An apology is only ever worthwhile if it's sincere.

Slur Alex has treated referees in this manner for over twenty years and is hopefully about to be called to account.......hopefully,no prompted,half-hearted "apology" is going to get him off the hook this time...although knowing how scared the FA are of the cantankerous old bully,I won't hold my breath.

The only reasonable thing to do is throw the book at him. We can't have senior figures in the game behaving like this. It sets a poor example to the youngsters watching to question the integrity of referees. Does he not realise that his actions will be mimicked on the playing fields across the country ? Things are bad enough already without him worsening things.

Ferguson should be hauled over the coals for his pre-meditated attempt to hide the facts that he: 1. Made a complete mess of team selection v. Sunderland 2. Hasn't got any better options on the bench 3. Can't spend any of The Diver's fee coz it's earmarked for debt interest. Tick Tock.

Cant anyone see that while everyone is talking about 'bacon faces' comments about Wylie and then the apology and then the 2nd apology. All it does is prevent everyone talking about how rubbish the players were against a 3rd rate sunderland side.

Cant have people talking about how bad the team performed (precious little darlings) so he DEFLECTS the attention on to him.

Its SPIN and it will run and run until the next game when United will win and we forget about his rant. And we move on, he doesn't care WHO gets caught in the crossfire (SPIN)...

As pete shelley once said: Noise annoys !

Private Fraser, Warmington-On-Sea
13/10/2009 at 09:37

How sad, that you have realised how hollow your clubs world domination plan is, so you have to adopt witch-hunt tactics to tray and try to get Fergie banned.

I've seen a lot of your posts about United and all I see is hatred.

IT'S NOTHING MORE THAN A GAME. FERGUSON IS NOT ADOLF HITLER, GROW UP!

Fed up of reading bitters' comments about this? Try some balanced perspective.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/6309675/FA-should-listen-to-Sir-Alex-Ferguson.-He-may-have-a-point.html

Ferguson appears actually scared. No longer the abusive, tormenting figure; that cyclops of a man. Now we have the new submissive, apologetic creature, cowering for clemency: grovelling for forgiveness. The F.A. have made him in their own image. The Clockwork Orange delinquent Sir Alex, has been rehabilitated with a new experimental aversion therapy developed by the government to solve societies crime problems. No more, ultra-violence towards authority figures, especially those wearing black uniforms. No more beatings for a elderly vagrant, whilst listening to Beethoven; that good old ultra-violence is now a thing of the past.

Fergie is starting to let things slip I said at the time selling Piques was a mistake and I was proven right.
If there was any good to come out of England’s defeat in the Ukraine apart from Rooney,s one man display. It must be that Rio Ferdinand is no longer considered a regular for England.

But nothing lasts forever even Fergie and relying upon an increasingly injury-prone Ferdinand ahead of next summer’s World Cup finals is folly.

Rio has already admitted his own fears about his bad back - which has caused him to miss numerous games for club and country.And has cost both club and country.

And he was at fault for keeper Rob Green’s sending off when England conceded the penalty as Fabio Capello’s side slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat in Ukraine.

Watching the footage online, Rio showed a lack of pace and sharpness after starting just three League games for United this season,I think its party over.
I think United need to organise a leaving party for Fergie Scholes Neville O,Shea Rio,Carrick. I never thought I would say this but Giggs can stay he can be usefull never sent off model professional.

Oh no Bacon-face, you are not going to wriggle out of this one so easily.
In the past the scurrilous Maurice Watkin and his cronies would be qeueing up to defend you, Utd would be waiting, willing and able to pay your fine but all has changed during the last few years of the merrygo-round. You are finished pal, all the other clubs are closing in, the debts getting bigger so you can only sell dear and buy cheap and Utd will no longer stand your fines and legal bills in a case like this.

Good! - lets hope episodes like this hasten the end of your reign, good riddence to bad rubbish I say.

I think Slur Alex is losing his temper alot easier this term due to the huge cracks that are begining to develop in his team !!. Tick Tock !

Lots of bitter city fans commenting on the United manager again then.... surprise, suprise!

The apology was a sham,he just reworded his insult,dont give him a 20,000 grand fine take points off them it is the only way to stop his childish rants when he doesn't get his way.

All managers,worldwide,criticised the referee at one time or another.Several referees appologised for not giving a penalty or awarding a penalty that wasn't.So let's not be idiotic here.Let's not have hypocrites feeling sorry for the same referees that they themselves offended now and again.Maybe Sir Alex made a mistake.He who didn't shall cast the first stone!By the way,the ref's association should seriously take a look at their own standards of officiating in the EPL.Some don't deserve to be on the field.

