Foul play from Fergie

Last updated: 4th November 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Foul play from Fergie

Barclay: Ferguson fury

The FA are right to come down on managers who accuse them of being biased. That's crossed the line though and the FA have got to come down on Ferguson. This time he's gone too far.

Patrick Barclay
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Patrick Barclay called for the FA to come down on Sir Alex Ferguson following his post-match moan at Arsenal.

The Manchester United manager accused referee Howard Webb of being biased towards the home side as the Premier League's top two shared the points after a 2-2 thriller.

Ferguson was incensed that a foul was not given on Louis Saha in the build-up to William Gallas' last-gasp equaliser and claimed "it is difficult to come here (The Emirates) and be completely fair."

But the Sunday Supplement panel felt the Scot was wide of the mark and Barclay believes he should be punished for casting a huge cloud over the game - and what he felt was one of the finest refereeing displays this season.

"I didn't actually hear what Fergie said, but if he said Howard Webb was biased towards Arsenal then he ought to have the book thrown at him, because that was an outrageous amount of rubbish!" he said.

"This is a serious point, not just knockabout fun either, because even if the best refs are constantly being criticised and people are trying to get under their skin to gain an advantage for their clubs all the time - as Ferdinand and Van Der Sar were claiming the ball was not over the line - it does affect the standard of refereeing in our country.

"It's not fun because it just makes it harder for referees to get every decision right.

"The FA are right to come down on managers who accuse them of being biased. That's crossed the line though and the FA have got to come down on Ferguson. This time he's gone too far."

Ferguson did admit that Webb will go on to be the Premier League's number one official before his blast - even though eyebrows were raised when he was given the game less than a week after officiating Liverpool v Arsenal.

Barclay agreed with him on that one and for once, had some kind words for the man in the middle of what was the biggest game of the season so far - perhaps in the world.

"We have good press facilities at Arsenal, a good view with very good, clear monitors in front of each journalist and several times during the games there were decisions that I thought 'has he got that right?' and every time the replay proved Howard Webb right," he said.

"He actually gave, I think, one of the best refereeing performances we've seen for a long, long time. I only watched it because it was the top two, these two huge clubs and the rest of the world was watching, so he was under all that pressure yet he performed better than any player on the field."

Ferguson also moaned about being abused by Arsenal fans on the visiting bench, claiming "there is an absolute danger" for visiting officials at The Emirates.

One fan was ejected but with the press box just behind the area in question, both Barclay and the News of the World's Andy Dunn felt that the United boss was again trying to make something out of nothing.

"We were right behind them and first of all it's manager gets abuse from opposing fans shock!" he said.

"The incident he was referring to was when Cristiano Ronaldo scored and the entire United bench poured onto the pitch, as they would. That's what prompted the Arsenal fans.

"It looked a little bit naughty at times, but I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary."

Was Fergie right to criticise Howard Webb? Should the FA throw the book at him? Will the FA throw the book at him? And were you at The Emirates to see the United bench get abused? Let us know your thoughts by filling in the feedback form below...

Comments (54)

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Kudjoe Banini (Manchester United fan) says...

Fergie has been on this road for 21 years now and is better positioned to make certain comments. I hear others complaining about Vidic fouling Hleb and I burst out with laughter. Vidic did the right thing in body checking Hleb. As for Howard Webb he got some of his decisions wrong and the gaffer is right in criticising him. The Gaffer is the best the sport has seen and must be given the needed respect. If he was not receiving abuses from the fans at the Emirates he wouldn't say. All he is doing is to let the authorities know of these things so these fans will be educated to desist from such acts. For my money Arsenal had 54% and this does not amount to dominance. they had 3 shots on target an this does not show dominance. Credit should be given to United for doing a great job in midfield as Owen and Anderson contained their opponents even though the pair had not played together. My gratitude goes to Fergie for building such a solid squad

Posted 15:35 6th November 2007

Leigh Bramall (Sheffield United fan) says...

Fergie was way off the mark. It wasn't even a foul on Saha, aside from the fact it was about 2 minutes before the goal. Having been in the Premiership last year watching Sheff Utd, I found this type of pressurising and undermining of referees was rife amongst the top Premiership clubs though. It was very noticeable and quite shocking how aggressive players from the top four were towards referees, hounding and surrounding the referee for almost every decision. You just didn't get it to remotely the same extent with Sheff Utd, Blackburn, Everton, etc. It must be that this comes from instructions from the manager. Among managers, obviously Warnock was one of the worst for barracking referees. Difference was, again, profile. Liverpool are denied a penalty against Chelsea earlier in the season and get a direct apology from Keith Hackett, yet Steven Gerrard dived in the previous game against Villa for a foul that he then scored from, with no apology. Warnock had a bad reputation but I reckon Wenger, Fergie, Benitez and (formerly) good old Jose are in a different league - except from them its called charisma!

Posted 14:06 6th November 2007

Darren Murray (Arsenal fan) says...

