Furious Ferguson beats a hasty exit

WHEN Manchester United were on the wrong end of a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Manchester City at Maine Road in 1989, it prompted Alex Ferguson to scurry to his home and confine himself to his bed for the weekend, so deep was his disappointment at losing to United’s near neighbours.

Yesterday, having seen United lose at Old Trafford to City for the first time since 1974, the Scot was ushered out of the stadium, without uttering a word to anybody but his under-performing players, to catch a plane for South Africa to attend a press conference today to promote United’s summer tour of the country.

Whether South Africa is far enough away from Manchester is open to question, but the United manager may just have sneaked under his covers in business class to hide away once again.