Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed it was always in the club’s plans to add a number of his fledglings to the coaching staff, and this hasn’t changed now that he has retired.

Nicky Butt has been working with Warren Joyce and the u21s this season, whilst Paul Scholes helped Paul McGuiness and the u18s when he last called it a day so there is evidence of Sir Alex’s words in action.

And the outgoing manager has said the two, as well as Ryan Giggs, will be part of the club’s plans going forward:

“That was already established a while ago.

“The planning has been in place for a long time to have Scholes, Giggs and Nicky Butt as part of the coaching structure here.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has washed his hands of Wayne Rooney, and instead has left the matter with incoming manager David Moyes.

Last Sunday Sir Alex confirmed that Wayne Rooney had asked to leave the club, but with his retirement imminent the boss isn’t getting bogged down by the matter and instead believes Moyes will sort the matter out:

“I haven’t spoken to David about it. I’m sure he’ll address it when he gets here.

“I’ve no idea [why Wayne wants to leave]. It’s not my department. I’m no longer interested in that.

“David is going to deal with that and he quite rightly wants to deal with it. I’m happy with that.”

It has been reported that Moyes is hoping to keep the want away striker and met with Sir Alex and Ryan Giggs earlier in the week to discuss a solution to the matter.

Having added the Premier League to his haul of trophies this season, Sir Alex was presented with the Barclays Manager Of The Year award and was also honoured with a merit award for his contribution to the Barclays Premier League.

Speaking at his final presser as Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson has paid a huge compliment to two of his players, claiming they are the future of the club.

With the game at the Hawthorns his 1500 and final in charge, Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he wants the team to have a youthful feel about it, typical given that Sir Alex has been at the forefront of youth development in his tenure at the club.

Giving updates on his team news, Sir Alex said:

“I don’t have any injury problems. I’ll make a few changes – maybe a few younger players will play.

“Anders (Lindegaard) will be in goal. I don’t have Rafael so I need to make a decision about right-back. I want to play Jones and Evans at centre-back – they could be the future. Rio (Ferdinand) and (Nemanja) Vidic will have to have a place on the bench! I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be great.”

This is a huge compliment for the pair from the outgoing manager, and again praise for Jones who Sir Alex appears to be very enthusiastic about.

Sir Alex spoke on taking on Steve Clarke’s side, saying that he wants to win this game more than he did the final home game against Swansea:

“1500 games – it’s incredible.

“West Brom have done fantastically, every team wants to win their last home game and obviously I want to win this one more than last week’s even.”

Penarol full back Guillermo Varela has spoken about his time at Old Trafford, claiming that it was enjoyable and that he was well received by the players.

Varela, 20, spent a spell on trial at Old Trafford earlier this month ahead of a potential move and with the trial over he has told Tirando Paredes about his ‘demanding’ experience:

“I have trained with the first-team.

“I am very happy and I was received very well.

“It was a surprise to get the chance to test with Manchester United. I’m glad and happy, and grateful to Penarol who allowed me to travel.

“I was treated so well and Chicharito [Javier Hernandez] helped me a lot. The work outs were short but very demanding.”

Given his struggle (not really) in knocking Liverpool off their perch, one of Liverpool’s players made an impression on Sir Alex in particular, with Sir Alex claiming he ‘loved’ him.

Sir Alex will retire this Sunday after the game with West Brom and will be joined in retirement by Jamie Carragher. The defender has been a Liverpool stalwart for over 10 years and in his time at the club has faced Sir Alex a whopping 33 times.

Speaking to LFCTV in a documentary on the defender’s career, Sir Alex enthused over Carragher claiming Liverpool were lucky to have him:

“He’s absolutely a player I admire.

“He’s the epitome of a loyal, dedicated player who Liverpool have been lucky to have for more than a decade.

“He’s been a bedrock of their defensive qualities for years and years.

“I loved him. He’s a fantastic example for any young lad that wants to play the game. He’s been a really, really good professional.

He’s absolutely the type of player a manager wants. I used to rave about Brucie [Steve Bruce] and the nine years he had with us, and I think Jamie Carragher is that exact same mould – can play with injuries, gets knocked about and gets back up, hardly misses a game.

“You’re lucky to have players like that. I was lucky to have Steve Bruce and he is the same type of player. A fantastic player.”

Yes I’m petty, yes I’m small time and yes I should be focusing on my team that has just won the Premier League (there I saved you saying it!) but this is funny.

After his Man City side lost the FA Cup final to relegated Wigan, Carlos Tevez’s day got even worse when he took this tumble on the Wembley stairs!

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Having established that Wayne Rooney handed in a transfer request and is looking to leave Old Trafford, what exactly lays ahead for Manchester United and the want away striker?

Rooney looked rather uncomfortable during United’s title celebrations and was boo’ed by some fans during both Sunday and Monday’s events. With Sir Alex confirming that he had asked to leave again, Rooney must have felt especially uneasy during the parade but he took to the bus and enjoyed the festivities as best he could.

