Glenn Gibbons: Ferguson's famous words borne out by his latest crop of young talent

IN THE 1980s, when the magical things Alex Ferguson was doing at Aberdeen began to be heeded beyond Scotland's borders, he made an 11-word pronouncement to a media audience that included a number of emissaries from England. The visitors eagerly took note, considering the statement to be what is known in the business as "a good line".

But Ferguson's words were much more than that. With a conciseness which could have come from the mouth of Abraham Lincoln himself, they amounted to a declaration of the ethos that is central to the work that has made the Scot the most successful manager in the history of British football.

"No Denis Law will ever be allowed to leave Aberdeen again," Ferguson asserted. It was his way of revealing that the soundest means by which to achieve sustained excellence was not merely to buy a successful side, but to build a robust club, to pay attention to the substructure as well as the first team. He had revolutionised the scouting system at Pittodrie, he had all the angles covered and, if it was not possible to secure the services of every exceptional young player in the country, he was insistent that at least none of the locals would escape.

Ferguson's philosophy has been faithfully applied with spectacular consequences through the 22 years since he left the north-east for Manchester United, racking up an astonishing array of league championships and cups at home and abroad. If the chairman in late 1986, Martin Edwards, and his directors were uncommonly tolerant of Ferguson's first four barren years at Old Trafford, it was largely because they were fully aware of the foundation work he was doing to establish United as a formidable force in the long term.

Anyone who watched the 18-year-olds, Rafael da Silva and Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson, 20, and Jonny Evans, 21, make decisive contributions to the 4-1 demolition of Derby County in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday would surely be struck by the impression that the current English and European champions' future promises to be as glittering as their present and past. Darren Fletcher is older than that trio, but he, too, is a product of the club's youth programme, as is the veteran Ryan Giggs, both also conspicuously involved at Pride Park.

In Glasgow, Walter Smith and Gordon Strachan might have been back in time from their own dismal Old Firm match to watch with deep admiration and no little envy the latest manifestation of the accomplishments of the man who has exerted such an influence on both. But, of more relevance to the area in which United operate, just along the M62 at Anfield and 200 miles away in west London, would the hierarchy of Liverpool and Chelsea have absorbed any lessons?

Liverpool's present proximity to United at the top of the Premier League speaks of more consistency this season than in previous campaigns under Rafael Benitez. But there is a lingering doubt about the prospect of protracted success. The Spaniard's reliance on the expensive purchase of foreign players hints at a hankering for the kind of ready-made success that brought Chelsea back-to-back championships under Jose Mourinho in the first two seasons of Roman Abramovich's extravagantly spendthrift ownership. Predictions at the time of world domination and endless domestic pre-eminence have since proved to be wildly inaccurate.

It is surely significant that the last player to come through the ranks at Anfield was Steven Gerrard, now approaching 29. At Stamford Bridge, John Terry, at 28, is the only member of the current squad to have gone from traineeship to first team, as Abramovich's pursuit of instant glory has turned ever more hysterical.

In the immediate aftermath of Chelsea's sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari only seven months into the job – Avram Grant earlier having been dismissed after a single season – United's demonstration of what is possible through continuity and what Martin O'Neill memorably called the "seamless evolution" that brings change without serious disruption could not have been more timely.

Abramovich, as unaccustomed as the impossibly wealthy usually are to being denied their wishes, may have realised that Ferguson at Manchester United and the estimable Arsene Wenger at Arsenal – the latter now in his 13th year in north London – are the models that should be adopted, but it is unlikely that he possesses the required patience.

Ferguson and Wenger, of course, are not averse to scooping up exceptional young foreign players, even for substantial fees – Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford and Theo Walcott at the Emirates would be prime examples – but they tend to be young enough to be indoctrinated quickly into the ways of their managers and brilliant enough to become valuable contributors to the first team in a hurry.

The course followed by Manchester United and Arsenal seems to be perceived as something of a risk at Stamford Bridge and Anfield, where even Benitez's impressive record of FA and European Cup success has not prevented whispers about his vulnerability to the whims of agitated American owners. They may come to realise that the majority of those who spend a lifetime vainly pursuing get-rich-quick schemes tend to reflect that they would have accumulated a handy pile by remaining in regularly-paid, steady employment.