Sir Alex Ferguson's cold-blooded dismissal of Jaap Stam at Manchester United was his cruelest, and he may have used the defender's autobiography as an excuse.
So say the Dutchman's former teammates Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who chose Stam's ouster as their former manager's most ruthless act. Stam played a crucial role in Ferguson and United's 1999 Champions League victory and subsequent treble, assisting the Red Devils in three Premier League title attacks.
However, in 2001, the centre-back's autobiography, 'Head To Head', rubbed the Scot the wrong way in terms of its content, and a rift soon emerged.
Stam's dismissal, which was reportedly told about his snap sale to Italian side Lazio at a gas station, is at the top of the pile when it comes to ruthlessness, according to his former colleagues. But Scholes believes Ferguson may have used the book as an excuse to kill a star who was already looked down upon.
When asked by Scholes which of Ferguson's strikes was the most brutal on Football's Greatest Eras podcast, Butt replied: “I think Jaap [Stam] was the largest.
'Only because Jaap was in his splendor and he still had many years to go. I don't think Jaap was the kind of person who would do what he was accused of.'
“You shouldn't actually write a book while you're still playing; that was his fault,” Scholes replied, as Butt continued. 'No, I don't think you should. But what he said about certain players did not come verbally from Jaap, he was a good person Jaap, a good boy.”
Scholes added: “I always wondered if the manager used the book thing as an excuse to get rid of you – to fast forward it a bit.
“He went on to Lazio and AC Milan; he was a great player. Again, that's when he may have felt that Jaap was going against team ethics and team principles. I don't think anyone on the team ever thought that.”
Perhaps the failure that many thought would top the list: Roy Keane's spat with Ferguson in 2005 over the Irishman's harsh criticism of his own teammates in an interview, did not take the top spot due to the expected nature of the altercation. .
'You can imagine that the two of them are at it [Keane and Ferguson],” Butt continued. “That's why I don't think it was as much of a shock as Jaap.
“I think Jaap would have been a bit more submissive to the manager and would have apologized and given an explanation. While I know Roy would have gone 'bang', like two bulls colliding. I understand why it has come to this, but Jaap was the greatest for me.”
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