Sir
Alex Ferguson is widely regarded as a great Association Football manager. His
club, the famous Manchester United, have won many Premiership titles. But at
what cost? Hitler would be proud of Fergie’s sheer ruthlessness and bullying
approach. Opponents and referees step in trepidation onto that theatre of
dreams, Old Trafford, where Man U play...
They
were Great once
In the 1960s Manchester United were truly a great
Association Football Club. They overcame the tragedy of Munich 1958, an air
crash that ultimately killed 23 people, including the cream of English
Football. Under management of wise old sage Sir Matt Busby, his “Babes” were
replaced by stars such as George Best (arguably the best player ever) and Denis
Law. Bobby Charlton, who survived Munich, became one of England’s best ever. In
1968 they beat Benfica to become the first English winners of the European Cup
(now “Champions League”).
Being brought up in Leeds, of course, I inevitably
loved it when my own “United” beat “THEM!”. Leeds versus Man U always felt like
a “local derby”, and still does. In the 1970s Leeds became a better TEAM than
THEM and it was great seeing THEM go about 20 years without winning a league
championship. Managers like Ron Atkinson were sacked by them for ONLY winning
the FA Cup (and not The League). Meanwhile, I never begrudged Liverpool for all
their League and European wins in the 70s and 80s. Liverpool were modest in
their glory and again won through TEAMWORK and a sound passing game. Nottingham
Forest had a period of dominance too under the great Brian Clough and Peter
Taylor, but again well deserved.
Fergie
Time
But then Fergie appeared! Even HE had a dodgy start,
apparently being one FA Cup tie win away from being sacked. Of course, what happened
after that became legend.
Sure, every club wants to draw Manchester United in
the FA Cup for a “dream tie”. They still have some magical players. And now
they have ace predator Van Persie up front. Why Arsenal manager let VP go to
Manchester United I’ll never know!
But to say that Man U is the MEANEST team in the
Premiership is putting it mildly. Fergie’s ethos is simply to win at all costs.
Hence you will always see plenty of shirt-pulling, cynical fouls and diving
(otherwise known as “simulation”) going on from his players. They really live
up to their nickname of “Red Devils”.
Worse still, Fergie seems to have most of the
referees in his back pocket. In spite of Fergie moaning otherwise, most of the
borderline decisions go the way of THEM. One top referee, Howard Webb, is even
highlighted on a Facebook page called, “Howard Webb, Manchester United’s 12th
Man”! No need to tell you what THAT page says...
Just a small thing: Man U often seem to be given
many minutes of injury time by the referee, in which they very often grab a
late winner or equaliser. People call this “Fergie Time” because he pointedly
stares at his watch near the end of matches.
Chelsea
Robbery
Their win at Chelsea in October summed all this up.
Chelsea have staged a Man U style comeback from 0-2 down to draw level. Then
Ivanovic is perhaps harshly sent off for bringing a man down near the Chelsea
box. Okay, we’ll take that on the chin ref. Then Torres is clean through at the
other end and is brought down by Evans. It looks like Evans will be sent off,
but no, the ref seems to change his mind and sends Torres off for “diving”
(second yellow card)!
The Chelsea nine hold on bravely only for ace
goalpoacher Hernandez to snatch the winner near the end. Replays show, however,
that Hernandez has come back from an offside position to score, but of course
the officials missed this!
Recent
Events
Only this week Fergie heavily criticised a
line-assistant for failing to flag a penalty for Rooney during their
points-dropping draw at Spurs. For my money Rooney deliberately ran into the
defender and threw himself over his leg. BBC pundits said it was a stonewall
penalty but they are pro-Man U these days anyway. Fergie said that this
particular line-assistant had cost them years ago in incidents involving
Chelsea, especially their striker Drogba. An elephant never forgets, eh? Poor
sod will get a very poor mark and might be running the line at Grimsby next
week. Lol
Before playing Liverpool the other day, Fergie
warned match officials to watch out for the “cheating” of Liverpool star
striker Saurez. Yes the same Saurez whom Man U full back Evra got done for
racist language...
Another recent event was Fergie criticising
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew for criticising HIM for ranting at the fourth
official about some decision or other. The list goes on.
Big
Bully
Besides bullying officials, of course, Fergie
bullies his own players. There are many tales of him throwing hairdryers and
kicking loose boots at his staff. David Beckham was allegedly a victim of such
a missile once. I also recall a story of him telling young Evans to “toughen
up” or else! You’d better produce, you Man U players, by hook or by crook, or
you are in BIG trouble! Sometimes I wonder whether that gent of football, Bobby
Charlton, is secretly squirming at all this. A mixed blessing indeed.
So, sorry you Man U fans, but Come On City, Chelsea,
Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs...
PS Yet worry not folks: there is a rumour abroad that Pep Guardiola is lined
up to replace old rednose in about three years time.
Paul
Butters
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