Gill backs Sir Alex to stay for 'a number of years'

SIR Alex Ferguson will continue as manager of Manchester United for "a number of years", according to chief executive David Gill. The 67-year-old sealed his 11th Premier League title in 23 years at the Old Trafford helm with Saturday's 0-0 draw against Arsenal.

That drew the club level with Liverpool on 18 top-flight titles, leading to speculation Ferguson could retire if they usurp their great rivals next season.

Gill, though, does not see an end to the Ferguson era in sight. He said: "He's still very motivated to go on and win things with Manchester United. He loves the game, he loves everything associated with the game, he's very well supported by his staff and by the players. He's very much still 100 per cent working at Manchester United.

"What we've done this year in terms of the number of games we've had to play and what we've achieved is testament to everyone and he recognises there's a lot more to come from the squad and hopefully, as I say, it will go on for many years.

"What Alex has done, quite correctly, is understand how to structure the club and he just takes the big decisions, and he delegates very well to a very experienced staff, a highly motivated staff, and he's got a great team around him so it all works. As long as Alex continues to do that, which I'm sure he will, he'll want to stay involved with Manchester United and run the team. I envisage him being manager certainly for a number of years, but I'm not going to put a timeline on it."

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez pointed to the amount of money United have spent on players as the key difference between the pair – a view countered by Gill. "That's a nonsense," he said. "Analysis was done that shows we're broadly in line with them over the last few years in terms of net spend on players. I think there's a lot of factors in it. We've not only got great players and a great manager but we've got a great off-the-field team as well.

"We've got a fantastic stadium, 76,000, which gives us a competitive advantage, our commercial team are doing fantastic deals, which we then put back into the club. We've got many advantages through our current structure, which keeps us apart."