SOCCER: Alex Ferguson received the unequivocal support of Manchester United's plc board last night, with the chief executive David Gill making a vociferous case on behalf of a manager whose troubled season now faces a new threat from the club's major shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus.

Amid a hugely damaging period for Ferguson and the club, Gill took it upon himself to volunteer a rare television interview in which he denied that the team's poor form could be indirectly attributed to the Rock of Gibraltar dispute.

"People can read a lot into what has happened over the last couple of months but it would be dangerous to put this down to one particular issue," he said.

Gill went on to support Ferguson's transfer policy and, specifically, his overseeing of David Beckham's departure to Real Madrid last summer.

"Until Christmas we were playing fantastically well and had made our best start to the season ever," he said. "Nobody was asking questions about Beckham then. We were right to sell him."

At one of the most critical junctures of his 17-year tenure, Ferguson will welcome any form of support emanating from the boardroom.

Yet, in the wake of United's early Champions League exit and Sunday's hugely demoralising 4-1 defeat to Manchester City, the most successful manager in Britain will also be aware that if Magnier and McManus get their way he will have new, perhaps less forgiving, people to answer to before the end of the season.

Such is the financial muscle of Magnier and McManus at Old Trafford, having built up the biggest stake - 28.89 per cent - through their investment vehicle Cubic Expression, that the Irish businessmen expect to encounter no problems in forcing a reorganisation of the current Old Trafford establishment within six weeks.

Initial talks between the two camps will accelerate once United have released their interim financial results on March 30th and, however reluctant Gill and his colleagues are to accede to the demands of two men they regard with deep suspicion, it is almost unfeasible that there will be any resistance.

Indeed, Magnier and McManus are so assured of their position that they have already identified the two associates they intend to add to the present eight-man board.

The names are being kept confidential while the two are primed for what promises to be a difficult and controversial role, given the strength of opposition that exists among the club's shareholders and supporters - not to mention the current directors.

How it will impact upon Ferguson's everyday life remains to be seen but, having just reached an out-of-court settlement with Magnier after an acrimonious legal dispute over stud fees for the retired racehorse Rock of Gibraltar, it will clearly not be healthy for the United manager to effectively be working for a man he was trying to sue.

In Magnier's defence, there has been a much less hostile approach from Cubic since the Rock of Gibraltar dispute was resolved. The most obvious example of this was when he and McManus abandoned a possible defamation case against Ferguson last week, but there have been other conciliatory gestures too. For example, nobody from Cubic has expressed any disquiet over the news that Ferguson has had a pacemaker fitted, whereas earlier in the season they had gone to great lengths to question the gravity of his heart condition.

Even so, it is stretching the imagination to believe there could ever be an amicable relationship between Ferguson and a Cubic-inspired board. It is highly unlikely Magnier and McManus would be so crude as to try to force out a man long regarded as the best in his business, but they would have the power to make life as difficult for him as they wanted, particularly if United fail to rescue a hugely disappointing season by winning the FA Cup, so finishing without any silverware for the second time in three years.

Ferguson can at least count on the support of the current board.

"It has been difficult going out of Europe and our performances in the Premiership have not been great," said Gill.

"But I have spoken to Sir Alex Ferguson and he is committed to turning it around and having a very strong end to the season.

"We have been written off in the past but you have to recognise what Sir Alex has achieved. We have got some positive things to look forward to. The manager has signed a new contract and we have signed Louis Saha, who I think will turn out to be a great asset for us."