The Indie:
If the intention was to antagonise Old Trafford ahead of tomorrow's confrontation between his past and present employers, Peter Kenyon would have been profoundly disappointed by the reaction to his assertion that Chelsea will usurp Manchester United as the world's biggest football club by 2014.
Mockery, not fear, shaped the response from Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday. " We're really going to quake and tremble about that," he said, as the United manager placed more importance on a potential six-point lead over the champions than point-scoring.
Ambitious claims from the Chelsea chief executive have received little credibility from the Manchester United manager since his defection from Old Trafford at the start of the Roman Abramovich era and his latest declaration, that Jose Mourinho has helped manoeuvre the fastest-growing supporter base in the world, was dismissed in typical fashion as the Scot queried his motives before the meeting between the champions and their closest challengers.
"I know Peter," said Ferguson, laughing aloud. "It's a nice time to bring that out, isn't it? I don't know how they work these things out these days anyway. There are all sorts of different views on whether we've got 50 million supporters or 500 million. One thing I know is that we do have all these supporters because we entertain. That is part of the great history of this club and it will never change."
The United manager's emphasis on entertainment is salient given the pragmatic approach of Mourinho, though it is for more deep-rooted reasons that the Scot believes the nouveau riche cannot rival his club's broad appeal and stature. In his blueprint for the future, Kenyon conceded Chelsea lack the heritage that United possess but have the advantage of a unique " DNA" and "a brand that is more dynamic, more relevant"; talk that is anathema to a traditionalist like Ferguson.
As Abramovich discovered at the 2005 Champions' League semi-final, when he asked why the raucous atmosphere of Anfield could not be recreated in west London, passion cannot be purchased.
Ferguson added: "I can only go by experience and everywhere we go there seems to be a mass of people crowding around the players wearing United strips. I don't know what the barometer is of that and I don't know if anyone can really be accurate on how many supporters a club is supposed to have. There are all sorts of mythical tales about the people who support our club, but what I do know is we have a rich history and no one can deny that. We will have 76,000 fans in that stadium on Sunday and my only concern is, they'd better shout. I don't need to discuss how other teams go about their business, I am just concerned with United. We are going the right way, the best way."