Rene Meulensteen reveals why Sir Alex Ferguson felt the need to apologise to his Manchester United coaching staff when he decided to retire in 2013.
After serving as a key member of Sir Alex Ferguson’s backroom staff at Manchester United between 2007 and 2013, Rene Meulensteen experienced lots of success at Old Trafford.
It was one of the club’s most successful periods, winning four Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008.
Before 2007, when Meulensteen was promoted to a first-team coach role, the Dutchman had previously been involved in United’s academy setup. He left the club in 2013 following Ferguson’s decision to retire.
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Rene Meulensteen, Mike Phelan and Sir Alex Ferguson
Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Sir Alex Ferguson apologised following retirement leak
Meulensteen is often heard on podcasts reflecting on his time at United.
The 61-year-old has managed an array of teams on top of his work as a former assistant at United, including Brondby, Fulham and Anzhi Makhachkala.
Fast forward to now, and Meulensteen finds himself working as the Iraq national team assistant manager, second to Australian coach Graham Arnold.
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Having spent so long working with Ferguson, Meulensteen is bound to have fascinating stories to tell, which is why he was invited onto the SACKED! Podcast with Neil Ashton.
Meulensteen lifted the lid on how Ferguson apologised to his coaching staff after his decision to retire was leaked before they had been informed.
“Obviously I didn’t know,” Meulensteen said.
“And it was late when it leaked on a Tuesday night. I think the players had a golf day with some of the staff at that time.
“I never played golf, so I wasn’t there that day. But I remember another member of staff texting me. He says, ‘Listen, you know, the players got a lot of messages on the phone that possibly so Alex Ferguson is retiring after the season. Do you know anything about it?’
“And I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ I didn’t make much of it. And then another ping came in and like with a question, ‘Is it true?’ And I thought, ‘I better check this.’ So, I went, I just opened my laptop, and I looked at it and obviously you could see, you know, when it’s one of those, and there’s no smoke without fire.
“But, we did find out or got the confirmation basically the next morning when we came into Carrington, and obviously it was, you know, lit up with media people and everything.
“So we knew there was something going on and that is when Alex brought us in, Mick Phelan, myself and Eric Steele basically apologising for the fact that it had leaked out because he was going to tell us obviously in advance, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
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How is Rene Meulensteen doing with the Iraq national team?
Meulensteen was appointed as the assistant manager of Iraq in May 2025, reuniting with Arnold, with whom he worked as part of the Australia national team setup between 2018 and 2024.
Under the Arnold-Meulensteen management duo, Iraq has played 12 matches – winning seven, drawing three, and losing two.
Iraq qualified for the World Cup play-offs, and they’re scheduled to take on Bolivia or Suriname on 31 March for a place in the tournament.
The last time Iraq qualified for the World Cup was 40 years ago, in Mexico 1986. It was the country’s only appearance at a World Cup.
That means Meulensteen could help make history as Iraq’s assistant manager over the coming months.
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