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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
By Jim Holden
SIR ALEX FERGUSON promised Manchester United fans before yesterday?s lunchtime match against Blackburn that he would stay as manager of the club for three more years. It was a gift to mark his 70th birthday ? and very welcome news.
Two hours later many supporters had walked out early from Old Trafford as Ferguson?s team slumped to a 3-2 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Rovers, the shock result of the season.
?Football, eh? Bloody hell!?
That was Ferguson?s response to the vagaries of the game 12 years ago when his United team famously snatched a last-gasp triumph in the Champions League final.
He must have muttered the same words yesterday in disbelief as he walked off despondently at the final whistle. United had blown the chance to start the New Year on top of the Premier League, conceding that honour to Manchester City.
It was a result nobody had predicted when the fans were singing a chorus of ?Happy Birthday? to the veteran manager before kick-off.
It will not, of course, affect Ferguson?s future. He revealed he has been inspired by his team?s progress overall this season, a factor in his desire to stay as the boss.
| I think I?ve got three years at the club as long as my health stays up |
?I think I?ve got three years at the club as long as my health stays up,? Ferguson wrote in the match programme.
?It is a milestone birthday, and I suppose inevitably Manchester United supporters are going to ask if a man of 70 is up to managing this great club. Well, proof of the pudding is in results, and though we have had our ups and downs during this campaign, the first half of the season in the Premier League is as good as anything I have had in my 25 years in charge at Old Trafford.
?And so, as someone who loves his job, I am not about to let years alone dictate my future. At my age health becomes the key issue for a man?s work, and I am happy to say I have been blessed with energy and stamina that sees me coping with what I admit is a very demanding job. I feel no different from how I felt 10 years ago.?
He needs to stay at Old Trafford for another season-and-a-half to overtake the late Sir Bobby Robson, the oldest top flight manager at 71 years and 194 days when he was sacked by Newcastle United. So will Sir Alex Ferguson make another three years ? or more?
We can say with reasonable certainty that he will never be sacked like his fellow knight.
Sir Alex long ago earned the right to choose his day of departure from the biggest stage in English football.
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