[versa]

Source: Guardian Unlimited/Goal.com/The Mirror/Sky Sports


Sir Alex Ferguson has indicated he will spend three more years as Manchester United's manager before stepping down. The Scot, who has previously gone back on plans to retire, would then have been in charge at Old Trafford for 25 years.

"I still have a lot of passion," Ferguson was quoted in the Daily Mirror. "I'm still happy. But I'm 66 now - maybe three years more, then I'll finish."

Addressing the issue of his successor, he said: "I have a great assistant in Carlos Queiroz. He will come into the reckoning. But we have owners and a chief executive who will choose the new man in three years' time. The thing about football is we have some potential young managers but because of the dangers, the hazards of management, they may not be there in three years' time."


All good things must come to an end? And who would you prefer or speculate to be at the helm when Fergie finally brings down the curtain?

More importantly, will it derail our performance on the pitch like before?!!

 

[GeoManc]

It will be like a funeral when Sir Alex goes, I don't want him to leave even though he has been there a long time.

I hope he stays for 30 years, maybe he'll stay at the club for longer, just like when he said he would retire in 2002.

I think Sir Alex should be given an embassor's role or directors role or some form of superior role because he should have every right to be there and watch and mould the new manager who might be coming in to follow his footsteps, just like Sir Alex did with Sir Matt.

It will be the saddest day in world football - when Sir Alex leaves his manageral role.

I would like either Keane or Hughes to take his place, I think Querioz would be a disaster from the start, just look what happened with him at Real Madrid.

 

[TomCat]

IMO the successor's post is Quieroz's to lose at this point. Fergie has been grooming him for a while now and CQ has surely picked up a lot of things from him on how to deal with Manchester United and everything that goes on around the club -- the board, fans etc.

 

[yeganehs]

It will definetly be a sad day..... but Carlos Queiroz should be given the first chance to take over after Fergie retires.... Queiroz wasn't a disaster at Real Madrid... he was forced to put the star players into his lineup/ not having any input on a lot of decisions..he was basically punked and doing whatever management told him to do.... . also he wanted to keep claude makelele but the board at Real Madrid didnt care and sold him anyways... coaching at real madrid is a joke, they have a new coach every year.... I definetly do back up Queiroz and think he should get the job at Man United eventually... if they do go with another coach I think Jurgeon Klinsman would be great... but whoever does get the job will have the impossible task and expectations of replacing Fergie.

 

[eoininho]

I still think if Fergie wins the Champions League this year he'll step down!!

on the successor I think the Glazers are the type to get in the best coach in the world... they did this with the Bucaneers when they took over first,

so for that reason I dont think CQ would take over as the manager, I can see the like of Mourinho or Lippi being brought in!

 

[nghuado]

i hope he can coagh for more years ..

 

[Clarky101]

i think mourinhos destiny is to follow in fergies footsteps. i think he is the only man on the planet that can equal fergies achievements. i would love for him to take over.

my only worry would be the style of football he would bring in. because at the end of the day man utd is an attacking club. mourinho is known to sit back. but would love to see him as united manager after fergie. and fergie in the board seat

 

[reddwarf]

It'll be a sad day when Fergie retires but it has to happen sometime.

Big shoes to fill for whoever takes over. I know a lot of fans would like someone like Hughes or Keane to takeover but I'm not sure they're ready for the responsibility tbh.

 

[TomCat]

I still think if Fergie wins the Champions League this year he'll step down!!

I don't know if the CL alone is going to do that. If they win the Treble, then most likely yes. But let's say they win the CL, lose in the FA Cup final and the PL title by 1 point. Fergie would have too much ambition to go out like that.

And I don't think Mourinho is coming to the Reds. He said he wants to go to Spain and then eventually coach Portugal's national team.

With Lippi we at least wouldn't have to worry about not having a defensive mindset...but not sure he would be the right man either. How about O'Neill? Hasn't he proven enough yet?

 

[eoininho]

It'll be a sad day when Fergie retires but it has to happen sometime.

Big shoes to fill for whoever takes over. I know a lot of fans would like someone like Hughes or Keane to takeover but I'm not sure they're ready for the responsibility tbh.

Not yet!! they'd need to prove themselves at a higher level than their at 1st!!

I reckon I'd like Moyes either!!

 

[blue_wkd62]

barca look to be getting rid of rikkard (sp*) in the summer, pay him to stay out of work till fergie goes?

 

[versa]

What about the performance on the pitch? Will there be any negative effect like a few years ago when Fergie first announced his 'retirement plan'? That may be a big, big concern, now that we are on the Treble warpath. Is the timing of such a statement actually detrimental to our ambitions?!

 

[reddwarf]

Versa on that occasion he announced he was retiring at the end of the season. This time he's said he'll probably retire in 3 yrs time. If anything, that gives stability to the club for the next 3 yrs so I don't see it having a negative effect on the players.

