Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson wants five more years in charge
As well as setting his sights on winning a 19th Premier League title, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson wants to be in charge for another half decade.
By Telegraph staff and agencies Bring it on: Sir Alex Ferguson insists he will remain in charge for as long as his health dictates he can Photo: PA
Speculation over when the 67-year-old will finally call it a day has been lingering since he went back on his plan to do three more years when United won the treble in 1999. But the Scot insists that while he has his health, he will be in the Old Trafford hot seat.
"I'm definitely not contemplating it – I'll carry on," he said following the 0-0 draw with Arsenal. "I'm going to stay as a manager and my health will tell me when to quit. Let's pray my health will give me five more years.
"You get that same wonderful feeling when you win a trophy. When you see the fans celebrating at the end of the game, all the hard work and the pain is worth it."
When Liverpool won the league for the last time in 1990, the title gap between the two clubs stood at 18-7 and just reducing it seemed a tough enough mission for Ferguson, who was then in the fourth year of his reign at Old Trafford.
But after sticking with the Scot through seven years without an English championship – a degree of patience that would seem implausible in today's game – Ferguson has duly repaid United's faith. And how.
Despite taking until 1993 to deliver the club's first title since 1967, the success rate has been unrelenting since.
The 11 English championships, two Champions League triumphs and five FA Cups – among his 25 major trophies – have made Ferguson the most successful manager in British football history.
Having already won the League Cup and Club World Cup this season, a first quadruple will be completed with a victory over Barcelona in the May 27 Champions League final.
But while he was so determined to knock Liverpool "off their perch" when he arrived south from Aberdeen, the Scot is not one to dwell on personal achievements.
Asked ahead of Saturday's game if he had reached a level of success that would never be matched, Ferguson quickly responded with a smile: "Is the world coming to an end?
"I am already thinking about next year," said Ferguson. "You have to do it here. There is nothing else for it. You just drive on."
The manager indicated a year ago that next season would be his swansong before retirement, but after seeing a fresh crop of the young players he has nurtured break into the first team, he now can't think about leaving until they have established themselves.
Ferguson paid tribute yesterday to one of his young fledglings who was not awarded a winner's medal. Were it not for an inspired substitution against Aston Villa in March this year – which saw Federico Macheda make his first senior appearance – United may well have lost the title to Rafael Benitez and Liverpool.
Speaking of the former Lazio trainee and other up and coming names, Ferguson said: "Macheda's effort was the catalyst for winning the league. If we had drawn or lost that game Liverpool would have had the scent."
"We have a lot of young players in the squad now and that's the healthy part," Ferguson said. "We obviously still have the dinosaurs like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes and Gary Neville. We hope they can last another two years because the younger players will really benefit from that.
"It's a very young squad and I'm quite excited by that. You can only try to think of what Giggs, Scholes and Neville were like at that age and they were still learning."作者: tshek 時間: 2009-5-18 08:34 AM
講真，如果費 sir 身體健康，我覺得佢會繼續教
曼聯每次入費 sir 依然每次都咁興奮，證明佢依然有爭勝決心作者: maidli 時間: 2009-5-19 07:24 PM
Bring it on: Sir Alex Ferguson insists he will remain in charge for as long as his health dictates he can Photo: PA