SOCCER:ALEX FERGUSON strode the corridors of The JJB Stadium last night wearing the broadest of smiles and with a shiny, newly minted, Premier League winner's medal proudly adorning his neck.
Manchester United's 2-0 win at Wigan had given Ferguson the 10th such bauble of his Old Trafford tenure and he hinted there might be more to come.
Insisting he was not contemplating retirement, not least because his wife, Cathy, will not allow him to, he said: "How would I be without all this, please tell me - and my wife wouldn't let me retire. She kicks me out of the door at 7am every morning. She's quite a formidable person."
The 66-year-old will depart his home in Cheshire with a spring in his step this week and explained that United are "bouncing" into the Champions League final in Moscow on Wednesday week when they will renew their rivalry with Chelsea.
"If we had lost the title today Moscow would have been difficult, though," he conceded.
Ferguson also admitted to enduring an awkward day amid, first, strong sunshine and, later, torrential rain at Wigan. "It was a difficult one. It was an away game and that made it difficult," he said, agreeing that even Cristiano Ronaldo's opener from the penalty spot - the Portuguese's 41st of the season - was not sufficient to induce a mood of technical-area serenity. "We had some nervous moments and then the rain came and anything could have happened then. We started to get a grip of it after half-time, though. I was thinking: 'Please give me the second goal', and then our oldest player [Ryan Giggs] got me that second goal. Fantastic."
It was also Giggs's 10th title as a United player and Ferguson hailed his second-half substitute as a "credit to the game" before, almost in disbelief, marvelling: "I've known Ryan for 20 years now." Asked about his own longevity at Old Trafford, Ferguson turned untypically humble.
"I am proud to have survived for so long," he reflected. "But it is easier for me than the rest because I am at such a great club."
United certainly boast a great in Ronaldo and, appropriately, the Scot doused his number seven in superlatives: "Cristiano's exceptional; 41 goals for a winger is just sensational."
Paul Scholes still has his stellar moments but yesterday was not the midfielder's finest hour and he was lucky not to be sent off for a second bookable offence.
"Paul Scholes has ridden his luck a little bit," said Ferguson, who disagreed with Steve Bruce's assertion he should have been sent off. "The first one was reckless, the second just a shove. I don't think it merited a booking."
United's manager could have done without a wise guy behind the away dug-out constantly taunting him with false information about Chelsea's progress against Bolton at Stamford Bridge.
"You have to try and dismiss all the stuff going on around you and concentrate on your own game," he explained.
"But there was a guy behind me who kept telling me it was 2-0 for Chelsea so he did his bit."
Summarising the title race, he said: "It ebbed and flowed a bit. Arsenal looked like they would win it for a long period but they then dropped a few points after losing to us in the FA Cup and that made the difference. But we dropped points at Middlesbrough and Blackburn and that allowed Chelsea back into it."
Avram Grant's side were undone by Bolton's feat in scoring a late goal to draw at Stamford Bridge. But Ferguson said: "I think the two points they dropped against Wigan probably won the title for us."
Yet despite the closeness of the title race, Ferguson suspects United's class of 2008 might be his finest. "If we win the Champions League you will have to say it is my best team," he said. "This side is a good young one and has plenty of years left."
Meanwhile Grant revealed he had dispatched congratulations to Ferguson. "I have sent a message to Sir Alex," said Grant. "He is a great man and a great manager. I like him personally. It's amazing what he's done.
"I want to congratulate Manchester United. They have had a great season."
Roman Abramovich dropped in on the Chelsea dressing-room afterwards. The club's billionaire owner, in attendance for the first time since the victory over Arsenal on March 23rd, which had fired hopes of the championship, intends to be in more celebratory mood on Wednesday week.
"He congratulated everyone, he respected what we did this season," said Grant, who knows that the antidote to this disappointment is readily at hand.
"Roman had wanted to come to the last games. He knows everything about this club. We are always happy to see him."
PREMIER LEAGUE UPS AND DOWNS
CHAMPIONS
Manchester United
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Chelsea
Arsenal
Liverpool
UEFA CUP
Everton
RELEGATED
Derby County
Birmingham City
Reading
LEADING SCORERS
31 Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
24 Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)
19 Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn)
15 Robbie Keane (Tottenham)
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)
Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton)
Benjamin Mwaruwari (Man City)
14 Carlos Tevez (Man Utd)
13 John Carew (Aston Villa)
12 Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)
