SAF: I Could Continue After Euro-Triumph
Sir Alex has confirmed that a Champions League triumph this season would not mean his certain retirement as United manager.
According to the Daily Mail’s report of Ferguson’s interview with the Sententa football channel, to be broadcast this evening, the 65-year-old manager claims that his health and enthusiasm for the job will be his main considerations when deciding the time to step down.
“It is a difficult one,” Ferguson said. “The thing is I am enjoying myself. If we won the Champions League, I would probably enjoy it even more. My time to go will be dictated to by my energy levels and my health.
“It is a fact of life that once you get into your 60s you are no longer in control of these things.”
It had been widely thought that the manager would seek to end his career on a high, with ‘old big ears’ cradled in his arms. That must now be set aside with Ferguson careful not to have offered the scenario as a hostage to fortune.
Yet in so doing, has he delivered a crushing blow to the hopes of right hand man Carlos Queiroz?
The coach spoke only recently of his interest in claiming the United job outright but at 54 needs to inherit the crown sooner rather than later.
“It is not up to me, but it is logical that I would like to be one day the manager of Manchester United,” he told the Sunday People newspaper last June. “Sir Alex Ferguson still has a great desire, even more so after winning the title. He wants to go one step at a time and has no set date for his goodbye. At the moment it is ruled out.”
Queiroz may have his own timetable but for the moment, Ferguson will admit to the existence of no such schedule.
