No defence for Fergie

Cundy criticises Fergie after ref comments

Last updated: 9th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

No defence for Fergie

Ferguson: Venting his frustration

Undoubtedly Jonny Evans' tackle was the worst of the match, it was shocking and deserved a red card yet Sir Alex has no problem with the ref on that one

Jason Cundy
Quotes of the week

Related links

Teams

Sir Alex Ferguson needs to spend more time worrying about his own side's shortcomings rather than blaming referees.

That is the opinion of Sky Sports expert Jason Cundy.

Not for the first time this season Ferguson blamed the man in black for a Manchester United defeat, claiming John Terry's winner for Chelsea should never have stood.

There were two areas of debate on the goal, with Darren Fletcher convinced he won the ball against Ashley Cole for the free kick, and then Didier Drogba appearing to stand in an offside position directly in front of Edwin van der Sar.

Replays appear to show Drogba was in fact onside, and Cundy insists Ferguson will be papering over cracks if he uses referee Martin Atkinson as the scapegoat for Sunday's defeat.

"The referee is out there making honest decisions. Referees make mistakes like Sir Alex makes mistakes, like footballers make mistakes," Cundy told Sky Sports News.

"I'll ask this question. Who was making the mistake when John Terry wasn't picked up at the free kick? One of the best headers of a football gets a free header right in the centre of the box.

"Has Sir Alex come out and criticised his players? No, he's got a job to do and he's defending his team.

"Wes Brown has to be stronger on the goal because he's in front of Drogba but then goes down too easily, and it is he who keeps Drogba onside so it makes no difference if Didier was active."

Evans should have walked

Cundy accepts United should have been given a penalty for Terry's foul on Antonio Valencia, but he insists the referee was equal for both sides, failing to send off Jonny Evans for a dangerous kick out at Drogba.

"Too many times managers, and Sir Alex is as bad as I've seen, come out criticising the referee.

"The ref gets things wrong for both sides. The decision not to deal with Jonny Evans more severely when he kicked Didier Drogba - haven't heard anything from Sir Alex.

"Ivanovic got booked when he got a piece of the ball before taking down Ryan Giggs. I can see why the ref has booked him, just like I can understand why he gave a free kick for the Darren Fletcher tackle.

"Fletcher gets a bit of the ball, but then his left leg takes out Ashley Cole. It's an honest decision by the ref, we need to live with it.

"Undoubtedly Jonny Evans' tackle was the worst of the match, it was shocking and deserved a red card yet Sir Alex has no problem with the ref on that one.

"On the flip side, the John Terry foul on Antonio Valencia is a definite penalty. Terry knows he got away with that one. So there are decisions going against both sides, we need to live with it."

Three horse race

Victory takes Chelsea five points clear of United who remain third, and Cundy believes the top three will remain as they are - with Carlo Ancelotti's men taking the title.

"Chelsea haven't conceded a goal at home since the first day of the season. They're getting back what they had under Jose Mourinho.

"They were second best on Sunday yet they still won.

"Liverpool are out of it, not mathematically, but they've left themselves too much to do.

"Arsenal are the form team, going forward they're awesome. The thing is, they'll always beat teams like Wolves, but in the two big games so far this season they were better than Manchester City and Manchester United, but they got beat.

"There's still a soft underbelly at Arsenal, when they come up against a strong Chelsea side I think you'll see it again.

"I think Chelsea, United, and Arsenal will be the top three, with Chelsea as champions.

"The transfer embargo has now been suspended, and people make a big thing of the African Cup of Nations but when Chelsea lose those players they play Burnley, Birmingham, Hull, Sunderland - that's quite an easy route through that period."

Comments (37)

  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2

Steve Grainger (Arsenal fan) says...

Jason Cundy,s entitled to his opinion!! but he,s got his assessment all wrong...Fletchers challenge on Cole was fair!! ok he got a bit of the player but can Cundy,honestly say if he made that challenge he,d be happy to have a free kick awarded against him?? No he wouldn,t. As for Evans challenge on Drogba yes he could well have been booked/sent off but Drogba,s histrionics make it difficult to really judge if it,s a bad challenge/foul. The guy is writhing all over the place twitching like hes been shot with a shotgun!!.. btw i,m an Arsenal fan so no bias there eh

Posted 15:16 9th November 2009

Yogi Bear (Manchester United fan) says...

Man u were brilliant.they deserved to win but they didnt.nevertheless we play like that all season and we will be up there competing for the league. we just need to peak at the right time and start to grind out results by scoring goals.bring back ruud and get rid of owen!

