United's Lack of European Silver Whets the Appetite of Ferguson

"For all his horses, knighthoods and championships, Alex hasn't got two of what I've got ... and I don't mean balls"

- Brian Clough.

There aren't too many things that can be leveled at a man who has greedily accumulated 10 league titles in the past 16 seasons but, football being football, even the people at the top find their records held up for ridicule sometimes. Liverpool's supporters have taken to stretching out a banner on the Kop - Paisley 3 Ferguson 1 - to mock the fact that the European dynasty Sir Alex Ferguson always craved has never quite materialized in the way it did for Bob Paisley at Anfield. Clough's tone was also laced with a wicked sense of schadenfreude and he never tired of reminding the football world that, in terms of European Cups, there was an order of merit that did not have a Manchester United manager anywhere close to the top.

The point is not lost on Ferguson at a time in his life when, perhaps unfairly, he frequently finds that his record in Europe is held against him. "I do want to win it again," he said. "We have consistently qualified for the quarters and the semis but we haven't won enough trophies in Europe. You look at Ottmar Hitzfeld, who has won it with two different clubs. [Carlo] Ancelotti has won it twice, too. This is the competition that matters the most. It's the one that elevates the clubs, the players, the managers. Winning it is the best achievement for any manager."

When it was pointed out that his own name was missing from the list of two-time winners, there was a slight flinch - little more than a narrowing of that rheumy, impenetrable stare but a flinch nonetheless. This, however, was no time to be admitting to insecurities and Ferguson tried manfully to argue that it had barely crossed his mind.

"I'm quite relaxed about it," he said. "When we won it in 1999 I put to bed the thing about 'He's won this and that but he's never won the big European trophy'. So I can be relaxed. After that first one, the way I have always looked at the Champions League is that anything I did in the future would be a bonus."

On quick inspection he did not seem to have his fingers crossed behind his back. Yet his desire for success is so pathological that it is impossible to imagine how it would not be a permanent regret if his solitary triumph, in Barcelona nine years ago, had to be remembered as a one-hit wonder. "We should have done better," he admits. "I've said many times that we are proud of our history at Manchester United. It's an illustrious history but there is a weakness in terms of the number of European trophies we have won."

Ferguson, of course, cannot be held responsible for what has gone before him. Lest it be forgotten, he is already assured of going down in history as the most successful British manager ever in terms of trophies won. In European terms, however, there is palpable frustration that he is not already in a position where his record makes him exempt from scrutiny.

"Real Madrid have won it nine times, Milan have won it seven times and then there are clubs like Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Ajax who have all won it four or five times. For a club like ours, we should definitely have won it more than we have. We are always proud of achievements. But we will always be disappointed that we haven't won it more, and I'm sure the way I feel about that is the same way that everyone at the club feels. If we can't win it again, it affects our history."

He spoke with noticeable impatience. Ferguson never thought that Clough's jibes were worthy of a response - their relationship was rarely better than lukewarm - but there is one of Clough's maxims with which the United manager will empathise. "You win something once and people can say it's all down to luck," Clough used to say. "You win it twice and it shuts the buggers up."