SATURDAY NIGHTS weren't the same for me after the BBC lost Match of the Day.
I don't know what it was about the show that replaced it on ITV but it never seemed to work, did it? Des Lynam looked bored out of his rocket most of the time.
So I was chuffed to mint balls when the Beeb recaptured Match of the Day. The signature tune. Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen. I'm even starting to warm to Mark Lawrenson, even if he does permanently look as though he's lost a pound and found a penny.
But there's been something missing from my Saturday night football treat this season and to my mind it reduces the programme's impact - the sight and the sound of Sir Alex Ferguson giving an post-match interview. I know why Fergie has refused to be interviewed by the BBC all season. It's because of the documentary about agents which was screened by the Corporation last summer in which questions were asked about deals involving Ferguson's son Jason.
I can understand why he blew a gasket - I would have reacted in the same way if my son's business affairs had been publicly scrutinised like that.
Vow
I would have vowed never to speak again to anyone working for the broadcasting company which made that documentary.
But my vow of silence wouldn't have mattered, would it? You see I'm just an old hack who has seen better days.
But Fergie is the manager of one of the biggest and best-known soccer clubs on planet Earth. I want to hear what he says after a match on Saturday night and I reckon there will be thousands of football supporters up and down the country who think likewise.
Should the referee have given that penalty? Did Rooney deserve that red card?
Remember Alex, not all of us are subscribers to MUTV.
In punishing the BBC, Fergie is also punishing the fans by refusing to give after-match interviews.
Come on Alex. You've made your point. Bury the hatchet with the BBC - and not in Gary Lineker's head!
Have a good rant on Match of the Day. The programme's not the same without the occasional bout of Fergie fury.
And it's not like you to bear a grudge this long.
What's that? You're not speaking to me either, now!
Should Fergie bury the hatchet with the BBC? Have your say.
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Fair point. I've also noticed that the BBC have got their own back by almost never showing extended highlights of the United game and little or no post-match analysis (the best bit for footy nerds like meself!) It's no fun getting back from the pub to find that my beloved United have only got 5 minutes on MOTD - sort it out Fergie!
You know how to resolve that problem Mick support one of your local clubs
OK for Fergie to let it lie, but what about the BBC who submitted (and won) the programme for documentary of the year at a recent awards ceremony.
Nothing has ever been proven and yet the beeb refuse to apologise or make any steps towards reconciliation.
This has to work both ways, and as the "injured" party, surely Fergie should get an apology first.
Fergie is dead right, the only way to hurt these people is not to co-operate with them. They caused him and his family unknown hardship. He is now hurting them in the one way that he can.
Ferg....et it.
I could agree more with you!!
Sir Alex should get back on the screen for comments. Earn your "Sir" title Fergie!!
Swallow your pride!
And for god sake, Bring Essien to the club!!
This article is sycophantic drivel of the first order. But I wouldn't worry - Ferguson's bunker mentality and one-eyed approach means that he rarely has anything of consequence to say any more anyway. Steve Bower's interviews with him for MUTV are the kind of self-serving slop that you would expect from an in-house TV station - never anything remotely challenging or controversial. So no-one is missing much there either. So perhaps we have to rely on the national press for a real no-nonsense critique? Having sat through one of Fergie's press conferences, I can tell you that it is quite combative - there's a real atmosphere and anyone who asks anything remotely controversial is fixed by those glacial blue eyes and made to feel about an inch high. He even has the hard-bitten hacks from the tabloids under control because they know that anything that criticises him or even the team might mean that access to Fergie's Magic Kingdom is denied. This is news management at its worst and reflects poorly on Fergie and his megalomaniac tendencies. In Fergie's Magic Kingdom , every decision he makes is flawless, every signing he makes a genius and every tactical decision a masterstroke. United are the best team in the world and any setbacks are down to poor referees, cheating opposition players & coaches, conniving UEFA or FA bureaucrats and hostile media coverage. Who is there to disagree except we poor few despised fans, crying out in the wilderness? He would even try to shut us up if he thought that anyone was taking any notice. This is one of the downsides of having one guy in charge for so long that he becomes an institution. The fact that the BBC are happy to speak to the players rather than Fergie shows that they are big enough to be untroubled by his tantrums.
Yes he should join all the other overpaid pundits and just give up management.