弗格森爵士——我才不要退休

I'm not the retiring kind, says Fergie

弗格森爵士——我才不要退休

The United manager is eager to stick around and win more medals

曼联经理打算赢得更多奖杯

Paul Wilson
The Observer,
Sunday May 11

保罗.威尔逊
观察家报
2008 5 11 周日

Sir Alex Ferguson has just revealed the extent of his nervousness by fretting so publicly about Bolton's performance at Chelsea when Manchester United can win the League simply by taking their usual three points from Wigan today. Steve Bruce said United would have been delighted with that scenario at the start of the season, and if they are the team they think they are they should still be happy about it now, especially as their manager is looking beyond the Boltons and Wigans of the Premier League to reel in an altogether bigger quarry.

弗格森爵士公开表示他不相信博尔顿能对切尔西全力以赴，如果曼联能不出意外的拿下维根竞技就能取得冠军。斯蒂夫.布鲁斯说曼联如果赛季初就知道现在的状况会很高兴的，而如果维根知道自己能影响冠军归属也会很高兴。特别是维根和博尔顿都不用为保级担心了。

When Ferguson first arrived at Old Trafford 22 years ago he claimed his priority was knocking Liverpool off their perch. After a slowish start he managed that by the mid-Nineties, dominating the Premier League, winning the north-west derbies and in the process consigning Liverpool to a title drought now stretching back 18 years.

当弗格森爵士22年前来到老特拉福德的时候，他说最主要的是把利物浦从宝座上拉下来。他的开局并不顺利，不过在90年代中期曼联统治了联赛。赢得了西北德比，也令利物浦18年没有拿过联赛冠军。

What he could not have envisaged at the time was knocking Liverpool off their perch to the extent that their record 18 titles came within sight. In 1986, when Ferguson came down from Aberdeen, United had seven (distant) titles to their name to Liverpool's 16. The gap would have appeared unbridgeable to someone who did not realise - and why would he? - he would be sticking around for the next two decades and setting new benchmarks of success.

但利物浦还是有18个联赛冠军头衔。1986年，弗格森爵士从阿伯丁来到曼联的时候，红魔只有7次联赛冠军，而现在已经有了16个。当时看起来这个差距是怎么也追不上的。他现在打算再干20年创造新纪录。

Now United are on 16 titles, and Ferguson makes the short journey to the JJB Stadium hoping his players show the sort of composure they produced against Barcelona in the Champions League, so that Liverpool can be caught as early as next season and maybe overhauled a season or two after that. Retire? Slip away quietly and leave someone else to finish the job? Don't bank on it.

现在曼联有了16个联赛冠军，弗格森爵士去了JJB球场，希望他的球员们表现出冠军杯淘汰巴塞罗那的勇气，这样利物浦最早下赛季就能被追上，新的记录也指日可待。退休？悄悄的离开让别人接手？别报什么希望。

'I'm carrying on, I still have a bit of damage to do yet,' a bullish Ferguson said. 'We could win our 17th title today and we would only be one behind Liverpool, so we'd be getting closer. We'd be coming up on the stand rails. Hopefully, we will get to 19 in my time, but I'm not really looking at that yet. It will happen some time, I have no fears about that part.
“我要继续，我还有不少工作呢，”倔强的弗格森爵士说，“我们今天可以拿到第17个联赛冠军，只落后利物浦1个。所以我们要继续努力。我们来了。希望我能帮曼联拿到19个冠军，但现在不去想这个事情。总会有的，我对此毫不怀疑。

'The future of the club is good, the structure is great, the youth development strong and apart from [Ryan] Giggs, [Paul] Scholes and [Gary] Neville the majority of the first team are young lads. We'll keep on winning titles down the years, we have tried to make sure of that. The first title was the hardest one, because we'd waited 26 years, but that was the one that opened the door. Once we got into the consistency of it, the team developed, the squad got better, and it became a good habit for us to win the League. And if we win at Wigan it will be a 10th title in 22 years and that will be an amazing achievement.'

“俱乐部的未来是光明的，结构是坚固的，青训计划也很好，不考虑92班的话球队的主体都是年轻人。我们未来几年还有很强的战斗力，我们要确保这点。第一个冠军是最难的，因为我们已经等了26年，但赢了第一次就是捅破了窗户纸。球队越来越好，阵容越来越强，因为我们夺冠已成习惯。如果我们赢下维根就能在22年里拿到第10个联赛冠军，这是了不起的成就。”

Bruce knows all this perfectly well. He was captain of the United side that secured Ferguson's first title in 1993, and won the double a season later with the 1994 team that has a strong claim to being the best the Premier League has seen. 'I wouldn't argue with that, when you think of the personalities in that side,' Bruce said. 'Ince, Schmeichel, Keane, Hughes, Cantona. It was a remarkable collection of players and that team would still take some beating, but what I would say now is that the strength in depth at United is better than it has ever been. There was just the one team in '94, whereas now United have many more options.'

