SOCCER:Alex Ferguson once claimed he would never work beyond the age of 60 and at the time he probably meant it. He may have surprised even himself by how long he has lasted at Manchester United and tomorrow he will reach another milestone when he turns 65 hoping to become the first OAP to win a league title.
To many men it is bus-pass time, pipe, slippers and lazy afternoons watching Countdown. Ferguson, however, is 65 going on 45 and yesterday he made it clear this was not an age at which he fancied devoting more time to pruning his roses.
"I'll get my free bus pass and the heating allowance and after the length of time I've worked I think I probably deserve it too," he said. "But the most important thing is that I feel fine. I'm as fresh as you can be and enjoying all the challenges that are constantly thrown up."
As if to prove his point, Ferguson offered an insight into his extraordinary lifestyle and, specifically, the time he devotes to his work at Old Trafford and the club's Carrington training ground. "I was in for six today but I'm up at that time every morning and sometimes even earlier," he reported.
"To me it's a normal way of life. I will quite often get up at five sometimes. It does become a little harder as you get older and there are times when I'll have a little catnap, maybe 10 or 15 minutes at 4.30 or 5 o'clock. But I don't see the big deal really.
"There are plenty of people who are older than me but who still get up earlier than me to go to work. There are farmers and milkmen and butchers and bakers - these are the people you really have to admire."
Certainly nobody in football, particularly at Chelsea, should be fooled for one minute into thinking that the Premiership's most durable manager is about to wind down. The mere suggestion appals Ferguson at a time when his team are four points clear at the top of the league and on course for their first championship in four seasons.
"I think our form has been more consistent than Chelsea's and that's why we are four points clear of them," said Ferguson. "The name of the game is consistency. We're defending really well and if we can maintain that we must have a marvellous chance because we have so many players who can win matches for us at the other end."
United take on Reading today, five days after Steve Coppell's team did them a huge favour by twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a performance which exposed Chelsea's vulnerability without their goalkeeper, Petr Cech, and captain John Terry, two players whom Ferguson described as the "mainstays of their team".
Intriguingly, however, Ferguson did not seem to agree that Terry's absence with a back injury could be one of the decisive factors in the title race.
"I'm not quite sure what to believe," he said, referring to the amount of time the England captain might be sidelined. "But the fact anyway is that they have dropped two points since Terry was out and in the same time we've dropped three, so we're actually in a worse position than before."
Ferguson then returned to his age, saying he would carry on working for as long as he felt healthy and praised his players for keeping him young. "I look at someone like Cristiano Ronaldo and I see someone who is already among the best in the world and can only get better."
His birthday will be spent at a hotel on Newcastle's quayside, preparing for Monday's game at St James' Park. Somebody should warn him that Newcastle on a New Year's Eve is a place where sleep is a precious commodity. Then again, Fergie is not a man who needs many hours.
Guardian Service
