SOCCER: Alex Ferguson has hailed Denis Irwin as possibly his best signing as the veteran defender prepares to bring down the curtain on his 12-year Manchester United career.
Irwin hopes to recover from a hip injury to make his 525th and last appearance for the club against Charlton at Old Trafford today.
Ferguson has told the 36-year-old Irishman he will not be offering him a new contract in the summer and the United manager claims the £650,000 he paid Oldham for him in June 1990 was one of his shrewdest investments.
In total, Irwin - who is the club's longest-serving player - helped United win 12 major honours; one Champions League, seven Premiership titles, two FA Cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners' Cup.
"Denis has my gratitude for what he has done for the club," said Ferguson. "He has been a phenomenal player for me and he could quite easily be the best signing I've ever made. He cost £650,000 from Oldham and he has given me 12 years fantastic service. That is great.
"He built up a reputation as being our most consistent player here for 10 years. I'm proud to have had a player of his calibre and integrity in my team."
Irwin has made 19 appearances for United this season in both full back positions as he has slipped down the pecking order behind Mickael Silvestre and Gary Neville.
Despite being shown the door by United, he feels he has at least one more season left in his legs. Ferguson agrees.
"I had a chat with him and I explained to Denis that we had to move on," said Ferguson.
"He deserves to go and play first-team football elsewhere."
Meanwhile, Ipswich could be excused for approaching today's fixture against Liverpool at Anfield with a haunted, hunted look. Theirs has been a season of ups and downs, with the final direction now almost certain to be the latter.
But still they could survive.
To do so they need a combination of circumstances that may sound implausible - victory for relegated Derby at Sunderland, a win of their own against a Liverpool side that must win to secure second place - but is nothing compared with some of the great escapes of the past.
If anything should sustain Ipswich's dwindling resources of hope, it is the memory of one of the closest finishes of all, in 1993-94.
Then, Ipswich went into their final game level with Sheffield United and Southampton on 42 points, one ahead of third-from-bottom Everton.
They must have felt doomed during the final minutes of a goalless draw at Blackburn, especially when they heard that Everton had recovered from 0-2 to lead 3-2 against Wimbledon, that Southampton were drawing at West Ham and Sheffield United were level at Chelsea.
But Ipswich were saved when Sheffield United, who had led at Stamford Bridge with 15 minutes to go, lost 3-2 to a last-minute winner from Mark Stein.
Dennis Wise, who provided the cross, later said: "I went past the Sheffield United dressing room afterwards and saw a lot of my old Wimbledon mates with their heads in their hands and I thought, what have I done? It was one of the worst moments of my career."
Guardian Service
