Ferguson to quit United for good in 2005

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has revealed he will quit the English premier league champions for good at the end of his new three-year contract.

Ferguson, 60, is expected to sign a new deal which will keep him at the club until 2005, but he is adamant he will not stay on in any capacity after that.

Speaking after United's 2-0 win at Charlton Athletic on Sunday, which sent the champions back to the top of the English premier league, Ferguson said a few minor details had to be sorted out before he puts pen to paper.

"There are one or two details, small things that have to be addressed. That should be done during the week," Ferguson told Sky Sports television.

"They are not important and everything is in order, there are no problems."

However, Ferguson insists the contract will be his last as United manager.

"I'm pleased to be staying but once this contract is up that will be it," he told the Mail on Sunday newspaper. "I have no intention of staying on at the club in any capacity whatsoever."

When Ferguson first announced his plan to retire from management at the end of this season, he had been expected to take on the role of an international 'ambassador' for United.

The former Scotland and Aberdeen manager changed his mind about stepping down because he feared he was quitting too soon.

"All I could think was I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life," he said.

"I was worried about how I might feel a year down the line. Was I going to enjoy the new role and would I want to get back into management after a year out?

"That would be the worst thing that could happen because you can't just walk back into a top job like this.

"I made the decision to retire two years ago when the circumstances were different. I'm really happy with the football side now. There are people at the club on the same wavelength as me. They want what I want."

Ferguson also admitted he had made a mistake in letting coach Steve McClaren leave Old Trafford for the manager's job at Middlesbrough before the start of the current campaign.

"The way things have worked out, I am sure Steve would have stayed," Ferguson told the Mail on Sunday.

"I'll be speaking to him because I owe him that. There are a lot of things that will happen on the football side and I will be looking at all of that." Ferguson's comments triggered speculation he might ask McClaren to come back to the club he helped win the treble in 1999. But the United boss denied he was on the look out for a coach, telling Sky Sports: "No, this is all speculation.

"We've got a good staff and players. I've got considerations to make about the future of the club, at academy level in particular, so that's one decision I'll be taking in the next few months."