Formal Offer To Queiroz

Portuguese club Benfica have made a formal approach to Carlos Queiroz as they want him to be their next manager.

Sir Alex's assistant has previously denied that he held talks with Benfica as had been reported and stated that he had no interest in taking over at the Stadium of Light at the moment.

However, according to press reports emanating from Portugal, Benfica does not give up: they have now made a formal offer to Queiroz and have given him two weeks to reply.

The club is yet to speak on the matter in hand but it is understood that Sir Alex will cover the issue in his usual Friday afternoon press conference.

As someone who repeatedly called for Queiroz's head in previous seasons, I was forced to admit that I was wrong and Fergie was right to trust him. His influence allowed to land and then keep players like Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson and it seems that the experimenting with 4-2-3-1 and 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 for which he was thought to be responsible, has finally paid off.

United now very rarely play 4-4-2 but are a very formidable unit and though of course Fergie is rigthly lauded for his adaptability, Queiroz deserves credit, too. So, what I'm getting at is that I'd loath to lose him now - and I'm almost certain Fergie feels the same way.