Edwards: United close to naming new boss

Outgoing Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards has revealed the Old Trafford club were just ‘days away’ from appointing a successor to Alex Ferguson.

The long-serving Scot, who picked up his eighth Premiership trophy at Goodison Park on Sunday, abruptly changed his mind about retirement 18 months ago, signing a new three-year contract and there has already been speculation it will be extended before it runs out in 2005.

United chief executive Peter Kenyon has always been quite cagey about who was in line to replace Ferguson if he had gone through with his intention, insisting the former Aberdeen boss ‘was the right man for the job’.

Ferguson himself claimed earlier this season that United had lined up current England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson for the role, although this was strenuously denied by Old Trafford officials.

However, in an interview with BBC GMR, Edwards, who will stand down from his role this summer after an association with the club which goes back almost three decades, has admitted just how close United were to losing the Scot.

“We were very close to appointing someone else,” he said. “Probably no more than three or four days.

“That was when Alex made the decision to change his mind. It was just in time.”

Edwards refused to say who was in line to succeed Ferguson but if it was Eriksson, it casts fresh doubt over his commitment to the England cause.

European heavyweights Fabien Capello and Otmar Hitzfeld were also mentioned as likely candidates, along with Celtic’s Martin O’Neill but Eriksson was always regarded as the likely favourite to fill the vacancy.

Ferguson consulted extensively with his family, particularly wife Cathy before agreeing to stay with the club he has managed with such distinction since succeeding Ron Atkinson in 1986.

Although there were some dissenting voices at November’s annual general meeting when it appeared the Red Devils would finish empty-handed in successive seasons for only the second time in Ferguson’s reign, the run of 15 wins from the final 18 games which swept United past Arsenal to the top of the table has silenced all the critics.

Ferguson received the loudest cheer of all from the visiting fans when he held the trophy aloft at Everton, although Edwards – who is believed to have had a stormy relationship with the Scot during his time at the club – insisted it had been a surprise when he changed his mind.

“I believed he was going to step down,” said Edwards. “We were very surprised when he changed his mind.”