Manchester United 0 Arsenal

SIR ALEX FERGUSON will continue as manager of Manchester United for ‘‘a number of years’’, according to chief executive David Gill.

The 67-year-old sealed his 11th Premier League title in 23 years at the Old Trafford helm with the 0-0 draw against Arsenal.

That drew the club level with Liverpool on 18 topflight titles, leading to speculation Ferguson could retire if they usurp their great rivals next season.

Gill, though, does not see an end to the Ferguson era in sight.

He said: ‘‘He’s still very motivated to go on and win things with Manchester United.

‘‘He loves the game, he loves everything associated with the game, he’s very well supported by his staff and by the players. He’s very much still 100 per cent working at Manchester United.

‘‘I don’t think you could read (much into) beating Liverpool – everyone makes great play of that.

‘‘Equalling their record, which is a fantastic record, is obviously wonderful for the club but who’s to say what will happen next year?

‘‘What we’ve done this year in terms of the number of games we’ve had to play and what we’ve achieved is testament to everyone and he recognises there’s a lot more to come from the squad and hopefully, as I say, it will go on for many years.

‘‘What Alex has done quite correctly is understand how to structure the club and he just takes the big decisions, and he delegates very well to a very experienced staff, a highly motivated staff, and he’s got a great team around him so it all works.

‘‘As long as Alex continues to do that, which I’m sure he will, he’ll want to stay involved with Manchester United and run the team.

‘‘I envisage him being manager certainly for a number of years, but I’m not going to put a timeline on it.’’ When the analysis of United’s season is completed during the early summer months,the goalless draw with Arsenal will not figure very prominently – other than what it actually meant.

Far more important was the victory at Stoke on Boxing Day, only four days after United returned from their successful quest to become world champions in Japan.

Twenty-two clean sheets in a 37-match programme that has yielded only five wins by a margin of three goals or more seems to bear that feeling out.