Sir Alex Ferguson has repeated his desire to stay at Manchester United for the forseeable future, particularly if the team are 'struggling'.
United finished second, and missed the top spot by only a point, which is not most people's idea of struggling. However, they only won the Carling Cup this season, a poor haul for a trophy greedy club who must consider their season to be a major disappointment, if not an unmitigated disaster. Take away Wayne Rooney and there is every chance it could have been.
So Ferguson will stay to try to recapture the glory days.
But will it work?
It has been eight years since Ferguson announced his retirement and then returned to work at the start of the next season as if nothing had changed.
He then announced in 2008 that he would only manage the club for a further three years, which would see him retire in the summer of next year. But when asked by the press about this matter in April, Ferguson said he wanted to stay.
Ferguson keeps his grip on the reins of the Red Devils, but the team have lost their grip on the league.
There is every chance of United taking the Premier League title back from Chelsea next season, but it seems very unlikely that they will manage another treble.
The have slipped back slightly, the problem is other teams have made huge strides forward.
With Tottenham Hotspur's emergence as a new top four team and the multi-millionaires at Manchester City snapping at their heels, it is getting harder and harder for the old guard to maintain their dominance.
Spurs have the funds, and the basic squad already in place to challenge anyone, and whatever Manchester City still lack, they will simply purchase.
United's finances are still rather mysterious, with takeover talk squashed amidst a sea of yellow and green scarves.
I don't think Manchester United will slip out of the top four for a few years yet, but they could find themselves playing catch up if they do not find a better balance within the team.
Rooney has replaced Ronaldo's goals, but nobody has replaced his creativity.
From a neutral perspective, the United first team is three pages of has beens, might bes, never gonna bes and who the hell are yous!
There are of course exceptions to this rule, Wayne Rooney is a world class player, Nani had a blistering end to his season and Edwin Van Der Sar remains one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.
But deputy goalkeeper Ben Foster could not cope when called into action for the injured Van Der Sar, and is finalising a move to Birmingham at the time of writing. Dimitar Berbatov has been a massive disappointment, Michael Owen should never have signed for United, Owen Hargreaves hasn't managed an hour of football, Michael Carrick is just not United quality, and the list goes on.
United seem to have lost their aura, they are breakable, and beatable.
Since newly promoted Burnley stunned everyone by not only beating United at Turf Moor, but keeping a clean sheet against them, way back in August, 'lesser' teams decided to have a go.
Not that United didn't still take teams apart, and weren't excellent on their day, because they were.
It's just that teams who usually would write off matches against United found they could pick up points. Sunderland managed a draw against them, so did Blackburn, Birmingham did one better and recorded two score draws and Fulham beat them at Craven Cottage, and Aston Villa were victorious at Old Trafford.
Their weaknesses have been exposed, and for the first time that I can remember, during the 2009-10 season, they experienced a proper injury crisis.
Big names Rooney, Vidic and Ferdinand have all struggled with long term problems, while the treatment room was hardly ever empty.
On the World stage too, United are sliding.
Since Barcelona made them look staggeringly average in the 2009 Champions League final, they have not been the same force outside of the domestic league.
They were knocked out by Bayern Munich in the quarter finals this year and went out of the FA Cup in the third round to hated rivals Leeds United. Even the current England squad reflects the decline in talent at Manchester United.
In Fabio Capello's provisional 30, only three players are from Manchester United. Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, and Michael Carrick. Paul Scholes refused to return.
Ferguson himself is now 68, certainly no spring chicken, and while his experience as well as his almost unmatched talents as a manager have enriched the Premier League for well over a decade there will come a point in the not too distant future when he simply cannot do it anymore.
And its not just the manager.
Players such as Ryan Giggs, at 36, would normally be retiring this season, but do not want to go out with, well, a Carling Cup. Gary Neville is 35, so is Paul Scholes. These three have arguably been three of the best performers this season, but are in the winter of their careers.
Maybe their day in the sun is over and it is time for someone new?
Jose Mourinho is the United fan's favourite to replace Ferguson should he hang up his hairdryer. But reports suggest Mourinho will move to Real Madrid this summer.
"If we hit a bad spell, it would not be the right time to go," Ferguson told the Press Association recently.
"I would not want to put the new manager into a situation where he was taking over a bad team. I want to leave United in a good, healthy position."
United are not a 'bad team' but neither are they the team they once were.
Perhaps Ferguson has already hung on too long? maybe he should have retired at the top?
First published on www.SportingPreview.com on 18/5/2010
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