Greatest manager of all time. He's daft for getting into this situation but the fact remains......greatest manager of all time.

I think that it is right that they pursue this but I don't believe that this is any worse than other rants other managers make during the course of a season - it is just that every now and then the FA have to be seen to be acting on these type of things so as not to let them escalate further out of control.

As a blue, I think this is the same that happened with Adebayor - he was guilty but the FA decided this was a time to act as it was a point in time that all the media attention was on and it would get the maximum exposure.

SAF should not have said it publicly or just retracted it with an apology afterwards (regardless of if it is right or wrong) and nothing more would have been said (or very little). His mistake was to make an issue out of it and to make that issue public.

I don't seriously expect a 50 year old man to keep up with 20 odd year old professional football players . Just as on the other hand, a younger ref wouldn't have the experience to deal with a big occassion. there has to be a balance and, although I think refs don't help themselves at times with inconsistencies, at the moment I think refereeing is OK (it will never be perfect and not everyone will agree) but it is just OK.

Grovel Grovel Grovel.

I see the desperate bitters are continuing their campaign to rid football of its greatest manager. Good. That's just the kind of challenge that gets him motivated. Glad to see you berties are advocates for defending the shoddy refereeing standards that have become the norm here. I guess that comes from being used to defending the shoddy football that your team has been producing for the last 30 years. The solidarity of mediocrity. It warms the heart to see.

I just feel so sad for the obsessed City fans that pour their bile out on these sites. It just confirms the nickname they have. Bitters. Concentrate on the great team that Mark Hughes is building and try enjoying life for a change. Life is short.

I`m Just Like Stewie Griffin: Talking about Hitler, I know it was a red who put that video on Youtube and I know it was knocking City, but I found it absolutely hilarious ! Brilliant. That`s what we all need, good humour. Me and Adders junior laughed so much we almost spilt our beer ! Note: ALMOST.

No offence but it's surely time the old goat was put out to pasture.

Duncan from London!! need I say more!!


From Paul in Manchester

Tick,tick,tick,tick,tick, tick time is running out for you Fergo now that you have been rumbled for what you are - an old soak and a bully desperate to hang onto power tick,tick,tick,tick. Go now while you just have the tiniest bit of dignity left. tick,tick,tick,tick ..................Tock.

danny, WILMSLOW

You are a muppet mate, are you actually a united fan? You need to get in the real world.

Joga_Bonito, I hope you don't mind me copying and pasting your post here. Thought your post was a great read and spot on.

"I really don't understand this kind of reaction, particularly when it comes from a journalist — especially when it does. What exactly are we saying, that managers should not be allowed to express an opinion? That they do not have the right to say that, in their opinion, the referee is not fit enough? In all likelyhood, Sir Alex was attempting to deflect the attention away from an abysmal performance, and to take the pressure off his players, but we have no way of knowing that for sure, and it is also possible that he really does believe that Alan Wiley isn't fit enough to referee at that level. Is he seriously not allowed to say so if that is what he believes?

Of course, when you think about that for more than five seconds you begin to understand the implications. Referee's become almost untouchable, no matter how poor their performance and preparation. It's not as if we ever hear from them, and we rarely, if ever, hear from the people in charge of them. So, who exactly is supposed to make sure that they are in fact prepared, and how would we know if they weren't? We know little or nothing about many of the people that run the game, which is a recipe, not for corruption, necessarily — though it often is — but for slack attitudes due to unaccountability.

There is no question that certain forms of speech should be limited, such as questioning a referee's integrity (explicitly accusing them of conscious bias, etc), but I simply don't buy the idea that questioning the referee's fitness should be seen as a similar kind of offence. It isn't.

It appears to me that public discourse has become so sanitized that we can no longer distinguish between robust criticism — which should be allowed with absolutely no restrictions in all walks of life — and things like slander and libel. Who gave the FA the right to restrict free speech, anyway? That is the fundamental right that should not be restricted, except in limited and specific areas, and bodies like the FA have decided, with little or no consultation, to restrict it in ways that I find both baffling and highly offensive. And the inevitable outcome is an ever more sanitized game, with little access to players, managers or officials, which is directly linked to the amount of made up nonsense that is printed in the daily newspapers, because they have absolutely nothing to work with. And people wonder why the slightest incident is blown up to become a great controversy!

Oh and by the way, a fact is distinguishable from conclusions or opinions in that it is true, regardless of opinion. I may agree with you that Sunderland were the better side for long periods on Saturday night, but it certainly isn't a fact that they were."

"Bitter" "33 years" "Council House" "Trophy(ies)" "Bertie"

Just saved all the RAGS waiting to post a lot of time.

Try posting without using those words - bet you can't