He may have celebrated his 79th birthday on New Year's Eve, but Sir Alex Ferguson has lost none of the drive that ushered in the greatest era in Manchester United's history.
'I think with (Sir) Kenny (Dalglish) and I on the one platform you can expect sparks flying,' he jokes, as we discuss a forthcoming fundraising event to help tackle football's growing dementia problem where he will once more face his old compatriot and adversary.
No topics will be off-limits on a night which will see the Glaswegians, who warred in Manchester and Liverpool, joined by England manager Gareth Southgate.
Not even VAR. 'It's a bloody disaster,' Ferguson adds, frankly. 'I watched the Leeds versus Burnley game the other week - Burnley had a goal disallowed when their own player was fouled by the goalkeeper. Unbelievable.'
It is perhaps understandable that Ferguson has been moved to act. United have been far from immune as dementia's cruel impact continues to devastate the game's former players.
Following his death in October, the family of Nobby Stiles donated his brain to Dr Willie Stewart, whose alarming, ongoing research at the University of Glasgow has already uncovered alarming statistics surrounding the increased risk suffered by footballers.
The findings left both Dr Stewart and Stiles's son, John, in no doubt that heading a ball had triggered his father's dementia.
As Sportsmail has reported, United's glorious 1968 European Cup-winning side has been decimated by the cruel disease. Late last year, it was announced that Sir Bobby Charlton had been diagnosed. One of Ferguson's defensive mainstays, Gary Pallister, has told this newspaper of his own fears and of the migraines he suffered throughout his career.
'It's littered right throughout the football spectrum,' says Ferguson. 'Jeff Astle, Martin Peters, Ray Wilson. And United have had a serious blow themselves with Nobby and Bill Foulkes. It's been very sad. Bobby's not been well for quite a while.'
He believes recent events have ushered in a momentum which cannot be stopped. 'I think the gates have been opened by Nobby's passing and Bobby's diagnosis,' he says.
'They are huge figures. It has to create an awareness. I don't know what the Professional Footballers' Association is doing but the League Managers' Association is very concerned and (chief executive) Richard Bevan has been fantastic.'
Ferguson himself was a prolific striker known for his heading ability in a playing career with the likes of Rangers, Dunfermline and Falkirk 'Those leather balls,' he recalls.
'When water got into it, it was like heading a cannonball. Really heavy work, you know? I headed the ball a lot but thank God it's not hit me yet,' he adds.
'At the end of the day we have to see what we can do to help. Football has a duty to look at the situation. It's the right thing to do. People like myself owe it to the game to see if there's something we can do.'
Dr Stewart's research, carried out a stone's throw from Ferguson's old stomping ground in Govan, has found repeated instances of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma, among former footballers, including Stiles.
'It's hard to put your finger on what exactly is the link,' Ferguson adds. 'You watch the film Raging Bull, about Jake LaMotta. He had 106 fights and lived until he was 95. I think a lot of it is down to the type of head injuries you get - but we need more research.'
Ferguson, who suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2018, is on good form. The recent improvement under his former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford has been noted.
'It's not an easy road to get back into challenging for the league,' he says. 'It's a difficult league these days.'
As you would expect, he has been delighted with example set by Marcus Rashford, who singlehandedly took on the government and won as part of his own wide-ranging and inspiring mission to help the poor.
'He's always been a good kid,' he says of the campaigning 23-year-old. 'He joined us when he was nine years of age. When you see people's demeanour, behaviour, way of carrying themselves and ability to change things - that's him. He's got that ability.
'He's come from a working-class background and he knows what it's like. When I was at school you had the free dinners and Marcus knows exactly what that's like.'
He believes others will come forward to support the game's fight against dementia.
'I know the boy at United, (Juan) Mata, who gives a percentage of his wages to charity every week,' he says.
'Look at what Rashford has done. Not all footballers are out buying cars. There's a big percentage of them with a big heart. The football people are not idle.'
As if to prove the point, Ferguson is speaking from the family kitchen as he helps to prepare dinner. 'Mrs Ferguson has got me working very hard,' he explains, laughing. 'I'm putting the food in the oven as we speak.'
Before the call ends, I ask for Ferguson's thoughts on reducing heading in training, one of the seven demands on Sportsmail's campaign.
'Heading is a part of football that has been there for over 100 years and you can't take it out,' he says. 'But I think it would be easy to reduce it in training.' He laughs again. 'We never used to practice it much anyway,' he says, 'unless we were playing Wimbledon'.