ACCORDING to some reports in the newspapers last weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to stop talking to the press and won't be doing any more interviews for the rest of the season.

It goes without saying being manager of a club like York City is a million miles away from being manager of a club like Manchester United.

At that level, there is more interest from a national point of view whereas here at Bootham Crescent it is mainly on a local level.

The people I deal with on a regular basis are the Evening Press first and foremost, the local radio stations like BBC Radio York and Minster FM, then further down the scale I also talk to papers like the Yorkshire Post, the Evening Post and Yorkshire Sport on a less regular basis.

I also deal with PA, the national news agency, who ring up on behalf of Teletext and Ceefax and after matches I also have to deal with local television.

Of course, I also now have to deal with Sky TV and ITV Digital on occasions, particularly if we are involved in a high-profile game.

For the Premier League boys, you can multiply the media interest and demand by ten and then you can perhaps understand why perhaps Sir Alex has got a bit fed up.

And if the reports are true, that somebody like Sir Alex Ferguson, who is one of the games longest-serving managers, has lost his cool then things must be difficult.

Sir Alex has got enough experience of dealing with the media over the years - and at the top level as well - so perhaps it can be said the demands of the media have reached a peak.

Certainly, since I became a manager for the first time at Bradford in 1987 things have changed.

Attitudes have definitely changed in the media, but the biggest difference has been the sheer volume and different types of communications involved in the game now.

As well as all the local media to deal with, I also have to make time for Club-Call and then of course there is even more recent developments like the Internet and its various web-sites.

It is ever-changing and ever-growing.

However, the basic principle doesn't change, and that is having a basic understanding with the people you are talking to.

Much of it comes down to trust and as I said some weeks back in this column when talking about my relationship with players' agents, I deal with people as I find them and if I can trust them.

Personally, the one I deal with on a more regular basis than anyone else is Dave Stanford and I would like to think he has not had any problems with me.

But without trying to blow my own trumpet, I would be surprised if there is anyone in the media who has had dealings with York City and has been disappointed or found me awkward.

In my column about agents, I mentioned some in the game view them as piranhas, out for their pound of flesh.

I'm sure a few managers in the game look upon the media as the same.

But I'm not one of them and I would like to think I have a good relationship with the media and understand the role they have to play in football.

The bottom line for attracting people to games is winning matches.

But there other ways of trying to attract people and the media is just one such avenue.

Without going over the top, you have to use every avenue available to you to promote the club.

Much of it comes down to experience.

By nature, I'm not someone who will talk and talk. I won't rant or rave or eulogise.

But I'd like to think I'm comfortable enough to talk to anyone about anything.

And to be honest, I have always found working with the media an interesting aspect of the job.

At Bradford, I enjoyed dealing with different people although I was so busy I didn't have time to think about it.

At Rochdale, I'd had two years experience with Bradford by then and although it was at a lower level the work with the media was little different.

At Hull, there was so much going on in the six and a half years I was there that sometimes I did get a bit fed up, particularly after a defeat and I would not speak to anyone.

But I have learned from that and the two years I had out of the firing line at Huddersfield looking after the reserves made me think about things.

My decision then was that I wouldn't not talk to anyone the next time. It's not the right way to do it.

While I have been here there has never been a case when I've said I'm not speaking to anyone and I think that comes with experience.