ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE MANCHESTER UNITED:ALEX FERGUSON has quashed speculation he might be considering calling time on his managerial career next summer by declaring that retirement is "for young people".

Making it clear he intends to be at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future, the Manchester United manager said: “I’m in no mood for it; as long as my health is good I intend to carry on. If my health deteriorated it would be different but retirement is for young people – they can do something else. If I get off that treadmill where do you think I’d go? Only one way, down.”

When it was put to him that three years ago he mentioned 2011 as a potential date for stepping down, Ferguson replied: “I’ve changed my mind – again.”

Addressing a sports congress in Doha, where he has been lending support to Qatar’s bid to stage the 2022 World Cup, Ferguson had warm words for the Glazer family, United’s controversial owners. “We have a great relationship – they never bother me, they never phone,” he said, beaming. “They never interfere. What more can you ask for? I’m in a privileged position. I’ve heard of English owners texting managers during training sessions.”

Not that the United manager’s horizon is entirely irritant-free. Ferguson made it clear he regards Paul Stretford, Wayne Rooney’s agent, as a particular nuisance.

“Some young people today take bad advice,” he said, referring to Rooney’s desire to leave Old Trafford, before the U-turn which has furnished the striker with a handsome new contract. “He’s got an agent who is not the most popular man in the world, certainly not at our club. But there’s nothing wrong with making a mistake as long as you recognise it. He (Rooney) has apologised and signed a new contract. I think what we want is Wayne back to his best. When that happens I think everyone will be okay.”

Ferguson believes Rooney realised he had made a major mistake when he felt the backlash against his plans to leave Old Trafford, plans which were met by an angry response from many supporters.

Ferguson said: “It wasn’t done to get the contract, I don’t think that for a minute.”

Ferguson did not talk in detail about his relationship with Rooney, who has returned from his trip to America after recovering from injury. His fitness will be assessed today to see if he can return for this weekend’s Premier League match at home to Wigan Athletic.

“We have to see if he’s ready for the first team,” Ferguson said. “The only evidence we will have is on the training field and I’ll see that tomorrow.”

But asked to talk in general about how he has handled troublesome players during his 24 years at United, Ferguson said: “Nobody is more important than the manager.” He added: “The minute a footballer becomes more important than a manager, your club is dead. The history of this club goes right down the drain. I am the most important man at Manchester United. It has to be that way.

“My concern will always be control. The minute a footballer threatens my control of the dressingroom, I have to take it seriously. I have to consider: is this worthwhile? “Is it affecting the team morale? Is it affecting results? Is it affecting the atmosphere in the dressingroom? If that is the case, the player has to go, no question.”

The 68-year-old said he had forced himself to keep pace with players’ modern habits, admitting their lifestyles are a new phenomenon for him. “I’ve mellowed a great deal,” he said. “The world has changed and so have players’ attitudes.

“I’m dealing with more fragile human beings than I used to be. They are cocooned by modern parents, agents, even their own image at times. They need to be seen with their tattoos and earrings. It’s a different world for me so I have had to adapt.

“There is nothing wrong with losing your temper if it’s for the right reasons. But I never leave it till the next day. I don’t believe in that. Some managers wait till Monday when they say things are calmer but I want to let it go after the game because I am already planning for the next one. Once I let it go, it’s finished and I don’t bring it up again. I don’t wait till tomorrow.”

Discussing the current season, Ferguson admitted United had at times been lucky.

He said: “I don’t know how we are still unbeaten. We should have lost by six against Villa but in a way it was great because it was a reflection of what I have always believed in: when you give young people a chance they never disappoint you.

“That’s what Villa did, they tore into us and had a fantastic belief in themselves. But we have a great group of young players at the club.

“We tend to go for younger players before older ones because they give you more loyalty.”

Guardian Service