Walter Smith could still change his mind about retiring, says old friend Sir Alex Ferguson

Published on Saturday 11 September 2010 15:41

For most, the onset of retirement is something to cherish, but Sir Alex Ferguson maintains that his old friend Walter Smith will be wrestling with the same feelings that saw him pull back from the brink.

The two men have known each other for decades and the restlessness for success they share and their make-up means their friendship will only make them more determined to beat each other when their Manchester United and Rangers teams collide at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening.

Both of them are Rangers to the core and, as well as working together for the national side a quarter of a century ago, they scrapped each other when Smith was at Everton before he worked as Ferguson's assistant briefly in 2004.

It seems unthinkable that Ferguson, who will turn 70 next year, came so close to calling it a day more than eight years ago before going back on his decision. English football would have been drastically different if he had stuck to his plan. Would Cristiano Ronaldo be a superstar? Would Wayne Rooney still be at Everton?

In the end he could simply not give it up it and that is why, having experienced what Smith is going through, he would not be surprised to see the Rangers manager back-track just as he did.

"It's disappointing I suppose. You can always change your mind as one great man did... I was younger than he is now, 60 or 61 and how old is Walter? 62? He looks at least 64," Ferguson joked.

Conspiracy theories continue to sweep around Old Trafford about the club's lack of transfer business, but the club maintain that Ferguson still has the majority of the 80 million raised from Ronaldo's sale last summer.

Some United supporters would have you believe that Ferguson has been working under similar constraints to Smith, but the 20m that has been spent by United in each of the past two summers puts the remarkable achievements of Rangers into context.

Ferguson is never anything other than respectful of opponents on these occasions, but rarely goes beyond the minimum necessary before games like this. For instance, he would not discuss David Beckham beyond listing his former midfielder as just one of several experienced players United had to watch out for when they played Milan last season.

However, he glows when he begins to discuss Smith.

"He's unbelievable," Ferguson added. "He's done really well, without money really. There was a time when Rangers were probably the richest club in Britain, but now they seem to be in a tremendous predicament in terms of cash.

"But Walter has kept them alive and they've won the league in the last two years and got to the UEFA Cup final in Manchester. It's a phenomenal performance. He'll get a good glass of wine at Old Trafford on Tuesday and hopefully that's all he gets."

Ferguson is possibly the only Manchester resident with positive memories of Rangers' last visit to the city in 2008, which saw the 2-0 defeat by Zenit St Petersburg marred by outbreaks of violence. Few expect a repeat of those incidents, with Rangers supporters heading for a holding area at Wigan's DW Stadium, but Ferguson is disappointed that more fans will not be making the trip.

"They're not bringing as many as they normally do because they're having to go to Wigan and that's put a few of them off," he said. "There's only 2,900 coming.

"You've got to respect Rangers and with their history you can't take them for granted. I know Walter and how organised they'll be and they'll be difficult to beat. We're at home and we've got a great home record and we've got to take advantage."

The Champions League brought the most iconic images of Ferguson's stint in Manchester, from the drama of Barcelona in 1999 to the rain-soaked celebrations in Moscow two years ago, but the manager feels his time at Old Trafford should have yielded more.

He has always been spurred on by failure more than success and last year's exit on away goals to Bayern Munich, with Ferguson blaming the "Typical Germans" for Rafael's crucial red card, still hurts.

"I always think the Champions League should be a priority," he said. "We've only won it three times in our history and yet we've been unlucky a lot of times and other times we've ballsed it up.

"Three definitely isn't enough and we could have won it another two or three years. Last year plays on my mind, that Bayern Munich game. Christ, I'm still not sleeping! I keep thinking about that game and keep getting angry."

For both Ferguson and Smith, Tuesday will be another night not to forget, the kind of occasion that might make the Rangers manager think again about walking away.

GRAHAM CHASE