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Fergie ready for '10 more years'
03/11/2006 10:44 - (SA)
Manchester - Alex Ferguson is set to celebrate his 20th anniversary as manager of Manchester United against Portsmouth on Saturday with club captain Gary Neville backing him to stay in the job for another 10 years.
Ferguson, who will be 64 next month, was appointed United manager as successor to Ron Atkinson on November 6 1986 and the Old Trafford clash with high-flying Portsmouth is set to be marked by a special presentation to the Scot, two days before the actual anniversary of his arrival from Aberdeen.
Despite Chelsea's emergence as the dominant force in the Premiership in recent seasons, United's failure to challenge for the top honours and Ferguson's health problems, which have seen him fitted with a heart pacemaker, the man himself is refusing to set any retirement date.
And Neville, one of the many players to have emerged from the club's much envied youth policy, admits that he can see Ferguson's drive and hunger keeping him at Old Trafford for another decade.
Neville said: "It is an incredibly difficult job, but nobody else has had a chance to do it over the last 20 years and it would not surprise me if he was to go on for another five to 10 years.
"Whoever takes over will face a daunting task because there will be so many comparisons, more from outside than from within. But I've only ever played for one manager, he is it, he is my boss.
"It would be great to think I could get to the end of my career under one manager. Why should he leave? He feels as determined as ever and it is a continual challenge to be at this club.
"There was a period when people were talking about him retiring, but that has gone away. He knows the club, he knows how to make it successful, we have been developing a new side with a lot of young players coming into the squad and, hopefully, this season we can bear the fruits of that."
Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth travel to Old Trafford in fourth position in the table, but the south coast club have never won a Premiership point at Old Trafford and their last victory at the ground was as far back as 1957.
Pompey captain Dejan Stefanovic insists that Redknapp's men now have a rare chance to end their winless streak at United.
He said: "We have a better chance than ever and we're looking forward to it. We are playing very well, we have excellent players, we are scoring goals, our midfield players are working hard and as a team we defend superbly."
- AFP
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