Immediately after the 2-2 draw Ferguson questioned whether Wiley had the necessary fitness to take charge of such a keenly contested Premier League match and claimed that at periods during the game he needed a rest.
The attack outraged referees, who have put the Football Association under pressure to take tough action when they review the case, having now asked Ferguson for an explanation.
But the Scot has already decided it was not the wisest choice of words.
"I apologise to Mr Wiley for any personal embarrassment my comments may have caused and to the FA for going public with my views," said Ferguson.
"In retrospect I accept that they could be deemed as expressing those views in an inappropriate form.
"It was never my intention to bring the focus of intense media interest on Mr Wiley and I will apologise to him personally when I return from an overseas trip during the international break."
Only two weeks previously Ferguson had been seen joking with Wiley on the touchline immediately after Michael Owen’s controversial winner in the six minutes of added time against Manchester City.
As opposed to the view given in last week’s outburst, the United manager insists he still has a high regard for the Staffordshire official.
“I wish it to be noted that I have always respected Mr Wiley’s integrity and I did not mean to imply that 1) Mr Wiley is a bad referee, 2) that he was in any way biased, 3) that decisions he made during the game were wrong and 4) that he missed any important incidents in the game.
“My only intention in speaking publicly was to highlight what I believed to be serious issues in the game, namely the fitness levels of referees.”
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MAN-KEY-UNION, MANCHESTER (10/10/2009 at 18:06)
snore&bore,, salford7 (10/10/2009 at 19:01)
snore&bore,, salford7 (10/10/2009 at 19:02)
The Mucker (10/10/2009 at 19:18)
Frequent Flyer, Altrincham (10/10/2009 at 19:44)
ted knott, droylsden (10/10/2009 at 19:54)
Whatever the decision the plain fact remains are the authorities now going to risk letting him off of being accused of being soft and lenient towards S.A.F.? Personally I believe the apology is so empty it echoes around every corridor in the HQ of the F.A. at Soho Square,a reprieve (yes another one) will send out the wrong messages where other managers will think to themselves "he can get away with it after apologising so we will try the same tactic"
Of course that wont happen because other managers will be charged and their apologies will not make an Iota.
Finally we all ask how many warnings of his future conduct does Ferguson need before the F.A. charge him? Even by his own admission he has stepped over the line (again) so what are the F.A.
waiting for? YES its about time they made and set an example of him by banning him from any ground United play on for five matches,better still deduct 10 points off his team.....
Sam Haggar-Feed the Goat and he will score (10/10/2009 at 19:55)
a dictata in superbia , Manchester (10/10/2009 at 20:01)
"Whatever happened to our Heroes", Cheshire (10/10/2009 at 20:21)
Bigmouth strikes again, Manchester (10/10/2009 at 20:39)
Fergie is just making the point again, it wasn't a personal attack on Wiley. He said our refs aren't fit enough and he's said the same thing here. No humble pie, plenty of BITTER lemons for you tho!
Jack Thorley Trafford, Timperley (10/10/2009 at 20:52)
Nefyn blue, Stockport (10/10/2009 at 21:02)
This belated, half-hearted attempt has probably worsened his credibility (if that was indeed possible !). The events of the last few months have cemented Ferguson firmly into the 'has been' category.
There is no fool like an old fool, as the saying goes.
TheFuturesBlue CTID, Manchester (10/10/2009 at 21:59)
Happy Valley Barry, San Francisco, California (10/10/2009 at 22:45)
Up the Reds1
dawso, brisbane (10/10/2009 at 23:06)
Daws on the Sunshine coast( and just because i live abroad,doesn't mean i'm a red)
Tommy Dean, Sandhurst ex Manchester (10/10/2009 at 23:28)
snore&bore,, salford7 (11/10/2009 at 06:45)
sigmund fraud,, strangeways (11/10/2009 at 07:29)
Johnmanager10, Berkshire (11/10/2009 at 07:53)
I came to the conclusion that unless he apolgises publicly to the referee I would never be able to see him in the samr light again.
Well done proves you have got a human side to go witht the trophies.
tim chorlton, chorlton (11/10/2009 at 09:34)
Shammers, marton moss (11/10/2009 at 10:30)
Tolmie's Tash! (11/10/2009 at 11:07)
To apologise means to express regret for your actions and he has not done this. All he says is that he is sorry IF Wiley is embarrased by the outrageous vicious abuse he let rip with.
Horace Hughes, Salford (11/10/2009 at 11:12)
danny, WILMSLOW (11/10/2009 at 11:18)
He should know by now if he had not underestmated Sunderland this would never have happend.He does all the time.Mourinio to his credit always played his strongest team in all competitions.
Recently Fergie has made so many mistakes with his sill selection policy something like 76 games with changes in every game.
The young talented players who should slip in for the games Like Tosic a hero for Serbia under 21 along with Liajic who is a top player.Kiko left out after he won us the league last season.
Gibson Who has power and knows where the goals are.
Fabio Delaet yet we have to watch the Donkey Scholes just waiting to get sent off because he has nothing up top.
What would Manchester United give now for Barcelona star Gerard Pique?
Manchester United's sale of Gerard Pique to Barcelona for £4million last year is beginning to look like the deal of the decade for the European champions
With £30m Rio Ferdinand's future in the heart of the defence looking precarious, as his back injury has restricted him to one appearance every three games of late,Not only that I have never rated Rio very much to soft to many moments where he looses focus.Fergie paid a lot of money for him that’s the only reason he played so much. He gifted Holland gifted City Gifted Ukariane and it cost Green.He gets shoved off the ball on numerous occasions because he can,t punch his wieght.What would United give for a ready-made replacement in 22-year-old Pique
The Spain centre-half is negotiating a new contract after just one season at Barcelona which will elevate him up among the top earners, putting him on a £60,000-a-week deal with a £45m buy-out clause
Now he is also looking at Shawcross another big lad he let slip Saha has had a great recovery since our medical staff got their hands off him.
Rossi another 30 million player.
Fergie is in his last year at the club as a manager because he can,t kid the fans forever.
I'm just like Stewie Griffin, Fictional Quahog, Rhode Island (11/10/2009 at 11:25)
He also slates Fergie for his arrogance. I took this from Wiki regarding a comment made about Piers:-
Piers Morgan has attracted criticism particularly for his TV work, with claims he is "smarmy", "arrogant", "self-satisfied" and "too full of himself.
I'm not saying Fergie was right or wrong. What's bothering me is, whether if this got out of hand, would it open up a can of worms? My point is, that football is all about opinions and people in the sport take a lot of stick. Does this mean that Fergie should now sue a City fan for calling him Baconface? That would be ludicrous. Fergie is not only one to berate referees, so why is he being singled out. Why are the goalposts suddenly being moved.
I think a touchline ban would be fair because it's normal in these circumstances. However, some want Fergie out altogether and their motives may not be pure.