I liked Beckham, thought he was a good player and the stick he got in 98 not at all fair. Wasn't a red card in honesty. For me the only truly world class player for me out of the class of 92 was Paul Scholes, not only that he was the only likeable one whilst playing for Man United as well.
Ferguson rightly did not want the showbiz life to get in the way of Manchester United's success, and by 2003 he'd got the best out of Beckham, and moved him on... Replaced him with Cristiano Ronaldo. Have to say, that was a genius move in the long run from Alex Ferguson.
It's sad we live in a shallow world where your looks take you to a place of huge celebrity status, which is what happened with Beckham. He was the right face, at the right time really.