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What Ferguson told Europe's Ryder Cup team

Sir Alex Ferguson has advised Europe's Ryder Cup team to embrace their tag of favourites at Gleneagles this weekend.

The former Manchester United manager, 72, was brought in by captain Paul McGinley to give his players a motivational team talk on Tuesday night.

World No.1 McIlroy said he was "in a trance" listening to Ferguson and revealed that the Scot told the European team to turn Gleneagles into a "fortress" much like his sides did at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson sits with Paul McGinley and Europe's Ryder Cup team © Getty Images

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"They [United] were obviously favourites, and whenever he was managing they made Old Trafford a bit of a fortress," McIlroy said.

"When teams went there, it was very hard to compete against United. He was just talking a bit about that.

"We're slight favourites for a reason. We deserve to be. We've played well this year. It's not something that we should shy away from. It's something that we should embrace."

Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history, with 49 trophies including 13 Premier League titles and two European Cups to his name.

Old Trafford was considered to be a fortress because of the perception that United received more favourable decisions from referees including penalties, with a trademark of Ferguson's sides also being their ability to score late goals.

Indeed, when Ferguson revealed the theories behind his management in interviews with the Harvard Business School last year, among his eight key principles was the edict of preparing to win.

Poulter to finish top of the pile

Ian Poulter loves the Ryder Cup © Getty Images

• It is no secret Ian Poulter loves the Ryder Cup - just look at his record. American captain Tom Watson has already pinpointed his side must deal with "Poults" if they are to win at Gleneagles.
• Poulter will be as motivated as ever to prevent that from happening and at 5/1 with Unibet, he looks a great bet to finish as Europe's top points scorer. Odds of 10/1 for him finishing the tournament's top points scorer look equally as appealing too.
• Click here to bet on the Ryder Cup with Unibet

"Winning is in my nature," Ferguson had said. "There is no other option for me. I am a risk taker and you can see that in how we played in the late stages of matches. All my teams had perseverance - they never gave in. It's a fantastic characteristic to have."

Ferguson is well-versed in the role of motivational speaker and, upon retiring after 27 years as United manager last summer, signed to America's renowned Harry Walker Agency.

He is in esteemed company among world figures such as former US president Bill Clinton, former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former US vice president Al Gore, with the company's website revealing his specialist topic is 'Creating a Winning Organization for the Long-Term'.

"He told us a couple stories just of past experiences in some big games and big matches, and some of the players that he managed, and it was a great evening. It was a really cool thing to be a part of," Mcllroy added.

"Look, not everyone in that room is a Manchester United fan, and they made that known. But very useful, because we got to ask some questions, just about different things and what he thought was the key element to being successful, and successful as a team.

"Yeah, he's a very inspirational sort of man when he talks. He's got a lot of authority and the room just goes quiet and everyone listens. So as I said, it was a great experience for everyone, obviously, but especially for me being a big Manchester United fan."

Despite not sharing McIlroy's love for United, the world No.1's Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia was also left inspired by Ferguson's speech.

He said: "Obviously I am a Real Madrid fan and probably not his [Ferguson's] biggest fan in the world, but I think when you have the possibility of listening to somebody that has been up there in sports and been able to perform at a really high level for that long, it's always interesting to kind of pick his brain and see what things he's gone through.

"It was really, really interesting, and I'm actually glad that I got to ... I think we all did, got to know him a little bit better and listen to him a little bit."

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