TOMMY Docherty believes nothing less than an unprecedented quadruple will be failure for Manchester United next season.

The Reds have already paid out more than £50m this summer on Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves.

It's only a matter of time before Sir Alex Ferguson splashes another £30m on Carlos Tevez.

For once, United's spending spree has even dwarfed Chelsea's outlay, leaving the Old Trafford faithful drooling about the coming campaign.

Such is the formidable array of talent at his disposal, Ferguson can send out two teams capable of winning silverware in the next 10 months.

And that's without places in either starting line-up for the likes of Treble hero, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ji-sung Park and Guiseppe Rossi.

It presents an amazing selection headache for Ferguson and means many players will spend more time warming the bench than seeing first-team action.

It's 30 years to the month since Docherty was sacked as United boss for his affair with physiotherapist Lawrie Brown's wife, Mary.

Three decades on, the couple are still together and Docherty can only drool over the riches at his compatriot's disposal.

The Doc had his critics at the time and since, upsetting many Old Trafford legends by the way he ended careers.

However, during his reign, United won their first trophy in 10 years, played a swashbuckling style that delighted the fans and laid the foundations for the success the Reds have enjoyed in the last 15 or 16 years.

The team that defeated arch-rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup just two months before Docherty's departure was assembled for barely £800,000. And even allowing for inflation that sum pales into insignificance against the £140m-rated team Ferguson is likely to choose.

Indeed, Reds supporters of a certain vintage probably prefer Martin Buchan to Rio Ferdinand, Stuart Pearson to Louis Saha and Gerry Daly, who played in the 1976 FA Cup final against Southampton and cost just £15,000 from Bohemians, to Michael Carrick.

And there was nothing shabby either about Steve Coppell, Gordon Hill and the Greenhoffs, Brian and Jimmy.

Docherty said: "When you have spent the type of money Sir Alex has done, then he's got to win the lot. The Premiership isn't sufficient. He has got to win the Champions League this time and the FA Cup and the Carling Cup as well as retaining the League."

But Docherty says it's hard to imagine Ferguson keeping all his players.

"When I was manager you'd spend £1m and balance the books by selling someone for a million," he added. "The trouble today is players are not bothered if they don't play. They're content to sit on the bench and pick up a fat wage packet.

"When you look through the United squad list you can easily pick two teams to play in the Premiership. Maybe they should do that to make it more interesting.

"But I think some players will have to be sold. However, I hope they don't get rid of Gabriel Heinze, I think he is a fantastic player."

With so many front line players to pick from, Ferguson has plenty of cover to accommodate injuries and suspensions.

But he certainly has selection posers. Will he find room for Carrick and Owen Hargreaves in the same midfield?

How many games will Ryan Giggs feature in? Will Wayne Rooney be the lone striker? How long will it be before Nani and Anderson get a regular run? Does he allow Heinze and Alan Smith to leave?

Certainly, there is no excuse for fielding under-strength teams in the Carling Cup or Champions League so avoiding defeats against Southend or FC Copenhagen. However, again Ferguson faces a dilemma.

If he sticks to his senior players, then rising stars such as Chris Eagles, Gerard Pique and Dong Fangzhou won't get a chance to shine.

If he does go with the youngsters then there's every chance there will be more embarrassments like Roots Hall.

And Docherty isn't alone in believing that, with nearly £250m worth of talent at their disposal, United should monopolise football's major prizes.