Once the season draws to an end though all the fun will stop and Rooney as well as Manchester United will be faced with the question; where do we go from here?

Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure means that David Moyes will likely be left with the final say in what happens, making the situation even more awkward given the history that he shares with Rooney. And though the two have patched up their differences, the term ‘forgive but don’t forget’ springs to mind especially with the allegations that were levelled at the new United boss by Rooney.

Moyes spoke well of Rooney at a recent engagement with the Cambridge Union, calling him ‘one of the best players in the world’ and many believe that Moyes could try and keep Rooney at the club, and in terms of United as a team this isn’t a bad thing. Although he has flattered to deceive, when Rooney is fit and at full flow he is easily one of the better players in the world. So if Moyes can get him back to his best it will be to our advantage.

But it is getting Rooney back to his best that is the major sticking point, can he be bothered?

With the summer approaching Rooney is likely to wind down after what has been a long season. This will include holidays away with drinking and if he follows form, smoking. At his age and with his body type, a few weeks of neglect will do serious damage. We saw last season how he sauntered into the start of the season, a piss poor performance from a clearly unfit Rooney against Everton somewhat set the tone for the season and he was duly dropped for the next game against Fulham.

If he does stay and turns up in such condition again will it have been worth it? From his book you get the impression Wayne was none to impressed with Moyes’ authoritarian ways as a kid, so how will he take to them as a man? Because to avoid a repeat of the start of last season, Moyes will need to be constantly breathing down Rooney’s neck, ensuring he is taking pre season seriously.

Then there is the possibility that Wayne has already made his mind up and wants to go regardless of Sir Alex stepping down and Moyes’ wishes to keep him at the club. So where will he go?

Few club can or will be willing to match United’s £40m valuation and Rooney’s £300k p/w wages but there are apparently suitors. Initially Rooney was linked with Bayern Munich, with claims that Germany was his preferred destination but their sporting director Matthias Sammer is quoted as saying he isn’t part of their plans this summer:

“I don’t know what Rooney would bring to the Bundesliga. I can’t answer that.”

“I can answer that we have great respect for Wayne Rooney, but there has been no contact with him.

“He’s not on the agenda. No, no. Absolutely not.”

There has also been mention of Arsenal but I, like most, think they fit into the first category of clubs that can’t match the club and player’s demands despite Arsene Wenger’s remaining tight lipped on a potential move for the striker.

Chelsea are a name that have also been strongly linked and can afford to sign him, they are also domestic and with Rooney’s relationship with Ashley Cole, they aren’t a bad shout. United would have to think this through though as they aren’t usually in the business of strengthening rivals. Chelsea with Mourinho and a striker that can actually score and with a point to prove could  be dangerous in terms of title hopes.

Man City remain in the same boat as 2010, it is a non conversation even though they too can afford him and offer him the chance to remain in the north west of England.

There have been rumours of secret talks with Real Madrid, and whilst Rooney may or may not be up to moving abroad, it could be a viable option for United with the papers claiming the Spanish side have a number of players that pique interest at Old Trafford including Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.

The same can be said for PSG, an hour away from London with former England team mate David Beckham there to hold his hand, Rooney could join the French champions. They have previously denied interest but with Ibrahimovic possibly returning to Juventus they will have space for a new striker. When rumours of Rooney’s departure first emerged it was PSG who were touted as his new club, and they can easily afford to pay him more than he is currently on now.

A move abroad where he can cause the least damage to United would be preferable for most fans if he goes, and both of his international suitors can afford to pay top dollar so they would be in the club’s vest interest to get him there too but essentially the question is, will Wayne want to go abroad?

Unlike in 2010, Rooney isn’t the top dog at the club and with the reason he gave for wanting to leave it’s hard to see him hanging around unless he himself makes the changes that make him undroppable? Whilst he still has fans at the club the booing shows that for some he has completely burned his bridges after asking to leave for a second time.

There are various options for both club and player, some more favourable than others. How Moyes deals with this matter could have a huge say in how his Manchester United career pans out.

Manchester United will face Tottenham in the final of the u21 championship after beating Liverpool thanks to a Larnell Cole hat-trick.

Cole scored two first half penalties and rounded off the scoring with a driven effort from out side of the box in the second half to send United into the finals at Old Trafford on Monday.

Liverpool continued their fine tradition of getting players sent off against us when Jon Flannigan saw red in the second for kicking the ball at a prone Adnan Januzaj.

Starting XI: Ben Amos; Marnick Vermijl, Tom Thorpe, Michael Keane, Reece James; Charni Ekangamene, Ryan Tunicliffe; Larnell Cole, Adnan Januzaj, Tom Lawrence; Jesse Lingard

Subs: A Pereira, Sutherland, Pearson, Wilson, Grimshaw