CARRY ON, FERGUSON

I blame his missus. It was Kathy who told him to carry on. She should have let him quit. Seriously though, what else would Fergie do with his life?

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He has built three or four teams at United and is probably as thrilled with this team as he was with any of the others, including the treble-winning side.

And that is what gives him the incredible appetite and enthusiasm to carry on.

He is probably already looking forward to seeing the likes of Nani and Anderson maturing in the same way that Cristiano Ronaldo has.

Concern

That is what Fergie has done brilliantly. He has strengthened the squad from a position of strength — and that allows the signings time to bed in.

He'll probably sign a couple more in the summer.

Ironically, standing in the way of another title this afternoon is Steve Bruce — one of the players who epitomised the loyalty Fergie gets from his players.

I have been in this situation on the last day of a Championship race, when my Blackburn side went to Anfield and Fergie's United went to West Ham.

As I was going back to Liverpool, there was concern about how they would approach the game.

That was totally disrespectful — in the same way that it is totally disrespectful to even question what approach Bruce will take to this match.

Steve had a fantastic career at Manchester United but although he would love to see them win the title, he will want to see Wigan turn them over.

He has been brought up to be a thorough professional in everything he does and it would go against the grain to be anything else.

Have a look at those famous two goals he scored against Sheffield Wednesday, have a look at the number of cuts on his head, his broken nose. They show his commitment.

Now he is in management, you don't see the blood, you don't see the goals. But the commitment to professionalism is still the same

Dave Whelan took Steve there and he has a great debt to the owner and to the club. You don't repay that by rolling over.

Handle

Both Wigan and Bolton — who go to Stamford Bridge — will give it a real go, which is why it is down to United and Chelsea to make sure they do their jobs.

And the two managers will know that. For goodness sake, how many times has Fergie been there?

It is a first for Avram Grant but I think he knows how to handle it as well.

There have been plenty of sceptics when it comes to Avram but a lot of that must come from the fact that he is such a big contrast to the guy that was there before. The way he conducts himself is different.

I've never spoken to Grant and I don't know what his relationship is with the players — but they are getting great results and he must be given as much credit for that as anybody else.

The ship cannot be steered without a captain and he is the man who has been steering it — although I'm sure Steve Clarke has been a great help to him.

There are a lot of people who probably think you need a strong personality to be a good manager. But he has proved you don't.

You need good results to be a good manager. He reminds me a bit of a Bob Paisley-type of character — and Bob didn't do too badly.

You can see Avram sitting in your front room at home, watching the telly with you, talking football.

He's more touchable than other people — you can see a lot of people relating to him.

He isn't a character manufactured for the modern age.

You can only be the way you are and the best way for him to be judged is results.

And he can obviously crack the whip. He was obviously not happy with the first half at Newcastle and he has clearly torn into them and had an effect.

Courageous

Plus, of course, Frank Lampard came on.

To me, Lampard is a massive player for Chelsea and what happened in the Champions League semi-final was incredible.

He was so courageous. It did him immense credit. The sadness of his mother's death must be on his mind for every second of every day, so to do what he has done is testimony to him and his family.

Frank is one of those players a manager can turn to.

Every club that has been successful has someone who takes the game by the scruff of the neck.

John Terry does it in his own inimitable way, Cristiano Ronaldo does it in an altogether different type of way for United.

In a big club going for success, there are always players that you look to at certain times.

I had Alan Shearer but the key thing about him was that he wasn't a big-time Charlie. Sure, you couldn't take a goal off him — but he would share them all with his team-mates and got great respect from them because of that.

And I think these lads I have mentioned are the same.

They will be crucial today — and in the final in Moscow.

But so will the unsung players. Players like Ricardo Carvalho for Chelsea and Paul Scholes for United.

Monitor

Neither game will be a pushover and Bolton could yet pull off a surprise result at Stamford Bridge.

But that will not cross Fergie's mind.

Thirteen years ago, Liverpool — making a mockery of those people who doubted their appetite against me — took the right approach and actually won the game.

Towards the end of the game, someone in the crowd shouted that it had finished as a draw at Upton Park and we had won the title.

There were two Sky guys with a monitor by the dug-out so I asked them — but they wouldn't tell me.

But you always know from the crowd and sure enough, we had won the title.

It hadn't been through any help from Liverpool. It was because Manchester United had not done their job properly.

You can bet Fergie will be doing everything he can to make sure that doesn't happen again...and then planning even more titles and glory.