Fergie's United far from finished
This week has been no different for the great Scot he's managed to keep a straight face.
After Manchester United's 3-1 drubbing at Anfield on Sunday the opening lines of his footballing obituary have already been written.
Various newspapers have questioned his tactics in this, his final season as boss at Old Trafford. Indeed, Sir Alex added his own lines at the after-match inquest by saying of his team: "Maybe they have been there too long. Maybe the success is taken for granted.
"Liverpool worked harder than us and the individual errors that have haunted us all season continued."
Yes, Sir Alex, the title is surely lost now.
Liverpool now enjoy a mammoth four-point lead over Manchester United and Gerard Houllier's superstars (currently being directed by Phil Thompson) are not even top of the Premiership.
That honour rests with David O'Leary's babies, er, I mean Invincibles who haven't lost a Premiership match this season.
But I came here to praise Sir Alex, not to bury him.
Manchester United have the strongest squad in Britain. Ferguson knows this, as he built it. The biggest threat to the club's retention of the Premiership title is Sir Alex's ambition.
The purchasing of Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud Van Nistelrooy have enhanced Manchester United's ultimate aim this season to win the Champions League.
Give Sir Alex the choice of the Champions League trophy or another Premiership title and anyone with even a single digit footballing IQ will tell you which trophy he would choose.
A revealing trait of his close-season signings has been his mission to achieve his quest in an adventurous, flamboyant way.
Ferguson concentrated his spending on players who would bring flair and panache to his final quest. The great Scot now knows that he must find a solid centre to his defence.
After Sunday's game he also knows that the solution is most certainly not combining Wes Brown with Mikael Silvestre.
As for the Premiership? Well, nobody has said that the Champions League is Sir Alex's only ambition in his final season as Manchester Utd's manager.
Sir Alex's straight face will be seen again shortly on Manchester United's training ground prior to their next Premiership game. Only this time it won't be produced to fool people into thinking that he genuinely believes HIS players are taking success for granted.
For Sir Alex is an honourable man, and his ambition is made of sterner stuff.
Now he must plan to make his defence match that ambition. Soon.
ON the subject of Manchester United, I wonder if Dublin will be changing the colour of their jerseys soon?
The new boss for the Blues is Tommy Lyons who, shortly after his recent appointment, said "Dublin are the Manchester United of Gaelic football, so you can imagine how pleased I am to be given the chance to manage them."
Well, you can see his point ... and the similarity of his position to Sir Alex's when he arrived to manage Manchester United. At that time The Red Devils, like the Blues now, hadn't won any serious trophy in years.
For Tommy's sake I hope that he is given sufficient time to build a team that is capable of winning the Sam Maguire. Sir Alex lost a title or two before he brought a mass of them to Old Trafford.
Hopefully, the Dublin County Board now believe patience is a virtue ... even if it is a little too late to convince Tom Carr that they are capable of such a leap of faith.
I HAD the pleasure of watching the film version of George Orwell's classic novel 1984 over the weekend.
Big Brother's motto that 'everyone is equal but some are more equal than others', came to mind after the controversy that followed last Sunday's Leinster Ladies club SFC final between Ballyboden and Cooley Kickhams at Dunsany.
Ballyboden were defeated in the most debatable of circumstances and the final scoreline is causing major problems as my colleague Cliona Foley explains elsewhere on this page.
So, where does Big Brother come into all of this? Well, can you imagine the furore if this happened in the men's Leinster club SFC final?
I would imagine that the GAA hierarchy, top TV analysts and other 'celebrities' would be queueing up to comment, join the debate and get to the root of this problem.
But ... sure 'twas only the women's Leinster final. Seems that Big Brother is alive and well when it comes to Gaelic games coverage, and indeed in the GAA itself, as some people who play are indeed more equal than others.
As for the solution to this unfortunate problem? A replay, with someone who can keep an accurate eye on the score-sheet.
GOAL OF THE WEEK: John Arne Riise's 70mph strike it could have been arrested for speeding in a crowded area. CHANT OF THE WEEK: The Anfield Kop singing 'Jaap Stam, there's only one Jaap Stam' as Manchester United's defence failed ... again.
LESSON OF THE WEEK: Munster's 40-6 demolition of Bridgend in the Heineken Cup. Poor ol' Bridgend had the temerity to lead 6-3 after 30 minutes. Now they know.
REALIST OF THE WEEK: Leeds boss David O'Leary who said: "Manchester United remain the team to beat. They have a great manager and a great set of players and as you know only too well, the medals aren't handed out until May."
UNDERDOGS OF THE WEEK: Annaghdown, who beat Killererin to capture the Galway SFC title with a team that didn't contain a single representative in the county's All-Ireland winning squad.
papower@unison.independent.ie
PJ Cunningham returns next week.
- Padraig Power
