Fergie’s darkest days including Newcastle, Liverpool’s Old Trafford annihilation and two huge hammerings from Man City!
Sir Alex Ferguson described Man United's incredible 6-1 derby day demolition at the hands of Man City as the worst day of his managerial career.
It's difficult to argue with the Scot, but these six dismal defeats must be up there alongside Sunday's horror show.
Newcastle 5-0 MAN UNITED: 20 OCTOBER 1996
The first of successive away day humiliations for Man United, who travelled to St James' Park in the 1996/97 season trailing the Magpies by two points after nine Premier League games. David Ginola curled an unstoppable long-range effort into the top corner for Newcastle's second after Darren Peacock's early opener to make it 2-0 before half-time. Strikers Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer combined to make it 4-0, while Philippe Albert rounded things off with a delightful chip with seven minutes remaining. Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't best pleased when Karel Poborsky's first-half penalty claim was controversially dismissed, though it was irrelevant as the Geordies' attacking flair had blown his team out of sight for 90 minutes.
Southampton 6-3 MAN UNITED: 26 OCTOBER 1996
A virtuoso display from Matt Le Tissier six days after the disaster at St James' Park piled the misery on for Fergie, but it was Egil Ostenstad who grabbed the headlines with an impressive hat-trick for the Saints. Southampton's talisman did manage a deserved goal, though, and in true Le Tiss fashion, weaved his way through two defenders before delivering a classy chip over Peter Schemeichel - who clearly learned nothing from Philippe Albert - into the back of the net. Man United recovered to win the league by seven points, however, Southampton stayed afloat on goal difference.
BARCELONA 4-0 MAN UNITED: 2 NOVEMBER 1994
Fergie paid a costly price for shuffling his pack at the Nou Camp for such a vital group stage fixture against a team that had finished as runners-up a year earlier. Gary Walsh was chosen ahead of Peter Schmeichel and was forced to pick the ball out of United's net on four occasions. Bulgaria striker Hristo Stoichkov grabbed a brace and Romaria and Albert Ferrer also scored while current manager Pep Guardiola was instrumental in midfield. The Catalan club's superior goal difference proved crucial as they progressed to the knockout stages along with Gothenburg as Man United were left to rue a whopping defeat.
MAN UNITED 1-4 LIVERPOOL: 14 MARCH 2009
Not quite the 6-1 drubbing Man City dished out this weekend, although many of United's fans regard the rivalry with Liverpool as their greatest. That was certainly the case in 2008/09 with City sitting in mid-table and Rafael Benitez's Reds providing the stiffer competition for the Premier League crown. With inspired performances from Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, who both scored as did Fabio Aurelio and Andrea Dossena, Liverpool stunned Old Trafford with a dominant display that lifted them to within four points of the Red Devils. It proved little more than a blip, albeit a hugely embarrassing one, as they still marched towards another Premier League title, maintaining their four point advantage over the Reds for the remainder of the campaign.
MAN UNITED 0-1 Leeds United: 4 JANURARY 2010
A 1-0 scoreline doesn't normally conjure up embarrassing headlines, but for reigning Premier League champions and Champions League runners-up, that's exactly how you'd sum up a home defeat against League One opposition. To make matters worse, the result dumped United out of the FA Cup in the third round and came against fierce rivals Leeds United after Jermaine Beckford, now at Leicester City following a spell with Everton, calmly slotted the ball past Tomas Kuszczak for the game's only goal. Leeds couldn't repeat the trick this year, however, when they hosted Fergie's men in the Carling Cup where they suffered a comprehensive 3-0 defeat.
MAN CITY 5-1 MAN UNITED: 23 SEPTEMBER 1989
Sir Alex was struggling to stamp his authority on a Man United side who'd finished the previous 1988/89 campaign two points behind Millwall in 11th spot, while their rivals on the other hand were still jubilant from their promotion back into the top flight. City opened up a 3-0 half-time lead with the only surprise perhaps being their inability to make the scoreline more emphatic having led 5-1 with half an hour still to play. Gary Pallister - at fault for City's opener - described this defeat as the lowest point of his career.