Fergie charged over ref rant

United boss in dock over Bolton fracas

Last updated: 26th November 2007

Manchester united Bolton Wanderers referee angry Sir Alex Ferguson rant

Ferguson: Charged by FA

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been charged with using abusive and insulting words towards an official by the FA.

The charge follows the exchange with referee Mark Clattenburg during Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Bolton.

Ferguson was sent to the stands by Clattenburg following his half-time rant during United's 1-0 defeat at the Reebok, when the Scot told the official "exactly what I thought of him".

Clattenburg included his version of the incident in his report of the game, which was examined by Soho Square disciplinary chiefs on Monday.

Aggressive

Ferguson was upset that Clattenburg failed to protect his players against what he claimed were "aggressive" tactics from Gary Megson's side, with Kevin Davies in particular irritating the Scot for his running duel with full-back Patrice Evra.

"Some referees don't like the truth," added Ferguson after the game.

The Scot must have expected the FA disciplinary chiefs were likely to take action once they examined Clattenburg's version of events and he now has until 11th December to respond.

However, while his assessment of the situation was more measured on Monday afternoon, Ferguson was still clearly annoyed.

Aggrieved

"You can expect a team in Bolton's position to play that way," he said.

"You expect a team near the bottom to battle, scrap and fight.

"Obviously they do not have the quality of opponents like ourselves. That is why they we are in different positions in the league.

"But the key thing is how the referee controls it. He is the arbiter in terms of the application of the rules of football. That is where we feel a bit aggrieved."

Comments

Alex Shepherd says...

Anyone who saw Clattenburg's 'handling' of the Merseyside Derby will know that here is a calamitous apology for a referee who should never have been given another Premiership match, so I am not in the least surprised that there is again controversy over his performance. It will only get worse, too. Every crowd in the country will groan when they hear he is to 'referee' their game. We know Fergie does a lot of moaning, but in this case the FA should take a long hard look at themselves, and reassess the appointment of this official. To those who are slagging Fergie, I say, wait until YOUR team is robbed of prized Premiership points - you might change your tune!

Posted 20:54 27th November 2007

Paul Higson (Accrington Stanley fan) says...

How is it that all the negative feedback for fergie being charged comes from Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal fans??! Nothing new there. Yes fergie has charged with using abusive and insulting words towards an official which he should but when will other Big teams get the same treatment?? Chelsea have AGAIN been charged with failing to control there players yet they get a slap on the wrist AGAIN. If the FA are to punish teams they need to punish them all not the same not just a few and not just a slap on the wrist.

Posted 20:14 27th November 2007

Gordon Marsden (Liverpool fan) says...

Its about time the FA took tougher action with managers trying to influence a game. Yes, refs do make mistakes, but trying to influence their decision making during a game is totally unacceptable and in my opinion is close to "cheating". If a manager has a problem it should be raised after the match with the appropriate officials. Also the FA should do more to demonstrate their performance management of refs based on post-match feedback and reviews - I am sure these happen but making it more public would help to demonstrate a commitment to fair play. To sum up, I support the FA in their action, but lets also see some action to improve referee performance.

Posted 12:10 27th November 2007

Anthony Axisa says...

What a bad loser you are dear Fergie. I suggest that with your arrogance you would be able to take charge of the English National team

Posted 08:04 27th November 2007

Roger Browne (Manchester City fan) says...

The most serious part about the Fergie rants is that he DOES intimidate refs and this effects how they perform at old trafford with inevitable home bias. the fa should support clattenberg fully or all refs will give man utd even more biased favours than they already get - fergie fails to mention that evra should have had a yellow card and would have had he played for any other team. we must not allow fergie to make up his own rules and must support refs

Posted 07:56 27th November 2007

Kyle Baillie (Chelsea fan) says...

Alex Ferguson is not above the rules and regulations of football, no matter how he holds himself. He fully deserves punishment for his actions, as it would happen to any other manager who abuses a ref. Lack of control by Chelsea players you say? I would count that as passion, dedication and commitment to ones teammates, you didn't see Avram running up to the ref and hurling abuse after the game, did you? Ferguson portayed such arrogance in his statement ""Obviously they do not have the quality of opponents like ourselves. That is why they we are in different positions in the league". Sounds like sour grapes to me. They beat you Fergie, chin up.

Posted 05:55 27th November 2007

Steve Lawrance (manchester united fan) says...

Clattenberg has to be the worst referee the premier league has ever had. I myself am a united fan but say fair play to Bolton because the way they played was the only way they were going to beat us, though if a stronger (or just a capable) referee was in charge then Davies would have been sent off, there are too many occasions to mention when Clattenberg has been terrible now and if a team performs at that level as often then they're relegated, so that's what should happen to this moron. As for Fergie's ranting, I think we wouldn't have lost had he not rested Ronaldo, an action i see as disrespecting the opposition (we do it every season) especially with Rooney already out.

Posted 05:36 27th November 2007

Salman Mazhar (Manchester United fan) says...

We all should not be surprised with the aggresive tactics used by Bolton. Things haven't changed much since the Sam era till date. Bolton has always tried to intimidate the big team with their aggressive game play bordering on lunacy. what actually is a surprise is that the FA and the referees are still ignoring this negative gamesmanship. Its high time that the referees start taking action against Bolton before any one of their crude tackle jeapordises a player's career.

Posted 04:39 27th November 2007

Scott Curry (Arsenal fan) says...

Ohhh poor poor Fergie being made an example of....he is SUCH a whinger...I love how he whinged on about how he was treated at the Emirates when at Old Trafford they sign songs about Wenger being a pedophile but you don't hear him whinging about it in the media. I agree with the Chelsea fan, there have long been one set of rules for Man U and another for everyone else.

Posted 02:35 27th November 2007

Kain Anderson (Arsenal fan) says...

Some of the comments Ferguson has been making during and after games in recent weeks have been mind boggling to say the least, this has been a long time in the comming as once again Ferguson trys pitifully to draw attention away from the unimpressive performace of the so called 'best team hes ever had' when infact Bolton and Megson deserve huge credit. I also think its dissapointing that they only finned Ferguson it would of been nice to see him suspended to the stands for a game as punishment instead as 'cash related punishments' seem to have small effect on players/managers within a league such as the EPL.

Posted 02:10 27th November 2007

Rob Harrington (Liverpool fan) says...

Face it. Davies got away with a few nasty ones, so did Evra. Bolton were superb and deserved to win because they were the better team on the day. They may not need to deal with it often, but Ferguson & Utd fans need to learn to give credit to the opposition when they're beaten. Ferguson's comments will have been more to do with his frustration than actually having a valid argument. Bolton were better than you, and played great. Deal with it and get on with your next game!

Posted 23:53 26th November 2007

Oliver Hanlon (Manchester United fan) says...

A crack down on Fergie...~?Please! His anger shows passion, dedication and commitment. Megson's side were frustrating, and Fergie flipped. As for the charges...the F.A are clearly trying to make an example of him. By doing this they avoid having to demote Clattenberg, AGAIN!

Posted 21:31 26th November 2007

William Hennessey says...

A Chelsea fan pontificating about humility....oh the irony !!! Yet another example of a total lack of self control by the yob Terry and his cohorts at the weekend...how many times do the FA have to charge Chelsea with failing to control their yobs before it gets serious?

Posted 21:29 26th November 2007

Graham Higgins (Chelsea fan) says...

This has got to be a first!! About time for a crack down on Ferguson, he gets away with this sort of thing constantly and it's getting boring. How about actually doing an interview after you've lost as well. Show some humility, it doesn't happen often.

Posted 17:13 26th November 2007

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