Sky Sports bosses emerged ashen-faced and visibly shaken from a meeting with Manchester United supremo Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday.
But their meeting may have exploded the great myth of the "hair-dryer" treatment.
The meeting, at Manchester Utd's Old Trafford HQ, was called to "discuss" Sky Sports' decision to remove Sky Sports News from free-to-air services.
As he refuses to speak to the BBC because of allegations regarding his son, Sky Sports' decision means Sir Alex is rarely seen on terrestrial TV.
A Sky executive who was at the meeting said: "F*** me! Everything they say is true. When he's upset he really does expel a lot of hot air.
"But I'll tell you what... My secretary washed her hair not ten minutes before we went into the meeting. She has long hair - really long - and it was still damp when we came out. Hah. Hair dryer!
"But we gave it all 'Oh yes, Sir Alex… quite right…' et cetera and made a bee-line for his wine cellar - there's some good stuff in there."
