Michael Owen has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson was sounding 'sharp as a tack' hours before the former Manchester United manager was taken to hospital. Ferguson, aged 84, spoke to Owen for 40 minutes before heading to Old Trafford to watch United's Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
However, after becoming unwell before kick-off, an ambulance was called for the Scot, who was taken to hospital as a precaution. Mirror Football understands that Ferguson was soon feeling much better and in good spirits.
Now, Owen has disclosed how he conversed with Ferguson shortly before his old boss took a turn. The ex-United striker told talkSPORT on Wednesday: 'I spoke to him, I was on the phone to him for 40 minutes that morning.'
'We were talking about football, we were talking about horses. As I say, he's got horses here at his Manor House Stables. Most Saturday mornings, he gives me a call, and we go through all the horses for the day, and we share what we know and things like that.'
'We might have actually had his horse running on Friday at Chester. So yeah, I speak to him regularly, and he sounded absolutely brilliant, sharp as a tack as normal.'
'We were talking a lot about Scottish football and what was happening up there. So it was such a shock to hear, obviously, that the next day he was taken unwell, but hopefully it's not too serious.'
Ferguson regularly attends United's home fixtures, having retired nearly 13 years ago and spent much of that time as an ambassador for the club. Supporters chanted his name around Old Trafford after the news broke ahead of their 3-2 win.
Interim manager Michael Carrick, who played under Ferguson from 2006 until his retirement in 2013, said at his post-match press conference: 'I don't know the latest as we stand now. I did hear about it before the game.'
'All I can say is I was very affected by it and we just hope he's alright. I just don't know the latest but we hope for him to be in good shape and we wish him all the best and we're certainly thinking of him. And hopefully the result, when he hears about it, gives him a good boost.'
