Ferguson Praises Mourinho, Before Training Guns on Grant

Sir Alex Ferguson today paid tribute to the former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and then immediately began playing mind games with Avram Grant, the Portuguese's successor.

"Mourinho enjoyed unparalleled success at Chelsea, without question," said the Manchester United manager Ferguson, before turning his focus to Grant. "It is a big test for whoever replaces him - and at the moment that is Avram Grant."

Ferguson, speaking ahead of Chelsea's visit to Manchester United on Sunday, was effusive in his praise of Mourinho. "Jose leaving Chelsea is a disappointment for the game," he said. "He was terrific for football and terrific for Chelsea. He brought something fresh and new to our game and I enjoyed the competition with him."

Then, in a reference to a light-hearted complaint he once made about the quality of wine Mourinho once served up at Stamford Bridge, he added: "I wish him well but I just don't know what I am going to do with my wine now! I will miss the personal challenge but what it does to them doesn't matter to me. We have to be focused on ourselves and Sunday's game. We are still playing Chelsea. It is still the same players and that in itself is a challenge for us. If you look at the record between us over the last three or four years, there is nothing in it."

Meanwhile Sunderland's manager Roy Keane credited Mourinho with lifting the standards of the English game. "I have never come across him, but I just look at what he brought to the Premier League, and he raised the bar," said Keane. "He raised the bar for everybody, even for the likes of United, the Arsenals, they had to liven up their act a bit, and they came back stronger again, United and Arsenal, in the last year or two.

"Jose Mourinho definitely did that for the Premier League, and he did the biggest challenge, where he turned a very good Chelsea team into a top team. That's the biggest step and the hardest step. There are lots of good teams out there - I could name you 10 and say, 'they are a good team' - but they are not a top team, and that is the gap he bridged. He will be a loss to the Premier League, there is no getting away from that."