What a cheek. It was clearly an excellent game. Fergie is sour in defeat - no complaints from Arsenal about the foul on Hleb by Wes Brown prior to the Rooney goal when a free-kick should have been given - and this lead to a goal. Arsenal took the decision and came back, wheras United moaned about something that wasn't even a foul to try to gain attention.

Posted 10:48 6th November 2007

Victor Idas (Arsenal fan) says...

These are the same reasons why Jose had problems with Sir Alex while he was at Chelsea; his level of immunity from sanction for his snide remarks on officials .Arsene had said less and punished more in the past. The FA MUST sanction Sir Alex this time.

Posted 09:09 6th November 2007

Gareth Fieldstead says...

As an Everton fan, with little interest with the performance of other clubs ( unless it affects my own club! ) I thought the game was a disappointment. Utd overall where defensive, consistently playing with eight men behind the ball and denying Arsenal any space to play that wonderful football of there's. Ferguson was his usual hypocritical, ungracious self! For long periods his side were outplayed and outclassed. As for describing the Emirates as a dangerous place, he should go to his wonderful " theatre of dreams' in disguise as an opposing fan, then he would witness dangerous! The return will see an Arsenal victory, solely because Utd will have to be more adventurous in front of there patient fans!!! and this will allow Arsenal far more space to play. Arsenal for the title!

Posted 02:36 6th November 2007

Jamie Mclagan (St Johnstone fan) says...

To be honest, I though the ref was a bit quick with his whistle at times, but overall I believe he had a good perfomance. Fergie looks like he's losing the plot at times. The "foul" he's referring to happened almost 2 mins before the goal and anyway,it was as much a foul as the one on Hleb just before Uniteds first goal! I very much doubt any action will be taken against Fergie even though other managers have been charged for much less. Also, something for you Bournemouth based Man U fans to contemplate before any more accusations of refereeing bias s the number of pens awarded to away teams at OT during the last 15 seasons or so!! It's about 5 I believe...

Posted 00:31 6th November 2007

Rob Duffy (Manchester United fan) says...

As a Manchester United fan i think a draw was a fair result in the end. It was a great game of football between the premierships 2 top clubs although i think Manchester United proved that Arsenal can be stopped playing the way they do, i thought Hargreaves was one of uniteds best players along with Anderson who let himself down with his pathetic rolling around like his ankle was broke. As for Ferguson, he was wrong to say what he did about the ref on the whole he had a decent game he made some dodgy decisions but doesnt every ref? Ferguson was just bitter about conceding so late on and not getting the 3 points.

Posted 23:59 5th November 2007

Glenn Redmond (Arsenal fan) says...

I really do not understand some of the outrage directed at Ferguson's comments after the game with Arsenal because he has been doing this for over 20 years now, he is a terrible sport, the man has no class what so ever, he thinks he is above the law and everyone has been allowing him to get away with this for years. Yet we have to call him Sir, what a joke !!!!!

Posted 23:17 5th November 2007

Roy Bate (Birmingham City fan) says...

Given that 90% of Man utd supporters have never been to Manchester, and that referees are not allowed to referee their local teams, is Ferguson feeling hard done by every time a referee does not appear to be a second-hand United supporter and gives a fair decision to the opposing team?

Posted 23:12 5th November 2007

Tony Matthews (Manchester United fan) says...

For once Sir Alex is in the wrong. Howard Webb is the best ref we have got at the moment and did a great job on saturday. As for the crowd utd fans will be just has hostile when the Gunners come to OT. The most disgusting thing that I saw on saturday was not Anderson brandishing an imitation red card but a grannie giving Ryan Giggs the finger has he was about to take a corner seen by an estimated billion people around the world. What kind of example is that to younger people?

Posted 19:12 5th November 2007

Andy Bowley (Manchester United fan) says...

An excellent game for the billion people watching wordwide with 2-2 being a fair result. As for Sir Alex a case of mind games gone wrong. Abuse from the fans is common place at football grounds across the globe not just North London. As for dodgy decisions what goes round comes roundand it will even itself out over season.

Posted 19:06 5th November 2007

Mark Nelson says...

Let's get things into perspective......great game, thrilling end to end stuff and 2-2 was probably a fair result. You could argue that there was a foul in the build up to Arsenals last minute goal but the same could be said about the build up to Uniteds first. As for the comments from Kartik Sridhar regarding hostile fans at the Emirates...do me a favour...it's no worse than at any other ground in the country. Oh sorry, I forgot, Uniteds fans don't swear or gesture to opposing fans or players when they visit ultra-freindly Old Trafford!

Posted 19:05 5th November 2007

James Samuels (Arsenal fan) says...

Howard Webb biased towards Arsenal. Vidic got away with murder when he pulled Hleb's shirt, He then had the nerve to throw his hands in the ari claiming he had not touched Hleb. Before you go ranting Fergie i think u shuld think things over

Posted 18:51 5th November 2007

Peter Jarovic (Queens Park Rangers fan) says...

