Boss enjoys patient triumph

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has ruled out taking over as manager of Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson retires, claiming that whoever replaces the 68-year-old will have an "impossible job" on their hands.

Jose Mourinho is currently favourite to replace Ferguson when he stands down at Old Trafford - but many believe O'Neill would be a good choice for United. However, O'Neill said the idea of taking over as manager of the reigning Premier League champions has never entered his mind.

"I've never thought about that at all, not for one second, not even way back when I was at Celtic," he said.

"I think Sir Alex will decide, and I would think in about the year 2033 when he thinks to himself, 'yeah, I think that Champions League has gone past me for the final time', then I will have departed this earth long before him - because I've got a lot more worries.

"It's never really bothered me. And of course there's always somebody coming up, somebody whose name is relevant at the time.''

And O'Neill, whose Aston Villa side will battle against Ferguson's charges at Wembley in Sunday's Carling Cup final, believes whoever replaces Ferguson faces a tough job.

"For anybody it would be absolutely an impossible job to succeed him. What can you do? Win the Premier League 10 times? You'd still be just starting out against him.

"I know Brian Clough went to Leeds and said he could win it better but he only lasted 44 days and to be honest it wasn't his most inspiring moment.''

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Sir Alex Ferguson saluted his side’s patience after Sunday's 2-1 win over Aston Villa secured back-to-back Carling Cup victories for United.

Michael Owen cancelled out James Milner’s early penalty, before Wayne Rooney’s second-half header sealed the win. The United boss was pleased with his side’s reaction to going a goal down on a wet, soft Wembley pitch.

“If you go a goal down early in a cup final you’ve got a job to do, you need a lot of patience,” Sir Alex told MUTV.

“Once we scored we looked a lot stronger. The first half was a real ding-dong battle, it was a soft tiring pitch and it took its toll on the players. I was hoping we could get some tempo into our game, because in the first ten minutes Villa laid down the gauntlet to us and made us turn towards our own goal.”

The Reds boss admitted his side could have no complaint about the award of Villa’s spot-kick after four minutes, and also that Nemanja Vidic may have been a little lucky to remain on the pitch.

“I don’t think there was any doubt about the penalty kick. As for whether Vidic should have been dismissed or not, I think we got a lucky break there, he could have been sent off.”

Sir Alex was quick to praise goalscorer Michael Owen, highlighting his predatory instinct in particular. However he felt sorry for the striker given his withdrawal with a hamstring injury just before half time.

“He’s not had a lot of football and the pitch probably wasn’t the best for him," assessed the manager. "You pick the team before you know the pitch conditions, and Michael isn’t suited to a heavy pitch like that. We paid the penalty for it.

“That aside, I thought he was one of our best performers in the first half. He did really well for us and scored a goal to get us back in the game. He’s good at picking up crumbs. He’s as good as anybody at that.

“He and Rafael will go for scans tomorrow, I think Michael will be out for a few weeks.”

Wayne Rooney once again hit the headlines by scoring the winner, and Sir Alex commended the striker’s technique in being able to steer the head in from an awkward position.

“His header wasn’t powerful but it was hard for him to get it up and over the keeper. It was a well placed header.”

Finally, Sir Alex thanked the fans for playing their part in what was a memorable day out at Wembley.

“The support was fantastic, they are so valuable. Whenever we really need them, they are there.”