 

[babysenorita]

I think with that statement, he is trying to send out a message to his players in a way telling them how important for them to atleast win the Champions League for him in within this three years. It is so not common for Sir Alex to be talking about retirement especially specifying the period of time. He might be disappointed with the way we perform in the lyon match so felt a need to remind them..mind games?


As for wether its true or not, only he knows but seriously i cant and wont think about it just yet. Tbh that day will be the day i fear the most.

 

[Red Devil]

I do not think it will all that bad when he leaves us, and I mean no disrespect to SAF. It was a disaster when best left, it was a disaster when Robbo left, it was a disater when Eric left ........

 

[red_devils4life]

I still think if Fergie wins the Champions League this year he'll step down!!

on the successor I think the Glazers are the type to get in the best coach in the world... they did this with the Bucaneers when they took over first,

so for that reason I dont think CQ would take over as the manager, I can see the like of Mourinho or Lippi being brought in!

^Ditto! In my personal view, I believed that SAF would step down permanently from the United's hot-seat if we actually wins the Champions League by the end of this season! It has been his main goal to achieve another CL winner's tally as soon as possible, not the Premiership title IMHO!

Did ue juz' mention Jose Mourinho?! I would never ever welcome him to succeed Fergie as United's manager! We, Manchester United, are the best football club in the whole world currently & also, we play for the sake of entertaining, not juz' for winning ffs! A manager like a self-proclaimed 'The Special One' would deffo' win major trophies for us while destroying The Red Devils famously-acclaimed style of fast-flowing & high-tempo passing game which has lasted for many generations even before ur great-grandparents were borned into this world! A manager such as the likes of Juergen Klinsmann(Germany actually played entertaining football while claiming the 3rd spot of WC 06!) or David Moyes(the most under-rated manager in the world currently, shrewd buys such as Mikael Arteta, Tim Cahill, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Joleon Lescott, Joseph Yobo, Tim Howard & etc, for less than a combined fee of £40million and look where are they are now, 4th place while scoring the 3rd most goals in the league) would suffice!

 

[versa]

Man Utd's Ferguson plays it cool on retirement talk

Source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Alex Ferguson has left the door open to the possibility of managing Manchester United beyond his 70th birthday after playing down REPORTS that he is preparing to retire within the next three years.

The 66-year-old, whose United team face Portsmouth in the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford on Saturday, famously backtracked on a decision to retire in 2002, when he ripped up his initial plans to quit at the end of the 2001-02 campaign after consulting his family.

Ferguson had been quoted on French radio earlier this week suggesting that he would call time on his United reign -- which began in November 1986 -- in three years.

But speaking at his weekly press briefing at United's Carrington training ground on Friday, the Scot admitted that he has no fixed retirement plans and that his future will ultimately be decided by his personal well-being.

Ferguson said: "What I've said for a while is, if your health is good and you are enjoying your job, then two or three years, who knows?

"It's difficult to pigeon-hole myself on that one because it could be four years, who knows? It could be tomorrow. I could get fed up with all the bad press!

"I've not put a time limit on it, but it is possible (that I could go in three years) because a lot of things matter in life."

Ferguson, who dismissed speculation linking him with a job in charge of a Great Britain team at the 2012 Olympics, is ready to make changes to his team for the clash with Portsmouth after the Champions League victory over French champions Lyon on Tuesday.

Midfielder Paul Scholes, rested for the Lyon clash, will return and Ferguson admits that the current form of his team is making it difficult for him to drop players.

He said: "Scholesy will play against Portsmouth. He was unlucky not to play against Lyon because he was back to his vintage best against Fulham last Saturday, but I just felt I had to use my squad.

"I did the right thing by not playing him because there was not a lot of time between the Fulham and Lyon games, but it isn't easy to leave players out when you have such a strong squad.

"The likes of Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves are all playing at a top level at the moment, but we are lucky in that we are in so many competitions because it allows me to keep everyone involved."

 

[eoininho]

United website says fergie has no timeframe on his retirement! (versa beat me to it! ha!)

ya i mentioned id like moyes but hes only ever worked at a 2nd rate club! we're gonna need a winner to succeed the best!

 

[NateR]

Thank Goodness. Had me worried for a while. But its Inevitable, he will leave. Hopefully he'll be okay for a few more years to come. It'll be interesting as to who will replace him. Its going to have to be someone pretty dam good.

 

[Red Devil]

BBC:

Sir Alex Ferguson insists he has not set a date for when he will step down as manager of Manchester United.


The 66-year-old told French radio this week that he could retire in 2011.
But Ferguson said: "It's something I've said quite a bit. If your health is good and you are enjoying your job it could be two or three years, who knows?
"I am not going to pigeonhole myself on that one. It could be four years. Who knows, it could be tomorrow. It is impossible to put a time limit on it." Ferguson, who has won 18 trophies since he took charge at Old Trafford in 1986, originally planned to retire in 2005 but changed his mind.