We’ll be right back at ya
Published: 11th May 2012
Fergie, 70, has been written off before, when titles have gone to Chelsea and Arsenal, only to bounce back even stronger.
And the Manchester United boss says that is the challenge again if, as expected, City take their crown on the last day of the season tomorrow.
Yaya Toure’s double in City’s 2-0 win at Newcastle last weekend has left them hot favourites to lift the title.
But Fergie said: “We are certainly not going away, that’s for sure.
“We know that there’s a challenge and we accept that. We have a lot of young players at the club who will benefit from this season, no matter what happens.
“City aren’t going away. With the money they have to spend, they will obviously go out and buy more players.
“But you can only buy so many and you can only keep the balance for so long before it disrupts.
“We have our ideas about where we are going in the summer.
“And I think that we will be ready for the challenge next year.Whether that is as champions or as runners-up, we will be ready for it.”
Ferguson has seen it all before. His first task when he arrived at Old Trafford in 1986 was to knock Liverpool ‘off their perch’, a mission completed last season when they surpassed their tally of titles with a record 19th.
When Arsenal won their second Premier League title, with a win at Old Trafford in 2001-02, their vice-chairman David Dein boasted of a power shift.
United bounced back to win the title by five points before ‘the Invincibles’ won it again.
Then Roman Abramovich’s billions brought the next challenge as Jose Mourinho won successive titles for Chelsea and United went three years without one.
Doubts were raised about United, but Fergie’s response was a hat-trick of crowns. Now with City right on his doorstep, this is perhaps Fergie’s biggest challenge yet.
He said: “We have to do something about it, don’t we? We have to meet the challenge and it’s a good thing for us.
“We are probably going to lose out this season but there’s a lot of young players in the squad. We’re not looking as though it’s an end of an era.
“In many ways, it is the start for many of the young players here. The challenge is obvious.”
Ferguson believes the quality at City now is similar to that at Chelsea under Mourinho.
While City chief Roberto Mancini has spent big, Fergie hailed his ability in piecing together a winning team.
He added: “Of course he’s had a big financial advantage but you still have to pick the right players. Trying to orchestrate harmony is very important.
“City, quality-wise are very similar to Chelsea under Mourinho, I feel.
“They are very hard to beat and several of their players have had an outstanding season.
“When you win the league, you need five or six players who are consistently good and they have had that.
“If you buy right there is not a problem but sometimes you don’t buy right.
“It has happened to us, when we maybe bought a player who wasn’t suited to us. But in the main, City have bought well.” United look set to finish second on goal difference, with the biggest points tally — 89 — for a Premier League runner-up.
No consolation, of course, with United having blown an eight-point lead over then 33-1 shots City a month ago.
Fergie, though, has not given up hope — as a result for QPR under his old star Mark Hughes at City, coupled with a United win at Sunderland, can keep the title at Old Trafford.
And Fergie said: “Hughes was a warrior as a player and I wish he was playing.
“If his team can mirror him then you never know.”
A last straw is clutched. Let the final games begin.”
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