Alex eclipses final-day fare

In the end it was far from the end we were expecting. Charlton Athletic, Leeds United and Ipswich Town may have tried to invest some anxiety into the Premiership's last day, but the surprisingly competent figure of Sander Westerveld ensured excitement was kept to a minimum.

Westerveld and his woodwork did just enough in the first half at The Valley to muffle any thoughts that Liverpool might flunk their final final. After that, Robbie Fowler took over, reminding Michael Owen what a natural footballer looks like.

In fact, the biggest drama on the pitch at The Valley came after the match, when Alan Curbishley was cornered by a very fat microphone man and was put on the spot about his future. Curbishley was about as happy as John Prescott with an egg coming at him. His response was considerably more ambiguous than Prescott's, certainly not the "I'm staying", quickly reported on television.

At least Curbishley was in tune with the day's theme. Last days are meant to be all about decisiveness, conclusions. But with England's Premiership decided around about last November, there was a certain unsatisfactory nature to Saturday. No titles were won, no-one went down. It was dull.

And yet, it was possibly one of the most intriguing weekends of the season. Off the pitch.

Curbishley's name is one of several connected in a chain in which the locket is Manchester United. Curbishley, it would appear, wants the manager's job at West Ham United. The problem is he has not been offered it, at least officially. Another problem is the possible difficulties in manoeuvring Curbishley out of Charlton have made West Ham search for an alternative. His name is Steve McClaren, number two to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

A little ironically, Ferguson rates Curbishley as one of the best managers in England and has, in private, mentioned Curbishley's name in connection with the succession at Old Trafford. That succession is one of the reasons why McClaren is now looking at a future outside Manchester - he has been made aware that he will not be his master's successor.

Ferguson is fully supportive of his deputy in this. As McClaren's friend, Ferguson only wants best for him, financially and career wise. McClaren will not get that at Old Trafford. McClaren will move on, Southampton waiting to hear what happens in east London, and so eventually will Ferguson.

That immediately brings two questions: What will Ferguson do next? And, who will replace him at Old Trafford?

The second question has been addressed first by every Tom, Dick and Harry in the land. Unfortunately, the man who has the definitive answer - or should do - Peter Kenyon, United's chief executive, refused to stop and discuss the subject in the car park at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Kenyon has had some thinking to do recently. Now that Ferguson has exposed the board with his aggressive reply to the board's offer of a reduced role from that which Ferguson had envisaged, there is more to be done. If one were to take a purely commercial analysis of the United scene, then there might be some sympathy for Kenyon and his directors.

They, after all, have had to plan for a future without Ferguson and in the process of sounding out potential successors, may well have had feedback that any role for Ferguson would be unwelcome. That is not necessarily a reflection on Ferguson personally, but on the chain of command. It is easy to believe, for example, that Martin O'Neill would not relish a "father figure" haunting his shadow, either at Celtic or Old Trafford. O'Neill, as Dermot Desmond has said, is his own man.

Ferguson recognises that quality also. "Martin's a no-nonsense manager," Ferguson told Scottish reporters at Celtic Park last Tuesday, "just what you need at a big club. You don't mess this man around. For him to go to Celtic and change it all around in one season is remarkable."

So remarkable that O'Neill is the stubborn favourite to succeed Ferguson at United. This story refuses to go away despite O'Neill's repeated statement that he will honour his three-year contract at Celtic. Yesterday it was reported that United had met with O'Neill's representatives in a hotel in Perth - the details lending the story a whiff of legitimacy - but O'Neill said after the game at Kilmarnock yesterday: "There's absolutely nothing in it." If that was a lie - and effectively the newspaper is calling O'Neill a liar by implication - then it would be more than out of character for O'Neill. Everything O'Neill has done in football suggests he is an honourable man.

Those who persist in linking O'Neill to Old Trafford also overlook a salient factor: O'Neill's lack of European experience. And one other: the fact that managing Celtic might be a more rewarding job. It is part of the patronising attitude toward Scottish football that people automatically think O'Neill would jump at the first opportunity.

The frenzy is sure to continue because United must think postFerguson. That they might stifle funds available to him, in order to entice a successor with more, is an economic fact of life. It is common sense and Ferguson probably grudgingly recognises this. What annoys him more is that he was led to believe otherwise.

But he will not walk away, not without compensation. And, if that occurred, where would he go? At 59 he might fancy one last three-year contract but it would have to be a big club in Britain, his wife Cathy not wanting to move abroad. Rangers? Celtic? Manchester City?

One other thing: Who is the next manager of the Republic of Ireland?