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They looked for all the world like bar-room buddies shooting the breeze and reminiscing about old times at the annual Water Buffalo Lodge dinner.
But the gents in dicky bows and penguin suits at Wembley's Great Hall on Thursday night (local time) were Arsene Wenger and Sir
Alex Ferguson, the great and often bitter, rivals of the Premier League era.
The occasion was a charity fund-raiser organised by the League Managers' Association, of which Ferguson is a very active member.
Ferguson once described to The Independent how Wenger, "with his fists raised", came running up the Old Trafford tunnel towards him during the infamous "battle of the buffet" in 2004. Wenger, for his part, said in the subsequent furore he would "never speak of that man again".
But hatchets were buried, or at least laid aside, as the pair took to the stage for a Q&A session.
On most issues they were in full agreement, especially the one closest to their hearts, the ability of managers to manage. In the wake of the recent departures of Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan, both citing boardroom interference in the transfer market, they were asked about a future in which managers are no longer in control.
"It won't happen in my time," said Ferguson firmly.
"At no point in our history has the board ever overruled a manager. I admire both men for going on a point of principle, the principle being I am not in control of my team any longer. That is not acceptable. The fear is that we have owners that will [make managers] become project managers."
Wenger concurred: "The manager has to demonstrate that he is in complete control. If you have no control but are still responsible for the defeats then that is unbearable. The manager is the most important man at the club, if not why do you sack the manager if it isn't going well?"
On the arrival of new money into the game, Ferguson, perhaps with Manchester City in mind, said, "You can have as much money as you like but you can't buy every player. There is no guarantee that money gives you the best team."
"In England we had a generation of fans whose ambition was to buy the club of their dreams - those days are gone," said Wenger who, like Ferguson, has always had a keen appreciation of the game's history.
He added: "Now people are coming in for different reasons, maybe money or glory. The inflationary pressure of too much money is destabilising."
When Ferguson's team face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday (NZT) it will be a meeting of the teams who have won the last four titles between them.
But it will not be, he insisted, United's biggest game of the season. That applied when United faced Wenger's Arsenal.
He said: "If you look back over the last 12 or 13 years, who has it been? Arsenal v Manchester United, Manchester United v Arsenal. Of course we've got Chelsea at the moment, but the history of Arsenal v Manchester means that you're not just talking about winning a football match, you're talking about your own history against the other team's history. You want to be the dominant team - and we've had some volatile matches because of that."
Wenger agreed. "It is usually the decider of the season - big games that tell you a lot about your team. You go into the season with the feeling that you must win the big games, and the big game usually is Manchester United."
The body language, especially from Ferguson, was friendly. It is not so startling. The pair share a love of football and have met regularly at Uefa coaching symposiums and similar events.
"There is a much better understanding and mutual respect now," said Wenger.
Ferguson added: "We've shared a glass of wine and a meal on many occasions."
But when they were asked if they were now friends both hedged around the answer.
"Until the next match," said Ferguson with a laugh.
- INDEPENDENT
