One of the most aspects of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign in charge of Manchester United was his infamous 'hairdryer treatment. 

Indeed, to relentlessly win the biggest trophies in the game and keep a squad full of superstar egos in check, the Scotsman's domineering presence was crucial in keeping the winning machine going. 

David Beckham, Paul Ince, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy were just some of the biggest names in world football at the time to have been on the end of the treatment, with Paul Scholes even admitting when speaking on BT Sport in 2017 that he was still scared of Ferguson now. 

So then, it seems reasonable to assume that Ferguson would have flown off the handle upon witnessing one of the most controversial moments in football history right before his eyes. 

With his United side traveling down to a raucous Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace in 1995, Eric Cantona did the unthinkable. 

After being sent off for kicking out against a Palace defender, Cantona launched into the crowd with a Kung-Fu kick aimed at a Palace supporter who was abusing him from the stand. That was then followed by a series of punches, ultimately leading to an eight-month ban from the game and expulsion from the French national team. 

Naturally, United players were expecting the mother of all outbursts from Ferguson. 

Still, according to Andy Cole, the United boss let Cantona - a maverick in the truest sense of the word - off reasonably lightly. 

“I hadn’t long joined from Newcastle, so I’m only a few games into my Manchester United career then," he told talkSPORT recently. 

“When it did happen, I wasn’t even sure what was going on if I am being brutally honest.

“I was kind of in the middle of the pitch, but I wasn’t sure if a punter ran on and started on Eric or Eric did what he did.

“When it all unfolded and everyone started running over to the touchline, I was kind of miffed as to what had gone on.

“I didn’t see the incident properly until I saw the incident on TV and that’s when I said to myself, ‘wow’.

“It was surreal.

“Some of the boys were saying, ‘the gaffer is going to lose it now’. This for me, to this day, I still laugh to myself.

“I remember the gaffer came in and he was absolutely fuming, the game ended 1-1. We dropped two points, didn’t win the game and he is fuming.

“He started to have a barney at a few people and then he said to Eric, ‘what are you thinking? You can’t go round doing things like that’.

“Everyone sat in there in the dressing room and just went, ‘Nah’.”