In days gone by Ferguson might have thrown the verbal version of a Joe Calzaghe combination.

This time he damn near smiled while assuring the media man he was fit and well.

"That question always comes up when one of my old players comes here," he said before announcing he had no intention just yet of moving over for some young buck such as former Old Trafford striker and current Blackburn boss Mark Hughes.

And why would he?

Why would Ferguson, 66 next month, consider retiring this side of his 70th birthday when he remains the most driven manager in British sport, in charge arguably of the greatest side of his 21-year reign at Old Trafford?

"I believe this is the strongest squad I've ever had," Ferguson says.

"This is what I have been working towards. I don't like the short-term fix. I prefer to see a group of players emerge and develop into something special which is happening at Old Trafford this season."

If ever a sentence was designed to strike fear into the rest of the Premier League then it is that one.

So Ferguson believes United 2007 are better than the Bryan Robson-inspired boys of the early Nineties. Better than the pace and steel of the Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis era. Better than the side orchestrated by the sublime Eric Cantona. Better than the David Beckham team which beat Bayern Munich in 1999 and brought back the Champions League trophy as part of an historic treble which included the Premier League title and FA Cup.

Do you know what, he might just be right.

True, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez will have to go some to match that collection of silverware, but you can see why Ferguson is so excited about his current side.

Talent and balance. For the first time in years United have a central defensive pairing in Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand to rival the solidity once afforded them by Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister.

They possess the athletic presence of Owen Hargreaves in midfield and a pleasing blend of youth and experience, epitomised by the pace and direct thrust of Rooney and Ronaldo on one hand and the evergreen Ryan Giggs, 34th birthday fast closing, on the other.

But there are more reasons why even those who hate United and their intemperate manager with a passion should give thanks for the work of Ferguson.

One is because, while many of his squads have boasted talented foreigners, they have always contained a rich seam of home-grown players.

Four of England's stalwarts, Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Hargreaves and Michael Carrick were in action on Sunday against Blackburn with Gary Neville and Paul Scholes also soon to return.

Another reason is the fact that no-one in the history of English football has combined panache and the pursuit of points quite like Ferguson.

From the moment he walked into Old Trafford Ferguson grasped the United ideal that while winning was essential, glory without swashbuckling entertainment was shallow. The legacy of Sir Matt Busby was assured.

So for all the admittedly pretty football played by Arsenal and the style demanded by Arsene Wenger, it is United who remain masters of the thrills.

Arsenal please the eye. United stir the blood. At times feistily. Occasionally nastily in the case of Ronaldo, but never boringly.

Ferguson, who has had his fair share of duds in the transfer market, speculated around £70million on Anderson, Nani, Tevez and Hargreaves in the summer, silencing those who believed the Glazer family owners were asset-strippers.

Already that looks money shrewdly spent, especially when set against the £31million Chelsea squandered on Andriy Shevchenko last year.

It is early days with just a third of the season gone and who knows what injuries might strike, but Ferguson's confidence is ominous.

With Chelsea regrouping, Liverpool disappointing and Arsenal lacking depth my suspicion is that Ferguson might well have to make space on the wall of the manager's room in the Old Trafford tunnel for pictures of his 10th Premier League title. Maybe a second Champions' League trophy too.

To go together with those of Robson and Cantona and Beckham and Muhammad Ali, Ferguson having for years hung his United stars alongside the world's most famous sportsman.

The wall of greatness beckons.