Whilst Sir Alex Ferguson's International players have been competing for World Cup qualification, their Manager met with his International peers at the 7th UEFA Elite Coaches Forum. Arsene Wenger, Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho were in attendance, as were top coaches from throughout Europe. They discussed football trends and issues affecting top Club football. Fixture congestion as result of International matches, Ethics, and Manager’s relationships with referees were on the agenda.

Sir Alex spoke with Sue McCann to give the LMA a glimpse inside the Forum and look ahead to the Manchester Derby.

With so many top Managers in Europe involved in this Forum is there a free-flow of information? It's so competitive at your level, do people actually open up and give their opinions?

"Yes they do, they very much do and there's been some heated discussions over the years, heated in the sense of argumentative, forthright views from the coaches. Fabio Cappello is very forthright and very informative in terms of his views on the game and areas where there may be problems. Lippi was terrific as well. This year we've some new coaches who are maybe a bit less forthright because they're new. For instance Wanderlei Luxemburgo, he's a very intelligent man and I was very impressed with him but he was very quiet as it was his first time. It was the first time we've had a Russian coach there, Valeri Gazzaev from CSKA Moscow and one or two younger coaches like Paul Le Guen. There are the older ones like me who have been there from the start 7 years ago.... Gerard Houllier is one of them, Arsene Wenger and Cappello have always been there, so the 5 or 6 who have been there every year generally dictate or dominate the proceedings because of their familiarity of what's needed.”

I understand you have been appointed Chairman of a new UEFA Coaches Circle, what is that and what does it involve?

"UEFA have started a new football clinic on the principles of coaching at all levels. I am the Chairman for the first two years which I am happy to do. In our positions (as "Elite") Coaches and Managers of football teams, it's important for us to get the message out to the younger coaches in the game. Because of the development of the games standards, without developing the younger coaches, we're never going to get the levels (of management and coaches) that we're seeing at the moment.

“I think that the Champions League and the Premier League in England are of a fantastically high standard. I think the Champions League is better than the World Cup and I think people find it hard to remember when the last great World Cup was .. it was probably 1986 and that's nearly 20 years ago. When the Champions League began nobody could have envisaged the levels it would reach. So this UEFA Football Circle is dedicated to the overall quality of coaching standards to get them to a high, high level".

Staying with young coaches, you face one of the Premierships newest Managers Stuart Pearce for the first time in a Manchester Derby on Saturday. What do you make of what Stuart Pearce has done so far and the route he's taken into Management?

“I think everyone remembers Stuart Pearce as a determined, aggressive player, who played with great heart and enthusiasm that gave him a fantastic career in the game. And I think that his team are playing exactly like that, I think his team is mirroring Stuart Pearce as the player he was."

After a 5 month spell as Player Coach of Nottingham Forest (in 1996/97) Stuart went away to do his coaching courses and learn his trade - do you favour that route into Management?

“I would think that's the right thing to do. I think you are fortunate if you get that break because some Managers try it for the first time and never get back in, because tomorrow may never come and today’s your day. After he was Manager of Forest for that short spell he obviously decided to prepare himself, and I think that's a great thing because when the next opportunity comes along you know more. This is the stupid thing about our game, one day you are a player and the next a Manager. I finished playing football at 32 and was a Manager the next day and it's harsh, you have to depend on a little bit of luck on surviving. So I think he's done the right thing. The unfortunate thing that you are finding a lot of the time in our game is that players, who were great players, are taken on by Clubs thinking that, because they were great players they are going to be great Managers and it's not the case. You need to have knowledge and preparation. You need to understand who your players are and how to work with your players to make them better. People like Stuart Pearce, who go away to prepare themselves and go on courses, are going to have a better chance of making it."

The other talking point ahead of the Manchester Derby will be the return of Andy Cole as a Manchester City player. Out of all the players you have signed where does he rank?

"Andy was a great signing for us and did a great job as part of the Treble winning team... a really top striker. When he left it was because circumstances changed, we bought Van Nistelrooy and I thought it would be difficult for Andy and Ruud to play together. I then explained that to him but he knew himself because we played Van Nistelrooy right away. Quite rightly Andy wants to play all the games so that's why he moved to Blackburn. When he came back to our Club with both Blackburn and Fulham he got a great reception. I don't think he'll get a bad reception on Saturday."

As a proud Scotsman how impressed are you with Scotland's further progress this past week under Walter Smith?

"He's been fantastic. He did exactly what I thought he would do. He's brought a good commonsense approach to it and the backroom staff he's brought in are sensible appointments. He's done a good thing bringing in McCoist because he's a striker and the biggest area of worry for Scotland will be strikers. You've seen the contribution Kenny Millers made and I'm sure Ally McCoist had alot to do with that."