Sir Alex Ferguson has no personal grudge against Gareth Southgate but he is adamant the Middlesbrough manager should not be in the home dugout when Manchester United visit the Riverside tomorrow.
As a committee member with the League Managers' Association, Ferguson is
steadfastly behind the organisation's belief that all league managers should
have their UEFA pro-licence, something Southgate and Newcastle counterpart Glenn
Roeder do not have.
After appointing Southgate as successor to Steve McClaren, Middlesbrough
chairman Steve Gibson successfully convinced the Premier League to let the
former England defender continue in the job until he has the necessary
qualifications.
Ferguson believes Gibson was totally right to fight his corner, given
Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd had already persuaded his Premier League
counterparts to bend their rules to let Roeder continue in charge at St James'
Park.
But he feels the initial decision was wrong given the whole idea of forcing
managers to take their UEFA pro-licence was to improve the standard of
coaching.
'The regulations were set out to improve the standard of coaching and the
people coming into the game and they should have remained,' said Ferguson.
'The whole thing was changed by Freddy Shepherd when he rounded on the other
chairmen to get the rules changed so he could appoint Glenn Roeder.
'I am a committee member of the LMA, I feel the rules were absolutely correct
and it was wrong to change them.
'If you want the quality of the game to improve, it has to be done through
the coaches. It is nothing personal but the principle was right and the fact
both Gareth Southgate and Glenn Roeder are now taking their badges gives you the
answer.'
While Shepherd claimed Roeder had been unable to complete his coaching courses
because he had to take time out for treatment on a brain tumour, Gibson pointed
out Southgate's extensive international career was a barrier to furthering his
coaching qualifications.
Ferguson can see distinct differences between the two, although the Scot
accepts once the rules were amended once, it was inevitable the same thing would
happen a second time.
'Once the door was opened by Freddy Shepherd, Middlesbrough were completely
correct in giving the job to Gareth Southgate under exactly the same principle
as Glenn Roeder got it,' said Ferguson.
'But Gareth is different from Glenn in the sense he was a player, then the
next day he becomes a manager when the job is thrust upon him.
'Managers and coaches should be completely qualified if they want to raise
the standards of our game but the door is open now. How you close it I don't
know.'
Ferguson is exempt from having to secure a UEFA pro-licence himself as he was
already managing in the top flight before the rule was introduced.
Southgate will hope to provide the perfect answer to Ferguson's argument by
engineering a similar success over United to the one they enjoyed against
Chelsea earlier in the season.
No-one inside the United camp will need any reminding that their last visit to
Teesside turned into an unmitigated disaster as they crumbled to a 4-1 defeat
which triggered Roy Keane's infamous MUTV tirade.
Ferguson is not expecting a repeat, especially as he intends to field a
full-strength side after making wholesale changes for the midweek win over
Everton.
Rio Ferdinand is available despite picking up an ankle knock, while Ryan
Giggs, Paul Scholes and Louis Saha can also expect a recall as United look to
take advantage of Chelsea's inactivity by opening up a six-point lead at the
Premiership summit.
'Last year was a bad moment for us,' admitted Ferguson.
'The team weren't playing particularly well, we had some injuries and we
produced a bad performance.
'But our record up there overall is pretty good and our away record in
general this season has been exceptional.
'We have only dropped two points at Reading, when they scored through a
penalty, so what happened last year should not have any bearing on what we do
tomorrow.
'We are in the right frame of mind. There is a great spirit, the players are
enjoying their football. Hopefully we can get the result we want.'
