Ferguson will not be distracted by legal battle

Premiership: United manager keeps focus on club as dispute with Magnier casts shadow over affairs at Old Trafford

You would expect nothing else from a man so fiercely single-minded that he was too absorbed in his work to find his wife a Christmas present, but Sir Alex Ferguson insisted that suing Manchester United's leading shareholder represents business as usual at Old Trafford.

Cathy Ferguson was given a cheque by her somewhat embarrassed husband nine years ago and promptly tore it up in his face but, as Christmas 2003 approaches, the cheque the Ferguson household expects to see will have John Magnier's signature on it.

At boardroom level there is a certain embarrassment about Ferguson's decision to issue legal proceedings against Magnier for a half-share in the stud-rights to the racehorse Rock of Gibraltar, which he co-owns with the Irish breeder's wife, Sue. Magnier is regarded with suspicion by the United board but they are well aware that this is a man, who through his company Cubic Expression - which he runs with his racing partner J P McManus - owns nearly a quarter of the club. Suing him is either an act of bravery or a piece of hubris which places Ferguson's future at Old Trafford in doubt.

"I have legal proceedings two or three times a year," the United manager said yesterday. "It never changes my focus on the club. I've taken legal proceedings against you lot in the press from time to time. But you get on with it.

"There are always distractions around this club but being able to focus is something that's inbred in you. We expect players to be focused on their job so I think we can expect the manager to be focused. The only difference between this and other cases is that it is high profile. The fact that he [Magnier] is a major shareholder doesn't affect me anyway. You have to do what you think is right. Whether this has an impact on my contract, I don't know."

The fight is likely to be long and draining and finishes forever the fantasy that Magnier and McManus, who have little real interest in football, would make Ferguson chairman when he steps down from the dugout. The prize is, however, a glittering one. The stud-rights could be worth anything up to £20m, although some in horse-racing believe that this is a serious over-valuation.

Rock of Gibraltar, who won seven group one races, was a fighter rather than a horse reliant on class and its pedigree was unexceptional compared to contemporaries like Giant's Causeway. It was a Roy Keane not a Ryan Giggs. However, Ferguson's co-ownership ensured it was the most photographed horse since Desert Orchid and this may have escalated its value.

Ferguson is still to be presented with the new contract that will extend his rule over Old Trafford to 2007 and it is the sheer depth of young, mostly untapped, ability which he claimed helped persuade him to seek an extension.

"I changed my mind about retirement because the club is becoming bigger," he said. "The number of young players we have built up in this club is excellent and that's the focus. The future is fantastic. Without question we have some of the best young players we've ever had. Time will be the proof of their ability but from a point of view of potential it's as good as we've ever had. Legal proceedings will have no affect on that."

Until the appointment of Brian McClair to run the Under-19 team, Ferguson was said to be concerned with the amount of young quality players at United. His congratulatory phone-call to the Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier, when he secured the services of Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Simone-Pongolle two years ago, was laced with a certain amount of frustration. They were supposed to be the best young footballers around.

Houllier's belief that Liverpool may overtake United in three years' time is not unconnected with the fact that by then Keane will have retired while the boys who won the 1992 FA Youth Cup will be well into the veteran stage or gone.

This theory may have to change. Sir Matt Busby built three teams in the 25 years he ran Manchester United and Ferguson, ever competitive, would not mind a crack at creating a fourth. McClair's charges steamrollered to victory over Middlesbrough in the FA Youth Cup this year while Ferguson's central summer investments have been in raw, high-grade talent in the gossamer shapes of Cristiano Ronaldo and David Bellion, whose departure incensed Sunderland.

Ferguson always takes the same route, blooding teenagers as substitutes in European games whose outcome has been decided or which are irrelevant. David Beckham made his first-team debut in the Champions' League, against Galatasaray. Darren Fletcher, defenders Mark Lynch and Danny Pugh, and the England Under-16 captain, Kieron Richardson, have already used the Champions' League as a finishing school.

Chris Eagles might expect to play on Wednesday at Panathinaikos and will certainly be involved against Stuttgart next month. Last month's Carling Cup victory over Leeds might be remembered for Alan Smith's throwing of a plastic bottle into his own crowd. But the most significant event was the way the 17-year-old from Hertfordshire tormented a Leeds defence anchored around a World Cup winner, albeit one entirely lacking in motivation.

But, as Eagles left Roque Junior twisting in his wake, you thought of Ferguson's line about the teenage Giggs, whom he once likened to "a spaniel chasing a piece of wind-blown paper", and wondered if the Scot really wanted anyone else to control careers like these.