LEGEND has it that one-time top-flight goal-getter Mark Robins (remember him?) saved Alex Ferguson's job at Old Trafford.

Manchester United were limping along under Ferguson's stewardship, trophy-less in five years and humiliated 5-1 at Maine Road just months earlier, when Robins came off the bench to score the solitary goal in an FA Cup third-round tie against Nottingham Forest way back in 1990.

This result kept the Red Devils' season alive and indeed United went on to win the Cup, beating Crystal Palace in a replayed final thanks to a goal from Lee Martin (remember him?). The rest, as they say, is history.

However, a similar FA Cup triumph this season would hardly bare the same weight for the hitherto immovable Scot. In fact, if he is as canny as people say he is, he should already be looking for somewhere else to park his car.

Although fortunate to be given such a long time to put United back on top of English football - no doubt aided back then by the fact the Red Devils had been relatively mediocre for decades, with no title for 26 pitiful seasons - he unarguably did become a legend in management. The domination of the Premiership and the 1999 Treble were remarkable achievements.

However, that Treble is six years ago now, and in this era of dog-eat-dog, commercial-driven football, that is a long, long time to live on past glories.

Indeed, his record of one European Cup in 19 years - yes, that's 19 years - and current run of one Champions League semi-final in six seasons would have left him hanging out to dry long ago at any other top club in Europe, let alone one which pompously regards itself as the "biggest in the world".

In fact, he would have been laughed all the way back to Aberdeen. Or more probably Glasgow Rangers.

Come to think of it, where else among Europe's elite would any one manager be given four years to win a trophy, any trophy, seven years to win the title and 12 years to win the European Cup?

Certainly not at Real Madrid, United's main rivals for the "biggest club in the galaxy" tag, who change managers more often than David Beckham changes his barber.

And definitely not at Juventus, Bayern Munich, Milan, Barcelona, Inter and the like, where just a hint of underachievement is regarded as absolute and unconditional failure on a par with the Titanic's first voyage.

And probably not even at Manchester City, where underachievement is pretty much predetermined.

Whatever the reason for Ferguson's hold over the Old Trafford hierarchy, he is still here. But for how much longer?

Baring a Chelsea meltdown, this will be the first time since the Premiership began in 1992-93 that United have gone two seasons without the title.

Defeat to Newcastle in the Cup semi-final this weekend will leave the "biggest club in the universe" trophy-less again and with only one Cup final win over Millwall to celebrate in 24 months.

To Europe's other biggest clubs, that is underachievement of Titanic proportions, yet, even though the club have recently stated Ferguson is not unsackable, there is still little talk of the Scot biting the dust - even if United fall to the Magpies at the Millennium Stadium.

Going back to Mark Robins, while the real one might now be youth team boss at Rotherham, for Ferguson to still be in his job there must be several little Mark Robinses still running around the boardroom at Old Trafford, saving his job season after underachieving season.

Updated: 10:27 Tuesday, April 12, 2005