EXCLUSIVE
I went viral for ‘scaring’ Sir Alex Ferguson with a balloon and thought I’d lose my Man United job
Ex-Manchester United coach Mike Phelan said Sir Alex Ferguson saw the funny side of his famous balloon popping incident.
Phelan, though, thought his time as Fergie's assistant at Man United due to his boss' reaction.
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In 2008, Man United played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with the pair in their usual positions next to each other in the dug out.
Phelan became distracted by a balloon that was bouncing in front of him as Fergie and the rest of the backroom team watched the action. And when Phelan seized his moment to get rid of the balloon, TV cameras caught it all.
Ferguson, who had been fully engrossed in the game, jumped out of his skin as he reacted to the bang as his no.2 popped it under his foot.
"He had no sense of humour had he in that moment!" Phelan joked as he retold the story to White and Jordan on talkSPORT.
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"It was one of those moments where you've done everything, you've gone out on the field, and you know when something gets into your head. It wasn't the because the game is going on.
"I saw a balloon bouncing around and I just thought 'if the balloon comes near me it's having it', you know? And that attraction of a balloon coming towards you and bobbling in front of you while the games going on.
"I just picked it up and popped it, I never thought anything of it! But I started laughing. It thought it was funny!"
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Unfortunately for the former Man United player, in that moment his boss had a... slightly different reaction!
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Smiling as he continued his story, Phelan added: "But when you look back afterwards, you could see the bench watching the game, you can see the manager, the intensity of the game he was into and I was just chilling out and just blew this balloon up.
"And he went ballistic! He went off his head! I thought that was the end of my job to be fair!"
If there was one thing Red Devils players and staff knew from Ferguson's time in charge, it was to avoid getting on the wrong side of him.
Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy are among the legendary players who left Old Trafford after falling out with him.
It was all good between Phelan and Ferguson in the end, however, with the Scot even laughing about the incident the next day.
"He did get the fright of his life!" Phelan said.
"But he saw the funny side the next day because I think his grandchildren mentioned it or had seen it, so I think they were taking the mickey out of him for it!"
Phelan played for Man United in the 1990s and began working as a first team coach in 2001 when Steve McClaren left.
He got his role as assistant in 2008 and together, Phelan and Ferguson won three Premier League titles, the Champions League, a FIFA Club World Cup, two League Cups.
They also reached the Champions League final twice in 2009 and 2011, losing to Barcelona on both occasions.
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