Steve Bruce spent six remarkable years under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, ushering in a generation of success which would return the club to former glories and earn its manager a knighthood.

Despite all his hard work, however, "Brucey" hadn't heard a word from his old boss since taking the reins at Wigan last November.

Not a bottle of scotch, not a card, and not a single phone call. Had he forgotten his barnstorming captain's two injury-time headers against Sheffield Wednesday which won United the title in 1993? How about his incredible haul of 19 goals from centre-back in 1991? Had he not read Striker?

For all intents and purposes Bruce had become the equivalent of the discarded old girlfriend you ignore in the street. Sir Alex had moved on, and in Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, was busy courting his younger, more attractive squeezes.

One day while perusing the fixtures in his trophy-paved Old Trafford war room, however, Sir Alex came upon an intriguing coincidence. With the Premier League title race set to go to the wire, there was one team who would face both Arsenal and Chelsea in the run-in. That team was Wigan, and their manager was an affable fellow who played 412 times in the red and white of Manchester.

"Sir Alex has phoned me twice before this game [the away clash with Chelsea] and twice before Arsenal. He hasn't phoned me any other time during the season. Four times!" said Bruce.

As usual with Ferguson, the timing and effect of his calls were faultless. On March 9, Wigan held Arsenal 0-0 at home. Thanks to Emile Heskey's late goal they bettered that result with Monday's 1-1 draw away at Chelsea.

Some might call Ferguson's tactics cold and calculating - his forgotten friend used to fuel his selfish ambitions for success. Others would call it genius.

Will Tidey / Eurosport