Sir Alex Ferguson mastered the art of keeping players' egos in line - and if they ever became too big they'd be ushered to the Old Trafford exit door immediately.
However, the Manchester United icon did occasionally absolutely destroy a player when it may not have necessarily been called for - see, Owen Hargreaves. The former England international was undeniably gifted in a technical sense, but injuries crippled what was a good, but could have been great career.
With that in mind, it is up for debate whether Hargreaves was deserving of the scathing review Ferguson gave him in the Scotsman's second autobiography. He certainly didn't deserve to have the more brutal passages read to him live on television on BT Sport.
But that is exactly what happened to the former Bayern Munich man unfortunately, as he sat and listened to Jake Humphrey tell him how Ferguson wrote: "Owen had no confidence in himself whatsoever, I saw him opt for the easy choice in training - he was one of the most disappointing signings of my career."
Other parts of the book that Humphrey opted against relaying to Hargreaves included a passage were Ferguson openly admitted he had his doubts over the midfielder as a player and as a person from the very beginning.
"When I signed him, there was something about him I didn't like," the former United boss confessed. "The thing every good leader should have is an instinct.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Did Ferguson go too far with his brutal assessment of Hargreaves? Comment below
"Mine said to me: 'I don't fancy this.' When he came over to Old Trafford for the medical, I still had some indefinable doubt. He was very hail-fellow-well-met. Almost too nice."
Hargreaves took hearing the comments well enough, as he revealed: "A lot of people rung me this week very surprised by what he said, myself included, I think he said a lot of things in there that were with emotion and he was very disappointed obviously with the way things turned out."
He went on: "A lot of relationships break down and I think at times there was a little bit of miscommunication - there was so many people involved. My only regret is that I didn't come to him sooner, but I didn't realise the severity of the situation."
Of course, it is undeniable Hagreaves failed to reach the hopes many had of him following his £17million switch from Bayern in 2007, but for an ex-boss to go after him in such a personal way so publicly all because he was either injured or 'too nice' seems a step too far, even for a famed disciplinarian like Ferguson.
One can only imagine how the ex-United manager must have felt when he saw Hargreaves lining up in the blue of local rivals Manchester City during the 2011/12 campaign - where they snatched the title from under the Red Devils' noses.
Maybe that's why Ferguson is so angry about the whole affair after all.
