No room for sentiment for Fergie

The question was asked, only to be blocked by Paddy Harverson, the former journalist whose PR expertise will soon come under far more strenuous examination when he takes up his new position alongside

Prince Charles and his sons, William and Harry. More frying pan to forest fire than a pile of burning twigs.

A master manipulator of the media, Ferguson speaks out only when it suits him and the grenade he threw last Friday was delivered with care and precision. If he receives another fine from the FA, so be it. Ferguson has always played the long game.

He was doing so again yesterday, showing the utmost respect to Rangers but not their former manager, Dick Advocaat, the current Holland coach whom Ferguson blames for Ruud van Nistelrooy's recent slump in form. That dig in his ribs was as much designed to put pressure on Advocaat as it was to let his striker know that he can still rely on the manager who waited so patiently for him to recover from a careerthreatening knee injury before signing him from PSV Eindhoven.

It was the same with Roy Keane. United missed their skipper's influence against Portsmouth on Saturday - until, of course, the Irishman joined the game as a substitute - and there were some well-chosen words of encouragement for a 32-year- old who remains crucial to the United cause, especially when Paul Scholes is unavailable because of injury.

Ferguson said: 'I told Roy after the Rangers game that his next start would be against them. He's 32 and when he's been rested it shows, and he will certainly be ready tomorrow night. Five years ago he was a boxtobox player. He covered the ground incredibly well. These days he has to channel his energy more carefully. He's getting older and he's had injury problems.

'But today he's a more measured player. There is more thinking in his game. He is at his peak and his influence in the team has never been stronger. We no longer have the Robsons and the Cantonas here. Roy is the senior player.'

United have been a little disappointing in recent weeks, losing at home against Fulham in the Premiership and away to Stuttgart in the Champions League, and here was a clear message to the player who epitomises Ferguson's drive and determination on the field.

This evening, against the club he once served and against the manager he has such high hopes for, Ferguson thinks only of a victory and the three points that will take United to within touching distance of a place in the last 16 of this illustrious competition.

While Arsenal still struggle to come to terms with the demands of European competition, United have perfected the art of navigating their way through the group stages and their manager will think nothing of leaving Rangers with a potentially perilous trip to Stuttgart in their next game.

Beating Rangers should not prove too difficult, even if they have to be more mindful of the threat Peter Lovenkrands posed when United won 1-0 in Glasgow.

The Scottish champions mirror the fighting spirit of their own manager but at Ibrox they lacked the necessary quality to score against a United team who performed at a stroll after Phil Neville's early goal. McLeish remained optimistic last night, United's defeat against Fulham offering a glimmer of hope. 'It can happen,' he said.

But not very often. When Ferguson agreed to leave Aberdeen and become United ' s manager on November 5, 1986, he took a pay cut. He has not given an inch since.