it day in, day out, you can never prepare for it.‘I was really down after that game and that won’t happen again. I trusted the players but some let me down.
Maybe I was a little bit too soft.‘If you step on to that pitch as a United player you give it your all and if you don’t then you deserve not to play the next game.’The programme shows Giggs parking in Ferguson’s old space and trying to settle into his old office.”My approach is to look at it as though I am going to be in this office for a long time,” he revealed.
Daily Mail