Ferguson witnessed an Arsenal side that cost less than Ferdinand&Saha completely outpass and outlast his expensive superstars (which is all he knows how to buy - how difficult!!!). United scored both goals totally against the run of play. I beleive Arsenal are here to dominate the next decade with their total football. As a QPR fan I have to say it is the finest football I've ever seen in this country - and I've been watching since the mid-70's. How Stan Bowles would've loved to be a part of this talented group of footballers! And how jealous of whingeing Ferguson to watch Arsene Wenger do what he could never do - create master football without buying anyone over £10m - unlike the majority of cheque-book United!!!

Posted 18:38 5th November 2007

Keston Douglas says...

It really is hard to be logical in that sort of situation since football unlike many sports (with the exception of cricket) has some storied and long history especially in the prem/1st division. I like the way Arsenal plays but on the other hand AF is very passionate as all managers should be however there must be limits & lines that should not be crossed! Technological aids for referees should be implemented as well as players should be barrred from speaking to referees (I agree with that earlier suggestion) These actions won't totally irradicate supporters of various teams moaning but it will minimize it. Go Sunderland!! Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke, Carlos Edwards

Posted 18:32 5th November 2007

Kevin Parmenter (Arsenal fan) says...

Hostile fans eh? This sort of thing - swearing at the away team by certain sections of the crowd - happens at EVERY ground in the country including Old Trafford and has been going on for years, yet I don't remember Ferguson moaning before this game, the fact is he is bitter about the result. As for the "foul" in the build up to the 2nd Arsenal goal well there was a clear foul in the build up for the 1st United goal, so its all swings and roundabouts, thats football. I see no reason for his complaints as this biased to the home team thing has one major isue of support behind it and that's the goings on at Old Trafford, if ever there was a team that benefited form being at home it is Man Utd and with the number of dubious decisions that have gone their way at Old Trafford over the years they can have absolutly no complaints, its called Karma, Fergie. If Wenger gets punished for speaking out then so should Ferguson, and he seems to get away with it more than most so I'd like the FA not to get scared this time and actually punish someone other than Arsene for a change.

Posted 15:22 5th November 2007

Harry Shortland (Arsenal fan) says...

Firstly ... congrats to both teams! An excellent game, fought to the end! In California, we see 4-6 Premiership matches every Saturday, but after this game ... I threw rocks at the rest of the fixtures! Let's take a step back... Fergie was correct .... so was Wenger last week. Managers should NOT be gagged... and refs should have support from the cameras around the pitch! We, the fans see 5 or 6 replays, from multiple angles, of critical events within milliseconds of the incident .... why can't the refs blow their whistle (if unsure) and take a quick look at one of the many screens around the ground to clarify the incident? It appears that more and more matches are being decided by referees' calls! This is NOT RIGHT! The game is being hurt by this discrepancy.

Posted 13:39 5th November 2007

Stuart Lunn says...

Some of the comments on here are comical. The comment/point being made was that Ferguson, not for the first time, has said something out of line. He implied the referee was biased, and the FA should say/do something about it. Those who were comparing to Mourinho outbursts should remember that he has been punished by the FA for them. The arguement isn't whether or not other managers say things they shouldn't, because on occasion they all do. So why not think about what is actually been said, and then have the common sense to say 'yeah, fair enough - Fergies making something out of nothing' especially when everyone else and his dog can see that.

Posted 12:56 5th November 2007

James Littlewood says...

I am amused to hear Ferguson complaining about the abuse he received at Arsenal on Saturday. I dont hear the fourth officials complaining about the abisive language they have to put up with every week off Ferguson. Ferguson needs to realise that that there is not a law for him and his team and law for everyone else. Ferguson uses fowl and abusive language all the time at matches so can someone ask him to expalin that fact and justify if he can.

Posted 12:44 5th November 2007

Rups (Arsenal fan) says...

I think the majority of fans accept Fergie lost it; by contrast the post match comments made by Carlos Quiorez were spot on. Fergie's comments are tainted when for example, you see Anderson waving an imaginary card - almost in the ref's face - which in itself is a bookable offence...the audacity with which he carried out his actions, it was as if he knew he was immune from getting booked. Petty in the context of the game, but proves a point. We will see if Fergie gets punished as Wenger has previously. If the referee's performance 'favoured' the home side - lets hope that's put straight at OT! The ref's job is made increasingly difficult, as Barclay indicates, when the likes of Ferdinand and Van Der Sar 'claim' that the ball had somehow not crossed the line. Perhaps another reason for goal line technology. Utd were lucky with the deflection off Gallas and maybe Arsenal were lucky that the linesman saw the ball go over the line in the dying minutes. Wenger confesses - he didn't see it, and yet most of the billions watching did...or DID you?? Hands up if you 'didn't see it'! On the whole, a great game, played in a great atmosphere with 2-2 being a fair result. A fantastic advert for the Premier League.

Posted 12:33 5th November 2007
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