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LONDON - Alex Ferguson celebrated 21 years in charge of English premier league soccer club Manchester United today while the head of his union lamented that today's managers were not given the chances the Scot enjoyed in his early years at Old Trafford.
As Ferguson took the plaudits,
Chris Hutchings began looking for work after he was sacked on Tuesday having had just six months and 13 games to make his mark on Wigan Athletic.
The contrast was not lost on Frank Clark, head of the League Managers' Association.
"It took him a while to turn it around at Manchester United and that's a lesson," he said of Ferguson.
"I'm not sure you would get that length of time today but it just proves the value of giving your manager a bit of time and help to turn things around.
"He's the ultimate example of patience and the ultimate role model for managers to aspire to."
Ferguson took over at Old Trafford from Ron Atkinson on November 6, 1986 and, could well have joined the list of short-lived bosses after struggling to make an impact.
His first game in charge was a defeat at Oxford United and his team struggled to become anything but also-rans in the league.
With the fans turning against him, Ferguson now says that his job was saved by Mark Robins' winner against Nottingham Forest in a 1990 FA Cup tie.
United surged on to win the trophy that season, Ferguson's first for the club, and followed up with the Cup Winners' Cup a year later.
From then on the Scot could do no wrong, ending a 26-year wait for the championship in 1993 and reaching the pinnacle with the Champions League triumph and treble in 1999.
He planned to retire five years ago but decided against it and he remains as passionate as ever about the game.
"Last year I thought 20 years was the landmark, and now I have added an extra year to that and I am proud to be at the right club," Ferguson said before Wednesday's Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev.
"Now they are taking odds on 25 years. It will be interesting to see if I last 25 years."
Ferguson was appointed United's manager before some of his first-team players had been born and he is closing in on the record spent in office by Matt Busby between 1945 and 1969.
Busby, who led United to five league championships and the 1968 European Cup either side of the Munich air disaster, remains an inspiration.
"I think back to what he actually started, to have the vision to take Manchester United into Europe," said Ferguson, who will be 66 next month but has no plans to retire.
"He was before his time and beyond anyone's thinking in Britain.
"That's the real link I've got with Sir Matt, in the sense of the years I've spent here have been about achieving, about entertaining and about meeting the demands of the modern game," said the Scot.
Ferguson has guided United to nine league titles and one Champions League success and would dearly love another European success before he retires.
"We have had our disappointments on the Champions League trail but this season I really believe we are capable of going all the way," he said.
- REUTERS
