Sir Alex Ferguson wants to stay at Manchester United after retiring

Sir Alex Ferguson believes there will be a role for him at Manchester Unitedwhen he retires as first-team manager.

The Scot, 70, wants another “two or three years” in the top job at Old Trafford.

Then he says he would like to be employed at the club, potentially in an ambassadorial role similar to the one Sir Bobby Charlton has.

Ferguson told BBC Radio 5 live: “I will remain active. I think there will be a role for me at United after I finish.”

Under Ferguson’s guidance, Manchester United have grown to become one of the most decorated club sides in the world, winning 12 domestic league titles and two European Cups.

One of those Premier League titles came in the 2001-02 campaign, at the end of which Ferguson was due to retire.

He had a change of heart and seems to have been inspired to build the next great United side by the rise to prominence of Manchester City, whom he memorably described as “noisy neighbours.”

“I think you always want to go out on a winning note,” said Ferguson.

“Hopefully we can do that. I don’t know how long I can last now but if my health stays up I don’t think another two or three years would harm me.”

He also says his wife is keen for him to remain active and has even suggested he becomes a milkman when he steps down as Manchester United manager.

There has been constant speculation about who will succeed Ferguson, with a string of former players linked with the job at various times.

Ferguson himself is a long-time admirer of Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho and believes the Portuguese would get more ‘freedom’ to do the job in England than he gets in Spain.

Mourinho was hugely successful at Chelsea and in December spoke of his desire to return to management in the Premier League .

Wenger focuses on salvaging something from wreckage

SUNDERLAND: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger urged his players to fight on and salvage something from the season after their hopes of ending a seven-year trophy drought were effectively wrecked by FA Cup elimination on Saturday.

Needing to overturn a 4-0 deficit in their Champions League last-16 tie against AC Milan and trailing Premier League leaders Manchester City by 17 points, their campaign is all but over but the Frenchman refused to write it off altogether.

“We have to take the critics on board and stay together and face the critics. There is only one response … to stay united and fight and focus on the next game,” Wenger told a news conference after a 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Sunderland.

“Let’s focus on our next game to finish well in the championship and fight as well – even if it’s a small possibility – in the Champions League.”

Wenger had described the heavy midweek defeat in Milan as their “worst performance in Europe” and there was little sign of improvement on Saturday.

While the manager praised his players for a “committed performance”, neutrals will have seen a disjointed showing at the Stadium of Light with little attacking flair and a shaky defence.

The FA Cup was the last realistic chance of silverware for the north London club whose most recent addition to the trophy cabinet was from the 2005 edition of the competition.

Defeat owed as much to Arsenal’s weaknesses as Sunderland’s determination, with Gunners defender Johan Djourou giving away the free kick that led to Kieran Richardson’s opener and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain then scoring at the wrong end.

DRAMATIC SLUMP

It came almost a year after the shock defeat by Birmingham City in the League Cup final which triggered a dramatic slump in form that Wenger has yet to reverse.

At the helm since 1996, he is still not under the same kind of pressure from fans and media that Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas is grappling with after a similarly underwhelming season but he is nevertheless under scrutiny.

Asked where the Sunderland defeat left Arsenal, Wenger replied: “It’s too early to say”.

Responding to a query over whether his club were in crisis, he said: “It depends what you call a crisis. I feel every time we lose a game we have a crisis. Our job is about winning and playing well”.

Arsenal’s season has not been helped by a string of injuries to key players and the treatment room filled up again on Saturday with Aaron Ramsey, Sebastien Squillaci and Francis Coquelin picking up knocks.

It left Wenger concerned about numbers before next weekend’s north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur who are rubbing salt into the wounds of their bitter rivals by enjoying one of their best seasons in years.

“We have a big game next Sunday,” Wenger said. “We lost three players again today and we are starting to get very short.”

£50m Torres admits ‘I cannot score’

Fernando Torres has finally admitted “I cannot score” after managing just three league goals in his first year at Chelsea following a £50 million move from Liverpool.

The Spaniard has not found the net in 20 matches, and fired blanks again before being substituted at half-time of Saturday’s FA Cup draw at home to Championship side Birmingham.

“To be honest, after one year I was expecting things would be better than they are now,” Torres told ESPN. “It is a difficult situation.

“On the pitch it is a difficult time for Chelsea because we are not finding the results but we’re changing things, like playing a different style.

“In my time at Liverpool there were games where I would not be playing well or I would be doing nothing, but every time I touched the ball I scored.

“It’s such a strange feeling now because I am feeling better than ever physically. I am not finding the chances. And when I do find the chances, I cannot score.”

Despite his lack of goals for Chelsea, Torres is not interested in moving on despite linked in a swap deal with Atletico Madrid.

“My present and my future are here,” he said. “I have many things to do here and I want to do it because I always did what I wanted in every club I’ve been at, so this is not going to be different.”

Wenger urges Gunners response

Following a torrid week for Arsenal (6/4 Premier League top four finish with bet365), the club’s under-pressure managerArseneWenger has issued a rallying cry to his players as they look ahead to Premier League duty.

The Gunners were thumped 4-0 in midweek at the hands of AC Milan at the San Siro, which has all but put an end to the north London outfit’s chances of European glory this term.

Having disappointed in Italy, Arsenal then went down 2-0 to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup on Saturday to round off a difficult week for Wenger.

The French tactician is now looking for a response from his players in the Premier League, as they hope to secure a top four finish this season to qualify for the Champions League.

Arsenal face old rivals Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday in a massive derby clash at the Emirates (Arsenal 11/8, draw 5/2, Tottenham 15/8 with bet365), before taking on Liverpool in another high pressure game ahead of the second-leg against Milan.

Wenger has admitted his side have been underperforming but believes the squad must stick together.

He said: “We have to take the criticism on board, stay together and face the critics.

“The only response in our job is to stay united and fight and focus on the next game.”