Sir Alex Ferguson's Retirement Will End Manchester United's Dominance in England

He has been manager of Manchester United for 23 years, making them the second most successful side in English football history, and himself the most successful manager.

But by 2011 his reign will have ended, as he has said he will definitely retire by the time he is 70. Now he has talked about retiring before, but has always gone back on his decision. This time, however, I highly doubt he will.

And that is great news for me, but not so great news for the Manchester United fans.

Recently, Fergie said he thought Chelsea would suffer a similar decline to that of Liverpool in the 90s. Well, I'm predicting that when he finally steps down, Manchester United will suffer, and their spell of dominance will come to an end.

Who knows, they may have a similar spell that Liverpool are having now, of 18 years without a title. And their decline may just coincide with Liverpool's rise, which would suit me just fine.

The reason I think United will start to decline after Fergie leaves is not just because they will be losing one of the best managers to grace English football, but because they will lose the players that have been the core of the team for so long.

When Ferguson goes, I am willing to bet that Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes will follow him out of Old Trafford. And with the influential figure of Sir Alex gone, whoever takes over will have a huge job on his hands to keep the likes of Rio Ferdinand and, if he is still there, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The first few years after he retires they may carry on achieving for a bit, but soon, all of Ferguson's era will be gone, and the most successful period in the club's history will be over.

The only way I can see this not happening is if they get a man that is up to the job. If they get a man who will have the tactical skill of Fergie but the ruthless streak to ship troublesome players out.

In my view, when Ferguson leaves Old Trafford, the only man that could save them is Roy Keane.