TIME TO GO?

Sir Alex Ferguson will consult his family and closest friends before deciding whether to retire when Malcolm Glazer takes control at Old Trafford. The Scot is repulsed by the prospect of a takeover which will change the face of Manchester United for ever, and may not be swayed by the US tycoon's attempts to forge a working relationship with him.

Glazer has let it be known that he wants Ferguson to survive a cull that would see most of the current board forced out. The reclusive American, who yesterday launched a £790.3m takeover bid, has done his homework on Ferguson and likes what he has found, but he knows the admiration is not mutual and that this year United's manager has already publicly questioned the takeover plans.

Glazer does not intend to repeat one of his first, highly aggressive decisions when he bought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American Football club in 1995 and swiftly replaced the coach Sam Wyche.

However Ferguson's intentions are not so clear and he will seek advice before deciding whether or not to remain in office during one of the most unsettling periods in the club's history.

Walking out would be a last resort but it is a definite possibility and the Scot will not be encouraged to learn that one of Glazer's first acts will involve moving on the plc board's three non-executive directors, Ian Much, Jim O'Neill and the chairman Sir Roy Gardner.

The finance director Nick Humby is considered "vulnerable" and Glazer's eldest son Joel, who has been instrumental in the negotiations, has indicated that he wants an office at Old Trafford as well as a seat in the directors' box. Ferguson would then have to answer to him or "some other American hotshot", as one United employee put it.

Sweeping changes are inevitable but Ferguson will be relieved to hear that David Gill, the chief executive who has led a polite yet obstructive anti-Glazer campaign, will probably survive because the new owners want a degree of continuity. Ferguson gets on well with Gill and that may be influential in his decision.

Gill would certainly try to talk him into staying although one theory last night was that Ferguson, at 63, might deem it more trouble than it is worth. Should the Scot leave this summer he would do so as a hero, particularly if United beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final, and after two disappointing seasons such a move has already been described within Old Trafford as "a graceful exit".

Glazer will apparently make around £20m available to spend on players every season but Gill has told Ferguson to look at the bigger picture and, in particular, the reservations about long-term finance that United's plc board had cited in its opposition. Ferguson is highly sceptical about the financial risk involved and there are no guarantees, as yet, of whether the new owners will back his spending plans.

With Ferguson's blessing, United have not only offered Rio Ferdinand a five-year contract worth £30m but are in negotiations with Ryan Giggs, John O'Shea, Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher and Tim Howard. Whether Glazer will be willing to subsidise huge rises, particularly in Ferdinand's case, is one of the many issues that will trouble the club's management.

Glazer is not as parsimonious as he is often portrayed and two years ago he paid US$8m, an unprecedented figure in the NFL, to take the highly respected coach Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay from the Oakland Raiders. Alternatively, there are stories of him quibbling about the price of trainers and buying his clothes from budget stores.

Glazer certainly has his work cut out to dispel Ferguson's scepticism. Winning over the manager could be of enormous benefit for the 73-year-old, whose public relations man once described United's followers as "xenophobic", but he would be kidding himself to believe it would improve his popularity among the supporters. Ferguson has openly sympathised with the fans' Not for Sale campaign and were he to back Glazer, would be accused of betrayal.

If, as is believed, Glazer has read Ferguson's autobiography he will also be aware that the Glaswegian is not the type to stand by and watch as new employees are brought in and valued colleagues such as the club's long-serving solicitor Maurice Watkins and secretary Ken Ramsden are ushered out.

In case Glazer is not fully au fait with the Scot he should refer, perhaps, to the very last line of his book. "Loyalty is the anchor of my life," says the man who has won 17 trophies at United and will go for an 18th in Cardiff a week tomorrow.