Posted 15:13 9th November 2009

Jared B (Chelsea fan) says...

What a wonderful game I had no doubt in my mind I knew Chelsea was going to come out on top. Great goal from Jt to keep United down were they belong

Posted 15:01 9th November 2009

Mac Mcphail says...

As a chelsea fan for 40 odd years and 25 year army veteran i wanted us to win because (we are a law unto ourselves) Utd, didnt share the respect of the rest of the nation and premier teams by embossing a poppy on their shirts! trivial maybe but not for CMON YOU BLUES CAREFREE

Posted 14:56 9th November 2009

Chris Small says...

I will be worried if i was a Chelsea fan, all game they were second best to a mostly second choice Utd team, if it werent for the free kick being given, Chelsea would have still been there now fouling away. Utd showed that Chelsea are not as good as they think they are.... another underchieving season for the blues i think

Posted 14:49 9th November 2009

Rob Thomas (Chelsea fan) says...

Typical Man U comments above just do everyone a favour and SHUT UP. Think of all the decisions have gone your way in the past i don't hear you complain then. MOAN MOAN MOAN just like your manager!!!

Posted 14:46 9th November 2009

Lee stewart Courtney (Manchester United fan) says...

The problem here is the fact that Fergie is correct when he says that it was no free kick and it was also a pen against Valencia but his constant criticising of referee's means he gets no sympathy even when he is correct. The fact that everyone (me included even though gutted at the time) has to admit is that ref's do not give the wrong decisions on purpose and other times them mistakes will benefit UTD. Atkinson was wrong on both counts which Fergie has every right to point out but also has to realise that all people are capable of errors.

Posted 14:42 9th November 2009

Paul Beard (Manchester City fan) says...

Its about time united stopped using the referee as an excuse for losing, they hardly had a shot on goal all game for the possession they had. Drogba got booked for evans clearly fouling him and nothing has been said by ferguson! United players were constantly harassing the referee to book chelsea players! no way was that a penalty, valencia slipped and was too weak. Even if the goal was a little dubious how many times have we seen united do this do other teams! how do you like them apples!

Posted 14:35 9th November 2009

Shane Greenwood (Arsenal fan) says...

This is a ridiculous view from mr Cundy. I'd like to see you running to head a ball and being tugged by a 6foot plus man and see if u stand up, true drogba is not offside, but then neither was rooney in the first half when he was clean through. As for the Evans sending off, that is nonsical. Drogba wasn't even in a position to be challenging for the header, he clearly went to foul evans. But came unstuck. Then the show Drogba put on afterwards was hilarious, was he actually trying to perform a fit on the pitch?

Posted 14:29 9th November 2009

Robert Ricky (Arsenal fan) says...

Can you also explain why when terry & cole collided & terry was left on the floor play continued while Chelsea had the ball (even in that area of the pitch) but once their attack was halted fairly by united & they started to break the game was stopped? it wasn't a head injury so why was the game stopped? & why was it not stopped while Chelsea had the ball? In the second half Giggs & Chelsea player I cant remember clashed heads which looked like a foul on giggs, both players went down holding there heads & the game was allowed to play on, in the same area, should this not have been stopped? +

Posted 14:25 9th November 2009

Steve Bergg says...

From the perspective of an unbiased fan... I must say it's great to see Man U getting the decisions go against them. How many times over the years have they got a questionable pen kick to win a game. Over the course of a game and for sure over the course of a season these kinds of breaks will even themselves out. The exception to that is when you play teams that are better than you. This week and this season, Chelsea have just been better than Man U. Cry about the refs all you like, but your team needs to be better. If you don't score a goal, you will always be at risk of a poor call beating you.

Posted 14:23 9th November 2009

Robert Ricky (Arsenal fan) says...

Jason you mention Brown should have been stronger when drogba fouled him by pulling him to the floor? does this mean its ok to foul someone who is weaker than you? sorry Jason but a foul is a foul regardless, as you say the Terry foul on Valencia should have been a penalty whats the difference between that & drogba on brown? did they not both pull another player to the ground? With Jonny Evans & drogba, jonny Evans was playing the ball in the air drogba was going for Evans, he did not jump for the ball when the ball was a good 7ft of the floor! if drogba was going for the ball would he not have been off the ground challenging for the header? instead he was going to go through evans who protected himself, if he had not he was 3ft off the ground & would have been facing serious injury himself as drogba ploughed through him?? I will concede that the ref was wrong to book drogba & Evans lucky not to be booked but a red for that would also of been harsh. The decision to award the foul against drogba was correct as Evans was playing the ball & drogba the man. You mention things evening themselves out but you make no mention of the clear mistake the ref made when Rooney was clean through one on one & the ref gave offside? was this not an important mistake? Valencia was booked for a challenge on Lampard when he barley touched him?

