Sir Alex Ferguson may have spent St Valentine’s night at Anfield but there remains little love loss between Liverpool and Manchester United. The intense rivalry dating back to 1894 has never diminished but like any rivalry it’s accompanied by a level of respect. Sir Alex took time ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup tie with Liverpool to speak with the LMA's own Scouser Sue McCann.

HOW DID YOU ACTUALLY FEEL YOURSELF BACK IN 1986 AS A MANAGER DOWN FROM SCOTLAND TURNING UP AT ANFIELD FOR THE FIRST TIME TO TEST YOUR OWN METAL?

"That wasn't a problem because I'd played in many Rangers v Celtic matches and taken Aberdeen to Glasgow many times to play in Cup Finals and to Ibrox and Celtic Park. I know that Anfield is quite an emotional place but it would never compare with a Rangers v Celtic game. So from my perspective it wasn't a problem for me, hopefully for your players it's not a problem for them either. In fairness, over the years we've coped with it quite well, I think they actually enjoy it. You enjoy the atmosphere; you enjoy the competitive nature of both fans as long as it doesn't get out of hand. It's also an amazing feature actually, that the games rarely boil over to an extent that they get out of hand."

THIS FIXTURE DATES BACK TO 1894; NOW THERE ARE MANY RIVALRY GAMES IN ENGLISH FOOTBALL BUT WHY DOES THIS ONE SUSTAIN THE LEVEL OF INTENSITY THAT IT DOES?

"I think it could be to do with the industrial fortunes of both cities. I think that Liverpool, without being facetious to them as a city, never really quite had the same fortunes as Manchester as a trading place. I think Liverpool's had hard times and that's unfortunate and it's a bit like Glasgow in that respect. The shipbuilding, the docks were the heartbeat of these two cities. When Glasgow lost its shipbuilding, places like Govan, Partick and Clydebank were absolutely devastated and whole communities were broken up because of it. You can imagine the impact of how losing your industry affects people. So I think Liverpool and Manchester have always been two competitive cities for both trade and industry. Manchester, because of the cotton industry, was thriving right up until the middle of the 20th century, maybe towards the 1960's it started to decline. Both cities had to change their vision of how to keep those cities interesting, buoyant and also employment, so I think you've always had that competitive nature between the two cities. Then of course you've got two great football teams and if you look at the history of English football, Manchester United and Liverpool are streets ahead of everyone in terms of trophies won between the two clubs."

INTENSE RIVALRY, BUT THERE’S ALSO A HEALTHY DOSE OF RESPECT BETWEEN MANAGERS OF THESE TWO SIDES. IT'S 10 YEARS THIS WEEK SINCE BOB PAISLEY PASSED AWAY AND I REMEMBER SEEING A PICTURE IN YOUR OFFICE OF YOU AND BOB PAISLEY SEVERAL YEARS AGO. YOU DIDN'T GET THE CHANCE TO COMPETE AGAINST HIM BUT WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED?

“I think the thing that came across about Bob Paisley, of course, was his humility, he was an ordinary man who didn't quite fit with the glamour of success too well. I think he'd have been quite happy with his slippers and his pipe, or his pint of beer and not bother with all the trappings of what Liverpool F.C. could offer, because they were very successful under Bob Paisley. When I was manager of Scotland I used to talk to Souness, Dalglish, Hansen and Nicol about Bob and they used to laugh about how ordinary a guy he was and that he was running this big football team. They loved him and he was very well liked by the players, because he was sort of a cuddly granddad type for them. I think that was the thing that really impresses me. The time with the photograph (of he and I) was taken when he came to one of our games here and I'd gone up to do the press and somebody says ‘Bob Paisley would like to meet you and have a chat with you.’ I'd just arrived (in England) and I think he was welcoming me."

YOU SAID THAT BOB PAISLEY WAS VERY QUIET AND UNASSUMING. I SUPPOSE REALLY RAFA BENITEZ COMES OVER AS BEING QUITE QUIET. OFF THE PITCH YOU'VE MET HIM AT UEFA COACH’S FORUMS, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF HIM?

" I enjoyed his company in the last UEFA Coach’s Seminar, it was good. We were sat besides each other on the coach going to the meeting and I think you're right, I think he's a straightforward guy. I think that's good to see and it does your players good, because they can see the quality of the person in terms of success has not changed him. I think that is vital in modern day football because the one thing we don't like to see is people change within our own confines, I don't like to see United players change and I'm sure that Raphael is the same, he doesn't want to see his players change. I think that managers like Raphael put the marker down about what they are and hopefully it transfers itself to the players."

AFTER YOU'VE HAD A VICTORY OVER LIVERPOOL DOES IT BECOME SIMPLY ANOTHER GAME THAT HAS GONE OR DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO SAVOUR THE WIN IN YOUR OWN HEAD FOR A FEW HOURS?

"Every time I've played any game it's gone after an hour, it fades very quickly. I think that the excitement of the game is the last minute, if you are winning you're looking at the referee, you're hoping he's going to blow that whistle and there's a build up of adrenalin and tension in that final moment, because you know that your jobs been completed. But after that, even in cup finals that I've experienced, after about an hour it's evaporated very quickly."

TWENTY YEARS ON AFTER YOU CAME DOWN TO MANAGE IN ENGLAND YOUR FORMER PLAYER ALEX MCLEISH IS LEAVING RANGERS (AT THE END OF THE SEASON) AND HIS NEXT MOVE COULD BE TO THE PREMIERSHIP. BOTH HE AND MARTIN O'NEILL HAVE 7 TROPHIES TO THEIR CREDIT IN SCOTTISH FOOTBALL; MARTIN IS BEING LINKED WITH ENGLAND AND NEWCASTLE, WOULD YOU EXPECT ALEX TO COME DOWN TO THE PREMIERSHIP AND WHAT SORT OF IMPACT COULD HE HAVE?

"Yes absolutely, I think he's a certainty to come to the Premiership. I've known Alex since he was a young kid and he's always had a good intelligence about life, he's never got carried away with himself, he's a very intelligent boy. As a manager, he’s like a lot of managers who quite rightly build themselves up at clubs like Motherwell and Hibs and then they are ready for a club like Rangers. When he took over at Rangers it was a very difficult period; the club were in the red, the previous manager Dick Advocaat had used up a lot of the money so he was having to deal with getting free transfer players, players on loan and that’s not Rangers Football Club. I was sorry, I was a Rangers supporter as a kid and that’s not Rangers Football Club. He never moaned about it, he got on with it and he’s kept his dignity fantastically well. You saw in the Press Conference last week that, although it was hurting him, you could sense that he knew it was the right time for him to go, because he had other steps to make in life. He’s always been really strong that way Alex, it’s never been a problem for him. Yes I think he’ll be in the Premiership next year.”