"Alfie is not great, he is struggling. He has had a series of operations and is working hard but his career is on a knife edge," said Bernstein. "The fact is that Keane's playing and Alfie's not and it's a sad reflection of the world that Keane has sought to earn substantially from a book which has been boosted by these sorts of views while the career of another professional footballer is on the edge."
"We are very conscious of relationships with Manchester United. We have a good relationship with them and I think that relationship has improved over the last few years. We simply have an issue here that no one wanted. It is there and has to be dealt with. We have to look after our club and our players and do the right thing. I am encouraged that the FA have taken the view they have, but we will only act and move forward if we think we have a case that we will win. The last thing in the world we want to do is inflame any passions. There is a healthy competition and passion between the clubs and that is the way we want to keep it. We do not want this to become an issue between the two clubs. We want to have two very strong clubs in Manchester which I would like to become the Milan of England. This unfortunate issue, which we feel very strongly about, will not interfere with that relationship."
Two questions arise:
- So why say anything if you don’t want to ‘inflame any passions’?
Milan? Meeeeeeeelan? Tells us Dave does this mean you are going to approach Gullit as the next manager when Keegan does one?