Ask Sir Alex

The boss answers questions from Inside United readers...

As a lad growing up, did you ever expect to find yourself cooking for Denis Law on a TV show? Colin Bryant, Aberdeen
(Laughs) No! Doing Red Devil’s Kitchen for MUTV was a bit of fun and quite enjoyable. I really like cooking. I used to do it more years ago, but not so much now my sons are grown up and away. I can cook Chinese, but I mainly did Italian food.

Are any of your coaches particularly good at football?Carl Wilkinson, Telford
They’ve all played at one time or another. Mike Phelan was a first-team player here, so were Brian McClair and Jim Ryan. Paul McGuinness was a member of the Reserves. The staff have a match on Friday afternoons, but I’ve never taken the time to watch one. You hear about the matches but the reports vary depending on who you listen to!

How is Owen Hargreaves progressing in his comeback from injury?Andy Large
His operations have gone perfectly well, he’s feeling good about them and he’ll be back in action for the start of the season in August. Hopefully, that’s the end of that because the lad’s had a torrid time. He came back after his problems last year at a really vital time in the season, against Barcelona, Arsenal and then Chelsea in the Champions League final, and he was absolutely brilliant. His experience and pace were of great benefit to us, and we can look forward to having that again next season. Everyone recognises that we’ve got tremendous riches in central midfield, but Owen will play his part and become very important for us.

When United won the league in 2007, I remember you saying that your grandson had also won his league on the same day. How has his fledgling career panned out?Sarah Coates, Hull
All of my grandsons play for teams. They enjoy the game, but I don’t think they’re going to be players or anything like that. The great thing about any level of football is taking part in matches and keeping fit.