"It is also a challenge for the players to show loyalty to us, and if they don't think that we are being fair, then they have every right to come and see me. The door is always open. Look at players like Phil Neville and Nicky Butt - for three or four years, they were not regular starters, but they loved the club, they were patient and prepared to accept that they would not play every game.
"But they always got 20-odd games a season. You cannot do it forever, and you have to be fair to them and let them move on when they want to. I mean, Nicky and Phil can sit back and think: 'I have got eight or nine medals from my time there, which is a fantastic achievement'. Nicky played in the European Cup final, mainly because of the suspensions of Keane and Scholes. Phil played in the 1996 FA Cup final against Liverpool - (brother) Gary didn't make that one, he was on the subs' bench. Those are great rewards for being patient."