Destiny is Carling for focused Fergie

IT IS SAFE to say the League Cup has not been Alex Ferguson’s top priority in his 22 years at Old Trafford. He has won it just twice. That’s one less than Leicester City and the same as Norwich.

Yet he will take his Manchester United side to Pride Park tonight for a semi-final first leg against Derby County with a tingle of anticipation for another Wembley appearance in March. No, he will not risk his top stars. There is not likely to be a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Wayne Rooney in the starting line-up.

Why would he? There is a Premier League match against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday which could be a defining psychological moment in the title race. And a Derby side, who had been without a manager until yesterday and who struggled to dispatch Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup on Saturday, pose no serious threat.

Not that Ferguson will allow even a hint of complacency. The great thing about Ferguson is that at 67 he is still infected with the bug for winning football matches. It spills over at times, as it did last weekend when he questioned the fairness of the Premier League’s fixture list, which he claimed had militated against United in a first half of the season in which they had played more tough away matches than their rivals. Or when he began his famous mind games earlier than usual with a dig at league leaders Liverpool, saying they will get nervous in the title run-in.

Make no mistake, Britain’s greatest-ever football manager believes he can win the lot this season and eclipse the heady treble of 1999.

The Club World Cup trophy is already in the bag. They must be favourites for the League Cup. The FA Cup is down to the lottery of luck and a favourable draw but they have as good a chance as any. And the big two, the Premier League and the Champions League, are also within United’s reach.

Now that would be an extraordinary quintuplet. Could it happen? Almost certainly not, but it is possible because while Fergie might not have the biggest squad, he does have the most effective.

That is for the future. But back to the Carling Cup and a confusing competition which does itself no favours. What is the point of a competition playing single knockout games up until the semi-finals and suddenly changing to a two-legged format before returning to a one-match final?

Is the football programme not congested enough without the English game’s least-attractive major competition serving up matches which are surplus to requirements?

The reason, of course, is money and with Derby and Burnley reaching the latter stages at least the organisers can argue that the financial windfall will benefit clubs from outside the top tier.

The main prize, meanwhile, remains Ferguson’s for the taking.