Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that his health is the only factor that will determine how long he stays in management (Man United  7/1 to win the Premiership title outright).

The 68-year-old has endured constant speculation over his future at the club over the last few seasons despite the domestic and European success the club has achieved.

Ferguson has been in charge at Old Trafford for almost 24 years and has continued to build strong squads through a mixture of strong signings and academy youngsters.

United go into the final day of the season one point behind leaders Chelsea who will be confident of winning their match against Wigan at Stamford Bridge.

This would leave United with only one piece of silverware this season in the form of the League Cup. This would be considered a disappointing season from the club’s perspective.

However if this is indeed the only trophy to come to Old Trafford this season, it will not deter Ferguson to push on for more honours next season as long as he has no issue with his health (Man United 11/5 to win the 2010/2011 Premiership title outright).

The Scotsman said: “The thing I hope is that my health is OK. When you get to 68 years of age, you are not guaranteed anything. You hope you wake up in the morning.

“So you say to yourself, ‘There for the Grace of God that I am still here.”

“And that is the only thing that determines you in connection with football. You couldn’t possibly do your job unless you were healthy,” he added.

Ferguson believes that United’s season came down to the one week in which they lost to Chelsea at Old Trafford and crashed out of the Champions League on away goals against Bayern Munich.

The manager feels that if the results in this week had been different then their season could have been a completely different story.

Speculation over how long Ferguson has left at United has been present at the beginning and end of recent seasons and discussions over who will be his successor have continued.

Over the years names such as Martin O’Neill and Jose Mourinho have been implicated with the manager’s job at Old Trafford but Ferguson is likely to have an input as to who will succeed him.

He said: “You can talk about the successful managers right now who might be on everyone’s list. But in two years, they may not be. Or even next year.

“So it’s very difficult to say who would replace me when my time came.”

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