Four years later, there is once again speculation that this year could be his last. This time however, we should want him to stay, as there are several reasons why he could now be the weakest link in Man Utd's quite noticeable but pleasurable decline.
It has now been three years since the most arrogant (marginally) supporters in the land have won what they think they have a divine right to win every year, the Premiership. Their record in the Champions League since they won it in 1999 has been absolutely appalling in the knockout stages. They've lost to Porto, Leverkusen, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, usually well before the final. In the last three seasons, they've claimed the FA Cup once by beating Milwall and the League Cup once by beating Wigan. Both competitions they previously felt were beneath them, often playing weakened sides or just not turning up at all (FA Cup 2000) .
Long may this slump continue and it may well do as long as the man with the most undeserved knighthood in football continues to be at the helm. (NB Bob Paisley was never knighted despite winning three European Cups) The first reason for this is that Ferguson now seems to fall out with players quicker than he can sign them.
2001 – Jaap Stam sold at his peak to Lazio after allegedly falling out with Ferguson
2003 – David Beckham sold at his peak after allegedly falling out with Ferguson
2005 - Roy Keane allowed to leave the club after allegedly falling out with Ferguson
2006 - Ruud Van Nistelrooy sold to Real Madrid after allegedly falling out with Ferguson
2006? – Cristiano Ronaldo could well be sold to a Spanish Club after allegedly falling out with Ferguson
Is Ferguson now becoming such a cantankerous old git that he can't now cope with anyone's opinion that doesn't match his own? Let's hope so.
In addition to Ferguson's fragile emotional state, his judgement of players seems to have joyously gone down the toilet too. Apart from the signings of Wayne Rooney (I think we all spotted he was a good player Alex) Ferguson's transfer record has been shaky recently to say the least. In the 1990's, having brought in influential players for a relatively low fee such as Gary Pallister, Paul Ince, Eric Cantona and Roy Keane, some of Ferguson's more recent signings have been delightfully woeful and have wasted the club an awful lot of money. Shame.
1999- Massimo Taibi £4.4M – Played only 4 times before one of the best blunders of all time against Southampton where the ball slowly rolled under his body. How we laughed.
2000- Fabien Barthez £7.8M - How we celebrated Paulo Di Canio making him look like an arse. AGAIN!
2001 – Juan Sebastian Veron £28M – He played well for about 3 weeks and then his value plummeted by 50% when Chelsea took him off United's hands. How we laughed.
2003- Eric Djemba Djemba - £4.2M – Made only 12 starts for the club having been signed to replace Keane. How we wished he had stayed and played more games.
2003 – Jose Kleberson £6.5M - A world cup winner. Surely he would be a good signing? No, he was sold 2 years later for a £4M loss.
I could go on listing the total flops - David Bellion, Liam Miller, Kieran Richardson.
I could move on to the expensive players who have been distinctly erratic and certainly have never justified their fee – Louis Saha, Alan Smith, Cristiano Ronaldo.
I could move on to the more recent signings who have had such shaky starts that it's possible they will never make the grade – Patrice Evra, Park Ji Sung, Nemanja Vidic.
Perhaps I am being overly critical. After all the new season is not yet upon us and Ferguson may well surprise us in the transfer market before mid-August by uncovering a real talent at a bargain price. Perhaps he won't just throw good money after bad and pay over the odds for yet another player! Then again……