i still trust fergie but if we dont sign anyone this summer and dont win anything this season. then its time fergie to go next summer a long with giggs scholes nevile but i said only if we dont win anything i am stll backing fergie abd the old golden boys. but we to win the prem our chanmpions league? if we dont then bring the special one he has a boy out clause each year so it would nto be problem, but if we dont win anything fergie still be here for years conme

Worth reading fair, balanced and well researched article.

Jose and United? Na... remember Ron Atkinson? Ok, jose is in a different league than Big Ron, but the characteristics are similar... any manager who considers his ego more important than the club does not fit in with the United ethos... I'd rather have Ole succeed Fergie some day rather than the self-styled "special one"...

Who were the 3 players we bought between 64 and 72 is that really true we only bought 3 players in 8 years?

I remember that banner if anyone knows of a link to it on the web please give us a link.

Top article, the best I've read in a while although I'm sure I agree but I have in the past wanted Fergie OUT as most United fans have i believe.

i agree that mourinho is a nasty little scumbag who is overrated and plays a very dull brand of football.

i also was gutted to see us miss out on the dutch duo and that we took £80m without trying to get a player chucked in.

its always hard to argue that fergie doesnt know best and last summmer despite feeling we need 2 or 3 new faces i trusted him and we came close.
but we only came close to winning the prem cos chelsea were utter crap too lol.

in 95 he cut out players who had done there best for the team and would provide a decent return too.

i think there are one or two he could of cast off this summer and this no value in the transfer market does get old.

we shall see what happens this season but i would like at least 2 new faces (in central midfield) before that window slams shut.

I think City will dominate football now for the next decade with their financial power.

We could be in for a similar experience to what went on when Sir Matt left.

It is true that if you compare this team with the one that won the Champions League there is a big demise like that of Busby's in the late 60s.

if you dont want mourhino when fergie fianly goes then who do you want. thre is not better mangers out there at this monent only than fergie and mourhino. mourhino would win us the league straight he knows how to handle the perssure were sonme like david moyes might take 5 years to win us the prem . i would all you lot be happy wating five years to win the prem ?

I confess I don't understand why Fergie hasn't bought class if he has the funds

No matter what people say SAF knows what he is doing. Winning is in his blood. If he needs to buy he will. If he feels that MUFC has the youngsters who can step up and tear teams apart, I think that he can be trusted, no matter what the so-called pundits may say. Besides, how long will the Mourinhos of the world stay with the Club to build it up? Look at Mourinho's track record, impressive though. How long was he at Chelsea and Inter Milan? Perhaps he will give MANCHESTER UNITED 3 seasons. Then what? No! We need someone who will get the team up and competing successfully after a failure - someone who will have his heart and soul in MUFC - someone who is not a mercenary. Perhaps that someone is already around in Great Britain ... a British who has deep feelings for the Club. Let us hope and pray that when SAF decides to call it a day we will get a true gladiator with a heart for MUFC taking over.

i think fergie should have gone for balotteli and offer 26mil and try to do a player plus cash offer for ozil maybe anderson and offer 7 mil.... ozil and balotelli and hernadez would make and unstoppalbe united sqaud......

There is not a hope in hell that Ferguson will ever be sacked. On the other side when Ferguson decideds to stand down as manager who's going to come in? Jose would love to come I reckon, ever since Ferguson met Jose they have been close friends. Jose is a winner and he has proven that. Winning a Champions League with FC Porto isn't something every manager could do without having lots of money which he didn't really. I reckon when Ferguson leaves there are going to be a few managers till we find the right one, id like Jose to be that right one!

Really enjoyed reading this I'm a younger fan and didn't realise Fergie was so unpopular in his early days. Does anyone have a link to the banner that requested Fergie to Go spoken of in the article? I like articles where you learn things and are interesting and have a point, keep it up. I also would like the names of the three players who we bought between 64 and 72

breaking news ozil want to jion man united or chelsea www. sky sports news clock watch. will fergie ever make a fucking bid

thank you good read

Fergie may have funds, but what if he is not using them for the good of the clubs future. If Ferguson has the money claimed but is unwilling to use them because it would risk the clubs future he is a hero in my eyes. Most managers wouldnt themselves take responsibility for the clubs financial status.

How is anyone seriously calling this a good article? The grammar and punctuation was so bad I could barely make it to the end.

The whole premise of this article is that the current squad isn't good enough and that the prime difference between the class of '92 and the current crop of youngsters, is that the first set were "special". But you're only saying that with the benefit of hindsight aren't you? No-one at the time was saying "don't worry, these lads are special. Let's give them a chance". They were being written off from the get go and Ferguson being lambasted for his decision making. Fast forward to this summer and how is it any different? We are hearing all the same noises.

We should have established by now that the average fan is an awful judge of player potential. Virtually every young player SAF has brought through has gone through a period of barracking from the home support. Our current academy darling and only stand out midfielder (according to you), Darren Fletcher, got it worst than most. So why pray tell should we listen to another article telling us that without major signings the squad just isn't good enough? Ronaldo was harangued for "no end product" for years. Nani was virtually hounded out of town. Remember how Evra was written off after a difficult start? We currently have a squad full of players who have bags of talent and who have the potential to deliver big things....we just have to show a little patience. Valencia, Nani and Anderson for instance, are only going to get better and better. Then we have the likes of Gibson, Obertan, Macheda, Rafael and Hernandez who can all make a huge impact this season. All this around a core of top international senior players. If anything, the future for this squad looks very, very bright.

