Alex Ferguson has revealed he turned down the England manager’s job on two separate occasions during his Manchester United reign.

The Scot states in his autobiography, which will be released tomorrow, that he was asked to become England boss in succession to Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan.

Ferguson rejected the offers out of hand, though, saying: “There was no way I could contemplate that. It was not a bed of nails I was ever tempted to lie on.”

The fact that he was offered the England job on two occasions will raise eyebrows in some quarters, although there will be little surprise that, as a proud Scot, he rejected the approaches.

Ferguson, who managed United for 27 successful years before retiring in the summer of 2013, discusses a wide range of topics in the book, called ‘My Autobiography’.

The Scot reflects on his rivalries with Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal and discusses his relationship with a number of players that have come and gone through the doors at Old Trafford since he arrived from Scotland in 1986.

Former United captain Roy Keane comes in for criticism in the book, which follows on from his last autobiography spanning from 2000-2013.

Keane became one of the trusted pillars of Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford when he moved from Nottingham Forest in 1993, but their relationship soured 12 years later.

Ferguson reveals that Keane was livid at the club over their pre-season training camp in Portugal.

The Irish midfielder said the accommodation was not up to scratch.

Then Keane tore into his team-mates in an interview with the club’s in-house TV station MUTV.

Ferguson says in the interview, which was pulled, Keane “slaughtered” several of the club’s senior players. He eventually sold Keane to Celtic. The Irishman returned to Carrington to apologise to Ferguson months later, but the two have clashed since.

Naturally, Ferguson’s enemies come in for criticism in the book.

Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of Manchester City in 2008 gave Ferguson a new rival once the club became a force under Roberto Mancini.

Ferguson describes the day Manchester City won the title at United’s expense as the worst of his life.

The Scot also has a dig at Mancini in the book, criticising his decision to keep Carlos Tevez on the books after the Argentinian refused to come off the bench in the club’s European game at Bayern Munich.

“Taking him back showed desperation. In terms of his prestige as a manager, he let himself down,” Ferguson writes.

Mancini is not the only manager to receive criticism from Ferguson.

Arsene Wenger, a big adversary for Ferguson, joked he was “fearing the worst” prior to the release of the book.

Unlike in his first autobiography, Ferguson has a much more measured view of the Frenchman.

Ferguson says the pair are now very good friends, rather than enemies.