Wayne Rooney has revealed the explosive details of his angry half-time rows with Sir Alex Ferguson .
Manchester United 's all-time top scorer, now at Derby County, is set to return to Old Trafford on Thursday night as he looks to topple his old side in the FA Cup .
The fixture has clearly brought the memories flooding back for Rooney, who signed for United under Ferguson in 2004.
The pair's relationship eventually turned sour, with Rooney twice attempting to leave the club under the legendary Scot's stewardship.
He's now told how Ferguson would aim dressing blasts at him when the message was actually intended for someone else.
Rooney believes Fergie knew his star striker could handle the infamous "hairdryer" in a way others could not.
The manager's logic, therefore, was that the message being delivered in ferocious fashion to Rooney would still be picked up by the rest of the dressing room.
"His man management is the best I've ever seen," Rooney admitted.
"I always remember as a kid, every half-time, arguing with him, constantly. I remember thinking, 'Why does he keep having a go at me? There's players far worse than I've been!'
"Then the older you get, the more you realise why he's doing it. He's obviously aiming at other players who can't take it
"He would have a go at me for dribbling, I very rarely dribble, well, I dribbled a bit more then, but with Nani, it would just maybe trigger something in his head, thinking, "Oh maybe I shouldn't dribble as much.
"He knew how to get that message across without losing it.
"If he spoke to Nani the way he spoke to me, he'd break down in tears. He wouldn't be able to go back out!"
Despite taking the brunt of Ferguson's fury for years, Rooney insists he relished the dressing room dressing downs.
"I enjoyed it," he continued. "As players, you want to win and of course you have to be respectful.
"He was the manager. But the one thing which never happened, it never got carried on.
"The game was over, we forgot about it and moved on."
