Sir Alex Ferguson spoke to MUTV shortly after the news broke
that Wayne
Rooney has agreed to stay at United...
It’s amazing, this world we’re in. It’s often
upside-down and it’s had another turn today. Wayne has had
second thoughts, he’s realised the enormity of Manchester United
and wants to stay.
Sometimes when you’re at a club you think things are
better elsewhere. But once the news came out that Wayne wanted to
leave, the publicity and impact that had, and the
response it generated about how big Manchester United is,
resonated with him quite a lot.
He apologised to me and the players this morning, and I think
he’ll do that with the fans, which is important, because we’ve all
been hurt by the events of the last couple of days. I always feel
it’s a quality in a person to say he’s sorry. I admire that in
people. He realises he’s made a mistake, and that happens,
particularly with young people.
I don’t know where that [the accusation that United lacked
ambition] was coming from – you have to wonder about that.
Just look at Wayne's record since he’s been here. He’s won the
European Cup, the Club World Cup, the League Cup, FA Cup and three
league titles.
I’m really delighted he's decided to stay because in my time,
no-one has ever come to me in that fashion, asking to leave.
Cristiano [Ronaldo] was the perhaps the only one, but I could
understand that he wanted to move on because he'd been here six
years and he’s from a different culture.
The job for us now is to put this behind us, get Wayne Rooney
back on the pitch and playing the way we know he can do. It’s a big
day for Manchester United and it’s also a message to all our
players and fans that we are the biggest club in the world, and we
should never forget that.
We have to kick on. The older I get, the more I demand of myself
in terms of winning things, because the criticism bites deeper.
When we’re not doing well there's always a reaction in
the media, so we have to guard against that. Sometimes my job is to
keep us off the front and back pages, and you can only do that by
winning.
Our most important issue now is Sunday's game against Stoke.
We’re lagging behind Chelsea and have to start making up ground
quickly. We can only do that with everyone on board, no-one jumping
ship, so we can push on and see the real Manchester United.
