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BARCELONA, May 27 (Reuters) -- Their triumphs may be separated by three decades and a professional revolution in the sport but Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson are now entwined by far more than the thread of European Cup successes which they brought to Manchester United.
Both were born in Scotland, moved to England to gain worldwide international recognition, spoke with honesty and freedom when they wanted, set ferocious levels of commitment and desire and never wavered from a shared dream of bringing the most treasured trophy in European club soccer back to Old Trafford.
And both, according to a man who was part of the two tumultuous and victorious occasions in 1968 and 1999, understood the sense of style and destiny which drove their teams to hard-earned and dramatic successes.
In short, according to Jim Ryan, both Busby and Ferguson have embodied the values of a dynasty started in the 1950s when Busby embarked with the first United team into Europe, always placing the onus on attacking play, flair and heart.
Ryan was George Best's deputy, played in the Quarter Finals of United's run to the 1968 Final, was a member of their Wembley Final squad against Benfica and is now a senior coach on the United staff.
He said Wednesday's 2-1 win over Bayern Munich was the culmination, for Ferguson, of years of Busby-like toil and dedication. Ryan, 54, a Scot like the two managers, has shared dressing-rooms with both men - as a player under Busby and as a coach under Ferguson.
He was also the only man in Barcelona on the United staff, apart from director and 1968 hero Bobby Charlton, to have won a European Cup medal with the club 31 years before.
'I think the one thing that you could really say that they have in common is that they could both see a big picture, a big goal, and that they were single-minded in aiming for it.
'Busby took the European Cup without the English FA's blessing in the first place and eventually, having come through the Munich air tragedy in 1958, came out and won it.
'I think there is a real parallel with our manager now, in as much as he looked at that prize when he came here and he has worked to get it. He has had his own setbacks and problems along the way too but he has done it.
'He never wavered. In the end he did the same thing. He refused to give up. And they have played the same kind of way, the same kind of football. The only thing, perhaps, that you could say is that the game now is far more tactical than it was then - in my day or Matt Busby's day...
'Matt was very quiet, spoke quietly and softly, but underneath he had the same drive. They both had it. They had the same vision too...
'Alex is not quiet like Matt was but they had the same objective and the same sense of style in mind. Both wanted to see the team playing really nice football but also working very hard.
'You could tell, we on the staff here could tell, that Fergie wanted to win it. He wanted to win the first thing, then the next. He was on the road. He wanted to go up the ladder and do it all. The world club championship will be next.
'It took him a long time to win the title, you remember, and it was not easy in those early years for Alex at Old Trafford. But he has worked through it all, just like Matt Busby did. They both had the same ideals and the same ambitions for the club.'