Posted 14:21 9th November 2009

Bryan Edwards (Manchester United fan) says...

Fergie only has a go at the officials when they have made glaring errors. Yesterday there were four major incidents that happened against United and a premier league standard referee should be able to spot these. People don't realise that Fergie also has a go at the officials when they get something wrong and United go on to win! So he doesn't just do it because we lose and and he's looking for excuses. All Fergie is doing is pointing out where the officials are getting it wrong, and rightly so. The standard of refereeing might improve because of it.

Posted 14:20 9th November 2009

Leigh Youles (Manchester United fan) says...

Regardless of the free-kick that led to the goal, the referee's decisions for most of the game favoured Chelsea...it was unbeleivable the amount of times a Utd player was kicked or held back after playing the ball forward. On the flip-side Utd were penalised for very arguable 'fouls'. Until the free-kick and subsequent goal, you could forgive some of the poor decisions as they had no affect on the result, and it was a decent game to watch. Due to it's significance you cannot ignore the free-kick desicion so Sir Alex has the right to 'moan'. Even after securing the 3 points Terry, as England Captain, could not even admit that it was a penalty or that they weren't the better team when he clearly pulled Valencia's shirt and for the majority, Chelsea were outplayed by a weakened Utd side, at home! No Ferdinand. No Vidic. Evans could have easily been given a red card however there didn't appear to be any malace, he won the ball before making any contact with Drogba which he did with 2 feet in the air - pretty difficult when you've already jumped to have such an intention. The referee ruined the game.

Posted 14:17 9th November 2009

Andrew Bromley (Leicester City fan) says...

Man U fans. . . . Just take it and stop whinging like little babies every time you lose a game. So you got some bad decisions against you? WHO CARES! You get plenty of dodgy decisions going for you, it happens to EVERY team. Get over yourselves, theres 91 other teams out there you dont deserve to win the title just cos of who you are. When you lose, you lose.

Posted 14:13 9th November 2009

Robbie Rocket (Arsenal fan) says...

The Ref had a nightmare & unfortunately for United the major decisions went against them. The offside against rooney. The penalty not being given. The Darren Fletcher challange on cole who wasn't touched and jumped higher than chris tomlinson (high jumper). The Foul On Brown(Yes Jason a foul) The Drogba offside (yes brown plays him on for the freekick but he's offside when terry/anelka flick it on). everyone says that united get it all there way but Chelsea have had it all there way at stamfordbridge since the russian took over, this isn't the first time!!!! That said United should have scored in open play & not relied on the Ref to make the right decisions. I think Chelsea will crack under a team like ours who can score freeley in open play & all this is only good for the gunners!

Posted 13:57 9th November 2009

Frank John (Chelsea fan) says...

thanks for your honest comments cundy.. Sir ferguson is always wanting things/decisions to go his way always,i dont know why..the worse thing is that hes always getting away with it,because MAN UTD is known to be an FA Team,they always escape their indecipline acts....the ref was very fair with all the decions in that game..johnny evans deecerved a red card but he escaped it just like john terry escaped a yello card and a penalty earlierbut fergie never said anything about it,instead backing up his boys .He needs to stop that habbit of challenging officials,its not professional.

Posted 13:23 9th November 2009

Billy Buckingham (Manchester United fan) says...

the problem now is i think united are getting the short end of the stick because of comments he previously made about refs it looks like they are ganging up on united ( ref ) should not be biased

Posted 13:15 9th November 2009

Hey Badda (Plymouth Argyle fan) says...

It's alway good to hear the opinion of an unbiased football expert - nice balanced view Sky Sports!

Posted 13:14 9th November 2009

Sam Kris says...

Absloutely 100% right. I Agree with Jason Cundy.well done.sometimes you dont play well but you get the good result.personally Chelsea didn't play as everyone expected.anyway iam happy that they got all 3 points.i hope all the players will perfectly in good shape without injuries after international break.Come on blues

Posted 13:12 9th November 2009
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2

Add Comment*

Send us your views

Are you a Sky Sports subscriber?

*All fields required, your email address will be kept private