Neil Custis told the Sunday Supplement that Sir Alex Ferguson is as driven as ever.
Ferguson's remarkable feats at United continue
His side is top of the Premier League - so why would Sir Alex Ferguson retire?
Neil Custis of
The Sun believes the Manchester United boss is as motivated as ever to drive his side onto success as his reaction to Michael Owen's late winner in last week's derby victory over Manchester City showed.
The 67-year-old Scot - who arrived at Old Trafford in 1986 - appears to still relish the challenge of chasing silverware and Custis confirmed on the
Supplement: "He's as driven as ever, he's the same manager. I don't think anything's changed.
"I think that now his press conferences are filmed they are not quite as fiery as they used to be! Tape recorders don't tend to fly past our ears nowadays.
"But despite all of the bust ups the press have with him, that I've had with him. As a journalistic it's fantastic to be around while this man's around because it's just box office.
"I compare covering United with Alex Ferguson being the manager like staying at Fawlty Towers. You might not necessarily enjoy it but you'll never forget the stay.
"That line he came out with after the Manchester derby about if you have a noisy neighbour you have to turn the telly up - who else would come out with that?"
Revived
In his lengthy time at the club Ferguson has seen plenty of change - and a battery of players come and go - but Custis feels the manner in which he has galvanised United since Malcolm Glazer's takeover is one of his biggest achievements.
"What he's done in the last three years has possibly been the most remarkable because when the Glazers took over the club and they hadn't won the title in three years, it was on the verge of breakdown," he said.
"The fans were up in arms, it wasn't going right on the pitch and the only person who revived the situation and kept everyone on side was Alex Ferguson.
"Much as he may have wanted to, he didn't criticise the owners, he didn't criticise the takeover. He ensured that what happened on the pitch was the main focus.
"Now, when he leaves I've got major, major worries for United because of the situation with the owners, the debt. The only person who is keeping everything together and going in the right direction is Ferguson."
Injustice
Curtis went on to reveal that, in his view, Ferguson thrives on his love-hate relationship with the media - and tries to be as clever at managing journalists as he is his own players.
"There are times when he is constantly taking the mick out of us," he said. "I'm on the end of it quite often. I think he enjoys being on the edge and on edge and if he perceives an injustice in the papers he likes to tell you. I think he likes a row.
"It would be more of a surprise if he was nice to me sometimes! He loves a laugh, he loves a joke but he also loves to give you both barrels as well but nothing he ever says or does surprises.
"When they finished bottom of that (Champions League) group after losing to Benfica, the next day he took the attention totally away from the performance of the team by saying the national press hate Man Utd!"
