Sir Alex Ferguson shelves plans to retire from Manchester United

Posted Tuesday, December 21, 2010 by theguardian.com

Sir Alex Ferguson shelves plans to retire from Manchester United
It is almost nine years since Sir Alex Ferguson reversed his decision to quit as Manchester United manager.

Sir Alex Ferguson claims that he has postponed all thoughts of retirement.

The Scot yesterday became the longest-serving manager in Manchester United's history and on New Year's Day will celebrate his 69th birthday. It is also almost nine years since he reversed a long-standing plan to quit Old Trafford.

Ferguson is now, however, focused on winning a record 19th league championship and a fourth European Cup for United.

"The older you get the more worried you are about retiring," he told MUTV. "You start to realise that while you have got your health and good fitness, you should carry on in your job. All thoughts of retirement are in the back of my mind."

Ferguson's record includes 11 titles and two Champions League triumphs. He still has reservations about some decisions though, even when he gets them right. Most recently it was leaving Dimitar Berbatov on the bench for last week's win over Arsenal. It was a brave move considering the Bulgarian became only the fourth player to score five in a Premier League match during the 7-1 win against Blackburn Rovers.

Ferguson's move was justified by the 1-0 win that took United top of the table. But telling Berbatov was not very easy. "Management is about making decisions," he said. "Sometimes they are positive and good. Sometimes you feel you have made the wrong decision and should have attacked it a different way.

"Picking teams for instance. We made the decision the other night to leave Berbatov out of the team. It was not an easy one and was very difficult to explain. The only way I could do that was by saying I felt it was going to win us the match. Although it was proved right you are never sure."