Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s farewell speech
“When I 1) ______ (have) bad times here, the club stood by me. … All my staff stood by me, the players stood by me, you stood by me, and your job now is to stand by our new manager. That’s important. My retirement 2) _________ (not mean) the end of my time at the club. I’ll now be able to enjoy watching them, rather than suffering with them.”
“But, if you think about it, the last-minute goals, the comebacks, even the defeats, are all part of this great football club of ours. It 3) ________ (be) an unbelievable experience for all of us, so thank-you for that.”
“I have absolutely no script in my mind. I’m just going to ramble on and hope I get to the core of what this football club has meant to me.”
“I 4) ________ (want) to say thank-you to Manchester United. Not just the directors, coaching staff, medical staff, the players, the fans, but to all of you - you have been the most fantastic experience of my life.
“I’ve been very fortunate. I have been able to manage some of the greatest players in the country, let alone Manchester United.”
“All the players here today have represented this club the proper way. They 5) ______ (win) the championship in a fantastic fashion, so well done to the players.”
“To the players, I wish them every success in the future. You all know how good you are, you know the jersey you 6) ________ (wear), you know what it means to everyone here and don’t ever let yourselves down.”
(Solutions: 1) had 2) doesn’t mean 3) has been 4) want 5) won 6) are wearing)