Former Manchester United center half Gary Pallister says it's no coincidence that former teammates Roy Keane and Steve Bruce will be rejoining their legendary boss as managers in the Premiership next season. Both Bruce's Birmingham City and Keane's Sunderland won automatic promotion to the English Premier League by finishing first and second, respectively, before this weekend's final set of games. The race behind the top two for qualification for the promotional playoffs, however, is very tight, with places four through six up for grabs.

Pallister says Fergie's protégés, each of whom captained Manchester United to Premiership and FA Cup titles, were bred for success thanks to the Manchester United manager. "If you could bottle what Ferguson has, we'd probably have some better home-grown managers in the Premiership," Pallister told BBC Sport. "You can talk about all the great coaching in the world, but at this level, when you're dealing with top players, it's all about how you manage them and get the best out of them. I don't know if you can learn that, but I'm sure Roy and Brucey have benefitted from seeing the way Sir Alex works." Bruce and Keane will be the second and third former Red Devils from Fergie's famous squad in the mid-nineties to coach in the EPL next season. Mark Hughes, the current manager of Blackburn, is the other.

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