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Former Manchester United starlet Mads Timm knows exactly what it’s like to receive the hairdryer treatment from legendary Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
And now the Danish forward, who played for United between 2002 and 2006 but made just one senior appearance for the Premier League giants, has revealed how Ferguson once called him a ‘f****** idiot’ for driving a Porsche to training.
Timm, who was released by United in 2006 and convicted of dangerous driving in 2005, tried to hide the fact he was arriving to training in the fancy car from boss Ferguson.
Ferguson, who was famous for his no-nonsense approach when he was in charge of United, liked his younger players to stay under the radar. Timm’s choice of motor flew in the face of everything the Scot stood for.
As such, Timm has revealed he used to park his Porsche with the cars belonging to United’s staff, his plan only ruined when vehicles had to be moved following a special request by a certain David Beckham to arrive in a helicopter.
It was an incident Timm hasn’t forgotten.
In his new autobiography Red Devil – an ironic title given his solitary appearance for United came against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League in 2002 – Timm recalled: ‘Brian McClair got hold of me and said Ferguson wanted to see me in his office.
‘I had a Porsche and I was well aware the boss cared very little about that if you played well. For the same reason I had parked at the entrance where the ordinary workers usually were.
‘Around the same time, David Beckham had a downturn in form, and had looked for permission to arrive for training in a helicopter. Ferguson flipped out. Now he had discovered my Porsche.
‘He called me a f****** idiot on that occasion. Then I took a taxi to training.’
Timm never made it at United, his already precarious relationship with Ferguson not helped by a conviction for dangerous driving just 12 months before he was released by the club.
Timm and former United youth player Callum Flanagan were convicted at Manchester Crown Court after taking part in a high-speed road race in which two people were hurt.
They were handed 12 and eight-month sentences in a young offenders’ institution respectively and were both banned from driving for three years.
The incident was the beginning of the end for Timm as while he was allowed to remain with United – Flanagan was sacked following the incident – the Dane left the club a year later.
In his autobiography, Timm also recalled another moment to forget with Ferguson.
‘After my debut in the Champions League, I thought my football situation was better than ever,’ he wrote. ‘But maybe I should have just kept my head down.
‘He (Ferguson) went crazy on me because one day I called him “Alex” in front of some of the other young players. “I’m not your friend. I’m your f****** boss,” he screamed at me.’
In his time at United Timm had a number of loan spells, including one at Walsall, before moving back to Denmark after leaving English football.