I have no doubt that there are funds at the manager's disposal, should he need to use them and should he see a player that he thinks will imrove the squad. Will the fans celebrate is we signed Ozil for example...I am sure. But if the manager doesn't move for him then we can all be sure he has his reasons. I, for one, trust that judgement implicitly.

The Glazer ownership of the club is a very sad state of affairs but I give SAF far more credit than blindly defending a bunch of leeches, as many fans claim he is doing. If he was being denied the possibility of operating in the transfer market, then I am certain we would hear about it. I absolutely trust his judgement with regards to the squad. He is building another great team. Something he has now done several times.

There is no-one in sport that hates coming 2nd more than our intrepid leader. It's what has kept him going for so long and it's a quality he infuses in his players. It's hilarious to read these half witted articles from semi illiterate fans who think they know better and like ot move players around the global transfer market as if it is championship manager.

I think the days of Fergie winning the title are gone but as you say he has suprised us before.

I don't think Simon understands the English language he doesn't know what a sentence consists of and his spelling is very poor.

Great Article Mancunian Red

way to go Simon. Made yourself look like an utter plonker!?!

Decent article, but don’t agree with all the points.

“the old Fergie would have accepted he made a massive mistake buying Berbatov
and off loaded him and brought in replacements.”

How about previous record signing Andrew Cole? He was mediocre when he first signed him missing numerous chances and important ones too (West Ham away last day of the season in 1995) but Fergie stuck by him and he formed an excellent partnership with Yorke in 1998. Fergie is very stubborn with some signings particularly costly ones, I don’t think that Berba is a special case.

I agree that there are concerns with the current squad. I think Fergie is looking to replace VDS for next season, but there is nothing to suggest that VDS will not provide another solid season for the club and Kuszczak appears a sufficient understudy. Right back was a problem position last year, but I expect Rafael to be a revelation this season and there is no way Sheasy and Brown can be as injured as they were in 2009-2010.

You say that Rooney carried us last season but I can’t think of too many goals that he created completely himself. Obviously he scored a lot, but it was usually down to a good United move and Valencia or, in the latter stages of the season, Nani creating the chance for him. We have more options upfront this season and I think Fergie has acknowledged that we played Rooney too much and more trust and minutes should have been provided to the other forwards.

Our “ordinary” midfield gets a lot of stick but this same midfield has won 3 league titles and got to two champions league finals. OK Hargo is not coming back now, but he’s not played as an important role for United as people seem to think (e.g. he played right midfield in the Moscow final). In my opinion, the return to form of Carrick (he was terrible last year) would fix United's midfield issues. The midfield is in need of strengthening, but let’s judge the squad for next season when the transfer window closes not before.

Sorry but the parallels of Cole and Berba are clear. Both signings were then records for the most expensive British transfers. Both players struggled in their first few years. Until Cantona left, Cole scored only 32 goals in two and a half seasons at United. He went on to become a very good player and more prolific for United. Berba has scored 21 goals in two seasons. Who is to say that Berba may turn it around this year himself? My point was that Fergie stuck by Cole in the early years despite his poor form, he was castigated in the same way Berba is now. Fantasy Football (Baddiel and Skinner) even made a song up about how cap he was in those early years. So to say that Fergie has never before stuck by a big signing who has struggled is incorrect.

Is the midfield in need of improvement? Yes it is, Fergie was relying on Hargo to come back fit and Ando and Carrick’s form has plummeted. But players good enough to improve it with experience to match are not easily available. Let’s see what happens in the next two weeks with regard to midfield purchases. I agree I will be concerned if there are no additions.

Do I think that United are as good as they were in 2008 and 2009? No I don’t, we’ve sold one of the best three players in the world. But last year we came very close to winning the title again (despite horrendous defensive injuries) and reaching a CL semi final against Lyon but we tired in the latter part of the season. No reason to panic in my view. The title of your article was “Is Fergie losing it?”, my position is that he’s really not. He’s laid a foundation with some exciting youngsters coming through in preparation for his exit.

I'm happy to agree to disagree on our views about the coming season.

However, I really can't let this Cole v Berba thing go. Yes Cole scored 12 goals in 18 games in his first season, but remember 5 of these were in one game (Ipswich 9-0).

The second season you say "we had kids that year and the supply wasn't as good". United won the double that year and Cantona played alongside Cole regularly for the first time folowing his return fron suspension - poor supply? Yet Cole scored 13 goals in 43 games. His third season was even worse 7 goals in 28 (although he broke both legs that year).

Yes Cole was eventually a great servant for the club, but let's not pretend he was a great signing intially. The general consensus was that Newcastle had done better out of the deal because they had Keith Gillespie! Particularly in that second season he was a figure of fun for rival fans and our own fans' backlash was stronger than that against Berba now. It was not till Cantona left that his United career really took off.

Therefore, again I would suggest that there are clear parallels with our latest under performing record signing and a similar patience should be afforded by Fergie to Berba.

Triggs I have no problem with your opinion on Berbatov but remember this Berbatov couldn't get in the United team against the top teams while Cole kept Ole out.

I personally believe had Fergie bought Shearer - Cole could have gone but he didn't.

But I don't see the parellels with Cole and Berbatov when he cannot get a starting birth but Cole was always first choice even in his early days as a red.

But the point I want to make and this is the essense of my argument - you agree we are a distance of what we were a few years ago.

Fergie has the power and the funds to change that. I do not understand why he hasn't done it or isn't doing it.

I don't get it, I really do not rate this United team/squad as potential champions or improving.

I don't get why Fergie isn't acting on this. That is the essence to why I believe he may be losing it.