Ex-Man Utd star accidentally told Fergie to 'f*** off' in dressing room prank
Former Manchester United winger Andrei Kanchelskis has explained how he got tricked into telling Sir Alex Ferguson to "f*** off".
The Russian international joined United from Shakhtar Donetsk in 1991, going on to win back-to-back titles under Ferguson at the dawn of the Premier League. He didn't get off to the best of starts, though, with team-mates taking advantage of his inability to speak much English.
Kanchelskis, one of the few men to play Premier League football for both United and their neighbours City, is now managing in Kyrgyzstan. The 55-year-old ended up making more than 150 appearances under Ferguson, even if things didn't get off to the best of starts.
He was tricked into his foul-mouthed retort to the Scottish boss during a run-in at United's training ground back in 1991, with colleague's convincing him to reply to a morning greeting with the words "F*** off you Scottish b*****d. However, once the manager understood what had happened he soon saw the funny side.
"We used to do the same to the Brazilians when they came to Moscow," Kanchelskis told The Mail. "Teach them to tell policemen to f*** off.
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"I said this bad thing to Sir Alex Ferguson. He was red-faced and said 'what?'. Then he understood what had happened and everybody laughed," he added.
"George Scanlan was the interpreter for me and Eric Cantona because he spoke Russian and French. He said: 'Andrei, next time don't say this'. Of course, I never did it again after that."
Kanchelskis' former Manchester sides are due to face off on Sunday, with City looking to defend their Premier League title. While he makes it clear the rivalry between the sides wasn't how it is today when he was a player, he insists he would never have moved from one to another.
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Kanchelskis was part of Ferguson's first two Premier League winning squads (Getty Images)"I didn't move directly to Man City from United like [Carlos] Tevez. In my opinion that's terrible," he said. "If I'd moved directly from United to City, some fans would have killed me. This is a bad move."
His brief spell at City under Joe Royle in 2001 saw them fail to avoid relegation, though they would bounce straight back up. These days, though, they are the ones on top while United are playing catch-up in an effort just to qualify for the Champions League.
"Our form - we are also on a good run," United's current manager Erik ten Hag said ahead of Sunday's game. "The spirit is very good, we are united. Now we have to make a good gameplan.
"We will prepare well but our players are looking forward to it and I can smell it - I'm excited. We know we have to give everything and show a team performance."
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