布鲁斯知道这些。他是弗格森爵士时代1993年冠军队的队长，1994年拿到了双冠王，他说那是EPL里最好的球队。“我同意这点，看看我们都有谁，”布鲁斯说。“因斯、舒梅切尔、基恩、休斯、坎通纳。这些都是响当当的名字。但我要说现在曼联的板凳深度是无以伦比的。只有一支94曼联，但现在的曼联有更多选择。”

What remains consistent at United, Bruce argues, is experience and class. Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager, said around a month ago that there was no way United would let the title slip once they got their noses in front, and one imagines Bruce would readily agree were he not in the uncomfortable position of being in charge of their last-day opponents. 'When United need to win, you know they usually can,' he said, choosing his words carefully. 'They know exactly what they have to do; the preparation at United is second to none. Everything about the club is top-class. And if they end up chasing a game they have that action-stations mode. It's an incredible challenge for us today, it's quite unbelievable that the Premier League has come to what amounts to a cup final on our ground, and it is an insult to Wigan and to me to suggest we will be doing United any favours. Not to mention Sir Alex, because he would not expect that. We'll just play, which we have been doing quite well recently. We've performed really well under pressure in our last few games so I hope we can perform without pressure too.'

现在的曼联有什么没有改变？布鲁斯说是经验和实力。桑德兰经理基恩一个月前说曼联不可能让冠军旁落，布鲁斯也不情愿成为曼联最后一个比赛日的对手。“当曼联想赢的时候，你知道他们就能赢，”他小心的说。“他们知道自己是顶级的。如果他们决心取胜就会充分准备。我们今天有大麻烦了，真不敢相信要这样决出联赛冠军，我们不会帮曼联的忙。弗格森爵士也不会期待这个。我们踢自己的球，最近我们打得不错。我们最后几场顶住了压力，所以希望我们能没有压力的打好。”

Wigan's record against United might be dismal, and the JJB pitch the worst in the Premier League, though the team and the surface have improved on mid-season. With decent weather and no recent rugby league games, Wigan ought to be able to show against United what Bruce was pleased to discover on arrival, that it would be a mistake to dismiss them as mere scrappers. 'I've got some really good players here, I can't ask them to hoof it,' Bruce said. '[Antonio] Valencia, [Wilson] Palacios and [Jason] Koumas all want the ball on the floor. We might have a rubbish pitch, but we are at our best on good surfaces, that's why we did so well at Aston Villa last week. We enjoyed playing there.'

维根对曼联的战绩很差，JJB球场也是EPL里最差的。虽然维根和JJB在赛季中段都有改善。最近的天气不错，英式橄榄球比赛也很久没打了。所以曼联面对的场地条件不会很糟。“我有一些不错的球员，我不能让他们在菜地里踢球，”布鲁斯说。“巴伦西亚、帕拉西奥和库马斯都希望场地平整。我们的球场的确不怎么样，但我们现在已经尽力了，所以我们上周能干掉维拉。我们很喜欢在这里踢球。”

The game is trickier than it looked a few weeks ago, and Ferguson knows it. He has begun to sound like a manager trying to convince himself. 'Of all the teams I've had I'm very confident taking this group of players to Wigan to get a result,' he said. 'The most important thing we need to take to Wigan is the concentration we showed against Barcelona. We need another performance like that. When I look at the names on the team-sheet I know they have proved themselves.'

这场比赛的重要性比几周前预计的要高，弗格森爵士知道这点。他已经开始像个经理那样的说话了。“不管是带什么样的球队，我带他们去维根都会很有信心，”他说。“最重要的是我们要表现出对付巴塞罗那那样的集中。我们要像那天一样踢球。看看我们的球员你就知道他们能做到。”

Whatever the result, Ferguson has nothing left to prove to Bruce. 'He's the best,' the Wigan manager said, happier to talk about the man rather than his team or today's fixture. 'He tests you, puts you under pressure. That's his way of showing his belief in you. If you can't take the pressure from him you won't be good enough for United. He's a born leader of men. There will never be another one like him.'

不管结果如何，弗格森爵士都不会太多谈到布鲁斯。“他是最好的，”布鲁斯说，他更愿意谈弗格森爵士而不是曼联。“他考察你，给你压力。这就是他欣赏你的标志。如果你不能从他那里得到压力，那么你就是不够好。他是个天生的领袖。没有第二个人像他一样。”