'Sir Alex Ferguson rarely admits to a mistake, but this morning he might wish he had advised Mark Hughes differently. He was too young to be in the part-time world of international football, was the gist, and he should get into club management.
Hughes duly followed his mentor's advice, took over at Blackburn Rovers last autumn, and by way of a thank you, finished Manchester United's already tenuous hope of catching Chelsea at the top of the Premiership. Thanks Mark, you can go elsewhere next time you need guidance.
In reality, Ferguson is probably taking quiet satisfaction in the job Hughes is doing. The red knight says he never had his former striker down as a manager but since he took over at Ewood Park, Hughes has dragged Blackburn out of the relegation places and into the FA Cup semi-finals. Rovers may not be pretty, but they are pretty difficult to defeat.'
Hughes had some words of comfort for van Nistelrooy:
"It's difficult when you have been out injured," he said. "Ruud's record speaks for itself and it's only a matter of time before he gets back to the level where he was before his injury. He's a first-class striker, one of the best in the world, and quality like that doesn't go away."
And Ferguson hints that van Nistelrooy may be replaced by Saha, until he comes off injured of course:
"It will be a different team next week," Ferguson said. "Louis Saha is back in training [today] and Alan Smith needs a game, so I have some big decisions to make."