Sir Alex Ferguson will quit as Manchester United manager
in two years and walk away from Old Trafford for good. In a
television interview to be screened tonight, the 66-year-old
reveals his retirement plans and dismisses the widely held view
that he may stay on in an advisory capacity. 'I will keep up my
enthusiasm long past 70, but whether I will still be doing the
football, I'm not so sure,' he says.
'I don't think I will be. I think no more than three years, more
likely two. Yeah, I think two more years. At that point, I wouldn't
have any interest in the team, in terms of how it was run. No, it
would be the manager's domain. People say that if you are about the
place, you are in the road, and I don't want that. The field will
be left clear.
'Anyway, I deserve a rest. After you've done 21 years, or 23
after a couple more seasons, you need one.' Ferguson admits regret
at offloading Jaap Stam in 2001, soon after publication of the
Holland defender's controversial autobiography, and recalls his ups
and downs with David Beckham, from the flying boot in the
dressing-room at Old Trafford to the wonder goal from inside his
own half.
'I wish I had kept Jaap another couple of years,' he says. 'I
made a mistake there, no question. It had nothing to do with the
book. The problem was Steve McClaren and I thought he had lost a
yard of pace after an achilles operation.
Then he had a bad start in the first game of the season and
Lazio came in with £16.5million, which was a lot of money for a
30-year old centre-half. After he joined Lazio, I went to see him
and he was fantastic. So it was a bad decision. Too hurried.
'We have scored some great goals in my time at United, and I
cannot forget Beckham's at Wimbledon. He had attempted the same
thing about 10 minutes earlier and I had turned to Brian Kidd and
said: "If he tries that again, he's off." 'David could get carried
away in those days and you had to keep his feet on the ground.
Anyway, he does it again, it ends up in the net and Kiddo says:
"We'll take him off then, shall we?"
'As for the Beckham boot - a complete accident. If I could
really do that (intentionally kick a boot to hit him near the eye),
I would probably still be playing now.'
Ferguson still rues missing out on Paul Gascoigne, who was
sectioned again yesterday. 'My first experience of Paul was at
Newcastle in March 1987,' he said. 'We had a central midfield of
Robson, Remi Moses and Norman Whiteside. Three really competitive
players, but he absolutely tore them apart. At one point, he
nutmegged Remi right in front of me, then patted him on the head. I
was straight out of the dug-out, screaming: "Get that little
f****** so and so."
'Robbo and Whiteside were chasing him up and down the pitch, but
couldn't get near him. Afterwards I told Martin Edwards not to
leave until he had spoken to the Newcastle chairman. I had to get
this boy. He was the best I had seen for years. I spoke to him the
night before I went on holiday and he said: "Mr Ferguson, you go
away and enjoy yourself. I'll be signing for Manchester
United."
'Off I go, and I'm lying by the pool when there is a Tannoy for
me to take a call. It was Martin telling me Tottenham had swung it
by buying Paul's mum and dad a house in the northeast. We had a
structure of players who could have helped him - lads from the
north-east - and joining us would have given him some discipline.
It was the biggest disappointment of all, losing out on him, and he
admits it was a mistake.
Moving down to London can't be easy for any 19-year old
lad.'