IN their respective sports there is no-one bigger, more successful or more highly-regarded than Sir Alex Ferguson and John Magnier.

If Fergie is the giant of soccer management then Magnier is the colossus of the racehorse breeding world.

Those two men haven't climbed to the top of the pile by default.

They are both experts in their particular field, both highly intelligent and both fiercely ambitious.

Stubborn

But Messrs Ferguson and Magnier share one other trait. They are both as stubborn as mules.

And that stubbornness, in my eyes, has created a situation which should never have been allowed to happen and which - if it runs its course - could prove ruinous to the pair of them.

If you are not familiar with the situation I am referring to, let me give you a brief re-cap of the events which have driven a wedge between the Manchester United manager and the Irish livestock breeder who also happens to be the Reds largest individual shareholder.

Until recently, Fergie and Magnier were pals.

Such good pals that Magnier gave Ferguson a half share of his wonder horse Rock of Gibraltar with Magnier's wife Sue owning the other half. The Rock earned millions in his racing days but will now earn many millions more in stud fees following his retirement.

Fall out

And this is where the two old friends fell out.

Ferguson believes he is entitled to a percentage of those stud fees. Magnier believes he isn't. It's as simple as that.

Ferguson won't budge and neither will Magnier and that impasse has led to Fergie initiating legal proceedings against his former friend claiming the percentage of the stud fees he feels he is due.

I haven't the foggiest idea about who is in the right on the Rock of Gibraltar issue. But I wish I could bang their heads together and knock some sense into them because, for two highly-intelligent adults, they are acting like kids squabbling over a Christmas present.

The difference is that the squabble which Ferguson and Magnier are currently involved in could have highly dangerous an damaging repercussions if it has to be resolved in a court of law.

The official line from Old Trafford is that the pending legal battle between Fergie and Magnier will have no impact on the club's business.

Pull the other one.

The manager of Manchester United is taking the club's largest shareholder to court and that will have no impact on business? In a pig's eye it won't.

What sort of image will it portray if the manager of our major club and that club's biggest single investor are fighting over money in a public hearing? And if that case does proceed, neither Ferguson nor Magnier will be the winner whatever the verdict.

Settle it over a nice bottle of plonk

Millionaires have been left penniless, bankrupt and homeless on the whim of a High Court Judge.

For all their wealth, do Ferguson and Magnier REALLY want to take that risk? For both their sakes, I would urge them to find a better place to resolve their dispute over the Rock rather than a court of law.

How about a nice country pub and a civilised conversation over a bottle of Fergie's favourite red wine.

There has got to be a compromise solution somewhere in there.

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