I'll still rue losing Gazza when I quit in two years, says Fergie

Sir Alex Ferguson will quit as Manchester United manager in two years and walk away from Old Trafford for good.

In a television interview to be screened tonight, the 66-year-old reveals his retirement plans and dismisses the widely held view that he may stay on in an advisory capacity.

'I will keep up my enthusiasm long past 70, but whether I will still be doing the football, I'm not so sure,' he says.

'I don't think I will be. I think no more than three years, more likely two. Yeah, I think two more years. At that point, I wouldn't have any interest in the team, in terms of how it was run. No, it would be the manager's domain. People say that if you are about the place, you are in the road, and I don't want that. The field will be left clear.

'Anyway, I deserve a rest. After you've done 21 years, or 23 after a couple more seasons, you need one.'

Ferguson gives his assistant Carlos Queiroz a glowing reference, saying: 'He has done fantastic work for the club and cannot be discounted. I think he's outstanding.'

Asked by Sir David Frost during his first feature length interview for nearly a decade whether that legendary temper had been a help or hindrance during 21 years of putting opponents to the sword on and off the pitch, Ferguson admits he may have overstepped the mark at times but claims he has mellowed with age.

'Jock Stein once told me there was nothing wrong with losing your temper for the right reasons and I think 70 or 80 per cent of the time it has been the right reason,' he says. 'You sometimes regret it, I suppose, but you are who you are.

'It has been premeditated at times, to get a point across or keep all their feet on the ground, but I have also said things in the dressing-room and maybe reacted badly or too strongly.

'Not so much now. I'm going back maybe 15 years. I'm just a pussycat now. There are no flying tea cups in the dressing room at half-time any more.'

Ferguson admits regret at offloading Jaap Stam in 2001, soon after publication of the Holland defender's controversial autobiography, and recalls his ups and downs with David Beckham, from the flying boot in the dressing-room at Old Trafford to the wonder goal from inside his own half.

'I wish I had kept Jaap another couple of years,' he says. 'I made a mistake there, no question. It had nothing to do with the book. The problem was Steve McClaren and I thought he had lost a yard of pace after an achilles operation.

Then he had a bad start in the first game of the season and Lazio came in with £16.5million, which was a lot of money for a 30-year old centre-half. After he joined Lazio, I went to see him and he was fantastic. So it was a bad decision. Too hurried.

'We have scored some great goals in my time at United, and I cannot forget Beckham's at Wimbledon. He had attempted the same thing about 10 minutes earlier and I had turned to Brian Kidd and said: "If he tries that again, he's off."

'David could get carried away in those days and you had to keep his feet on the ground. Anyway, he does it again, it ends up in the net and Kiddo says: "We'll take him off then, shall we?"

'As for the Beckham boot - a complete accident. If I could really do that (intentionally kick a boot to hit him near the eye), I would probably still be playing now.'

Ferguson still rues missing out on Paul Gascoigne, who was sectioned again yesterday.

'My first experience of Paul was at Newcastle in March 1987,' he said. 'We had a central midfield of Robson, Remi Moses and Norman Whiteside. Three really competitive players, but he absolutely tore them apart. At one point, he nutmegged Remi right in front of me, then patted him on the head. I was straight out of the dug-out, screaming: "Get that little f****** so and so."

'Robbo and Whiteside were chasing him up and down the pitch, but couldn't get near him. Afterwards I told Martin Edwards not to leave until he had spoken to the Newcastle chairman. I had to get this boy. He was the best I had seen for years. I spoke to him the night before I went on holiday and he said: "Mr Ferguson, you go away and enjoy yourself. I'll be signing for Manchester United."

'Off I go, and I'm lying by the pool when there is a Tannoy for me to take a call. It was Martin telling me Tottenham had swung it by buying Paul's mum and dad a house in the northeast. We had a structure of players who could have helped him - lads from the north-east - and joining us would have given him some discipline. It was the biggest disappointment of all, losing out on him, and he admits it was a mistake.

Moving down to London can't be easy for any 19-year old lad.'

Referees, so often the target of Ferguson's ire, did not escape.

'I don't think their fitness is as good as it should be,' he claims.

' It reflects badly on them because they are supposed to be full-time professionals.'

Sir Alex: The Frost Interview, tonight at 8pm & 10.30pm on Sky Sports 1.