Sports   (Talk about balls here.)

My point was the outright irony of a City fan suggesting that Sir Alex Ferguson may have retired due to his "reputation being tainted" by anything relating to Manchester City.
Who knows what would have happened had he stayed on a few more years, they had lost the League with the last kick of the season then strengthened and promptly won the League back with 11 points the season after so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they would have won it again the season after had he stayed.
But that's pure speculation along with your assumptions so let's stick to the facts!