Regular contributor, mcfcirish sent us the following.
Well I’ll tell you why my friends. It can be summed up in a simple phrase a mate of mine, a Spurs supporter (who lives over here in Ireland) told me and the phrase is, ‘its Ferguson and the fans.’
Now let me paint you a picture but in order to do so shall we go back to the 20th of September 2009?
United beat City 4-3 with a helping hand from the ref and the 4th official. After the match Fergie came out and said, ‘we could have beaten them by six or seven and that was the best derby game ever’.
Oh and lets not forget everyone’s favourite…
‘We have noisy neighbours and they will always be noisy’.
Now let me bring you forward to this weekend – 3rd of October to be exact. The location is Old Trafford and Utd’s opposition is Sunderland. And if I may quote ESPN…
‘A match that United fans will have down as a home banker’…now lets look at that for a second.? Before a ball is kicked the fans have the three points in the bag. As ESPN are one of the major sports networks doesn’t it sound a bit prentious?
Anyways back to the game itself. Utd go a goal down within five minutes, sloppy passing and a goalkeeper who looks like he’s being fed on a diet of lines and lines of charlie and bucket loads of coffee doesn’t help matters. In the second half the amazing thing happens – Berbatov scores…yes you read that right!!
Now we all know what ‘should’ happen, MUFC should rip Sunderland to shreds, but no. Four minutes later Kenwyne Jones pops up and spoils the party. Fast forward to the 85th minute and Kieran Richardson taps the ball into the back of the net. Utd players surround the ref, reminding him that Richardson has already been booked – the red card followed and Sunderland are down to 10 men. Getting a player sent off? Nice one lads, hope you are all proud of yourselves.
The 90 minutes are up and the figure four goes up on the fourth assistants board. This sets Fergie off, shouting at the chap whose holding the injury time board. He (Fergie) completely ignores the fact that three would have been more than adequate. Of course United go and get an equaliser!
Now 2-2 all at home in extra time? A fair result some would say? Oh no not Sir Alex, he lambastes the referee for not adding on more time for his side. He accused the referee of ‘not being fit enough’ and for ‘taking a break during goals and corners’. And the thing that really gets to me…after the match he wasn’t even man enough to come out and talk to the media. Instead he sends out one of his cronies.
This is not the first time this has happened. Take the 07/08 season for example – City 2-1 up at the Swamp. Instead of coming out and admitting he had been bested on the day Fergie sends out Carlos Qeouiros to explain away the loss, and in doing so chalks it down to ‘having played mid-week in the Champions League’.
So if I may finish with this:
Now, Mr Ferguson the majority of the football world respects you, (I don’t and never will) but your actions yesterday and last week will, in my view bring shame not only on Manchester United FC but also its players and most of all, it will bring shame on YOU.
The FA ramble on about players having to be respectful, but managers should also act in a similar fashion. The way he carried on after the derby and yesterday is nothing short of shameful. As I said to my brother after the derby, ‘its better to lose fairly than to win unfairly’
Share this article
