Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney admits he dreads the prospect of feeling the full blast of Sir Alex Ferguson's infamous 'hairdryer' rants.
Alex Ferguson has become notorious for criticising his players with such ferocity and at such close quarters that the effect is like standing in front of a hairdryer.
The 70-year-old United manager hasn't mellowed with age and Rooney revealed he has been on the receiving end of the frenzied blasts on several occasions when his performance has failed to live up to Ferguson's high standards.
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"There's nothing worse than getting the 'hairdryer' from Sir Alex," Rooney said in his autobiography My Decade, as reported in The Daily Mirror.
Wayne Rooney. Photo: AFP
"When it happens, the manager stands in the middle of the room and loses it at me. He gets right up in my face and shouts.
"It feels like I've put my head in front of a BaByliss Turbo Power 2200. It's horrible."
While most players don't have the nerve to answer back during Ferguson's rants, Rooney claims he has been known to respond with some harsh words of his own.
"I don't like getting shouted at by anyone. It's hard for me to take, so sometimes I shout back. I tell him he's wrong and I'm right," he said.
"It (the hairdryer) spurs some of the lads on, but it crushes others. I've seen the manager shout and scream at people and when they've gone back on the pitch their heads have dropped. They've lost it."
Rooney remembers when France striker Louis Saha was subjected to one of Ferguson's most explosive blasts following a 1-0 loss to Celtic in a Champions League game in 2006, while he got caught in the crossfire.
"It's the worst 'hairdryer' I've seen," Rooney sid. "He's in Louis' face, shouting and screaming.
"But Louis isn't the only one getting an earful. The manager knows I've been negotiating a new deal with the club and he saves some for me, 'Players wanting more money from the club and new deals - you don't deserve anything after that performance!'"
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