Quote:Manchester United have yet to comment on widespread reports that Sir Alex Ferguson is considering retiring as manager.

A number of newspapers claim the 71-year-old is ready to stand down following 26-and-a-half successful years at Old Trafford.

Sky Sports contacted United but have not received any comment to confirm or deny the reports.

In his programme notes ahead of last Sunday's Premier League defeat to Chelsea, Ferguson wrote that he did not have any plans to walk away from the club and predicted another decade of success.

He said: "This team of champions is not going away - we are here for the long ride.

"We will get better and if we apply ourselves in our normal fashion I see our 20th league title as nothing but the start of another decade of success.

"Whether I will be here to oversee another decade of success remains to be seen, but I certainly don't have any plans at the moment to walk away from what I believe will be something special and worth being around to see."

Last week, United confirmed Ferguson had been booked in for hip surgery in August following the club's pre-season tour of Asia and Australia, although it is not known how long he will expected to rest before the start of the season.

The Premier League champions are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and an announcement if any would be made there.

It opens for business at 2.30pm UK time on Wednesday.

This thread got me thinking so I thought I would do a full thread on it
https://manutdpeople.com/Thread-1999-versus-2013

I couldn't find ratings on United's team from 1999 so I went for a comparison with the 2008 team that won the Champions League.

Goalkeepers
2008 - Edwin Van Der Sar - Rating 85

2013 - David de Gea - Rating 81

Defenders
2008 - G. Neville - Rating 80
2008 - R. Ferdinand - Rating 88
2008 - N. Vidic - Rating 85
2008 - P. Evra - Rating 78

2013 - Rafael - Rating 78
2013 - R. Ferdinand - Rating 83
2013 - N. Vidić - Rating 87
2013 - P. Evra - Rating -82

Midfielders
2008 - C. Ronaldo - Rating 91
2008 - P. Scholes - Rating 85
2008 - O. Hargreaves - Rating - 81
2008 - R. Giggs - Rating 86

2013 - A. Valencia - Rating 83
2013 - P. Jones - Rating 77
2013 - R. Giggs - Rating 80
2013 - S. Kagawa - Rating 83

Forwards
2008 - W. Rooney - Rating 90
2008 - C. Tevez - Rating 88

2013 - W. Rooney - Rating 87
2013 - R. Van Persie - Rating 89

Newcastle United have banned journalists from The Telegraph after the publication reported a story of unrest at the club.

Their north-east correspondent Luke Edwards reported tensions between the French set of players and the rest of the squad, and Newcastle have been left angered by the story.

In light of the ban, editor of The Telegraph Tony Gallagher said on Twitter: "Things at Newcastle must be worse than we thought: they have banned our reporter Luke Edwards for revealing the dressing room is split.

"Worse, they have engaged lawyers to demand a public apology 'forthwith' and withdrawal of Luke's article. I can help them here: no."

Newcastle sent a solicitor's letter to The Telegraph, which read as: "Having carefully considered the content of the article Newcastle United have asked for it to be made clear that unless a full apology is received from the Daily Telegraph and the article is immediately withdrawn from the Telegraph online edition, then both Luke Edwards and any representative of the Daily Telegraph/Sunday Telegraph will be banned from attending St James' Park and from attending any Newcastle United pre-match press conferences and all Newcastle United player interviews at the training facilities with immediate effect."

Newcastle slumped to a 6-0 defeat at home to Liverpool on Saturday, with many fans questioning whether manager Alan Pardew is the right man to steer the Magpies from relegation. Newcastle are currently five points clear of the drop zone in 17th spot, but Wigan a place below them have a game in hand.

The PFA Merit Award was given to Manchester United's class of '92 at Sunday night's PFA Awards.

Ryan Giggs, Eric Harrison, Sir Alex Ferguson, Paul Scholes, George Switzer, Kevin Pilkington, Phil Neville, Chris Casper, Nicky Butt, John O'Kane and Gary Neville were all present to receive the award.

This group of players won the FA Youth Cup in 1992, with Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Ben Thornley, Simon Davies and Colin McKee scoring over two legs. 15,000 people were in attendance at Old Trafford for the victorious second leg.

"We trialled in Albert Park every night," Ferguson said. "We were turning top players away and we ended up with this mob! No club in the country is better at producing players than Manchester United."

Over the past few months Radamel Falcao has been linked with many clubs but Manchester United seem to be high on the list of those that are interested.

Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain and FC Barcelona are said to be interested in 27-year-old Falcao, and after asking for advice Asprilla has suggested that he made the move to Old Trafford if he wants to win trophies.

Today's quotes from from the Daily Mail and are as follows:

"We were talking and he asked me my opinion on who he should join. He knows that every big club in the world wants him.
He is not a player motivated by money – what he wants is somewhere that his family will be happy and where he will have success."

"With teams like Real Madrid, PSG, Manchester City they have good times then they have bad times – that is why I told him he must choose Manchester United. Every season they are challenging – and if he wants success that is where I have told him to go."

"Also they don’t have all the behaviour away from the field – with changing coaches every season.
They are steady in all that they do – and a well run club at every level. He is a real family guy – and Radamel will appreciate that and the way that Sir Alex Ferguson protects his players like family."

Asprilla also goes on to say that Manchester United would be "unstoppable" up-front with a Falcao and van Persie partnership.

He added:

It is difficult for me to explain how good he is – he is the best finisher in the world. The only striker who has played in the Premier League who is on his finishing level is Alan Shearer.

"If he signs for Manchester United – he would be their missing piece in the Champions League."

Imagine van Persie and Falcao it would be unstoppable.