Fergie in hot water again as United stumble again
His withering attack on referee Mark Clattenburg may have been designed to deflect deeper scrutiny from his own players’ worrying performances at St Andrews, but it has not escaped notice at FA headquarters, who are considering another rap on the knuckles for the Scot’s latest rant – fuelled by his disappointment at failing to regain the summit from Chelsea for the first time since October.
Ferguson believed the sending off of Darren Fletcher was “absolutely ridiculous” just weeks after he had watched Clattenburg officiate between Arsenal and Tottenham and claimed a player would have had to hit an opponent with an axe in that game to get booked.
“The FA have noted Alex Ferguson’s comments about the match official after the Birmingham City-Manchester United match and will consider whether this is a matter for their governance and disciplinary department,” said an FA spokesman.
It is believed that the FA view the criticisms of Clattenburg as close to justifying punishment on the third criteria within their rules for remarks about officials, attacking the integrity of a referee, or bordering on the personal and with Ferguson already having a two-match suspended ban over his head, following his punishment for questioning the fitness of Alan Wiley, things are starting to unravel at Old Trafford. If charged again, Ferguson’s case would then go to an independent commission and if a guilty verdict is delivered, the suspended two-match ban would be activated and the commission would consider whether to award an additional sanction. It merely adds insult to injury for the Scot, who is also facing the prospect of losing Dimitar Berbatov from his stuttering title challenge.
Berbatov was left out of the starting line up against Birmingham and will undergo an exploratory operation on a knee injury that has troubled him since October. Which could force Ferguson into a re-think on his January spending policy.
Only 24 hours before the visit to face his protege Alex McLeish, Ferguson insisted none of the £80million raised by the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid would be spent this month, unless he has a problem with a striker.
Berbatov has been suffering with fluid on the joint and aggravated the problem when he sustained a kick on the same knee during the FA Cup third round defeat to Leeds United eight days ago. He has cut a miserable and withdrawn figure and has managed only six goals this season, fuelling speculation that Ferguson is ready to cut his losses on the £31m former Spurs striker.
But Ferguson remains determined to find a solution to Berbatov’s lack of impact and said: “He has been carrying the knee injury a bit. We are trying to get him right. He played with it again last week. He wanted to play with it, rather than anything else. We have spoken about maybe a little exploratory operation to try and discover what the issue is. We feel just try and get it sorted and get him fully fit again.”
A solution and a quick one is essential, especially when you consider Ferguson’s apparent lack of trust in Michael Owen, who was again left on the substitutes bench, when his colleagues were in such dire need of a winning goal and Wayne Rooney unable to inspire from a lone strikers role.
Meanwhile, after beginning the season as one of the favourites to lose his job before Christmas, thanks to the parsimonious approach of former owners David Sullivan and David Gold, Alex McLeish has strung together an impressive sequence of 13 unbeaten games to topple a record dating back to 1907.
This might be the first time his old Aberdeen boss has “ever given me” anything according to McLeish, but as they sipped the wine they will both know it could have been much more. The sight of Birmingham flying forward in the six minutes of Fergie time trying to secure victory was further indication of the self-belief the former Rangers and Scotland manager has generated within his dressing room.
“The record is terrific. Some day we will be beaten in the Premier League, that’s a fact. But we have to do all we can to ensure we always a finish a game the way we did. It’s about being proud of our performances and making the opposition feel that they’ve been in a hell of a game and we did that again against the champions,” said McLeish.
Cameron Jerome’s tap-in, after Johnny Evans’ failure to clear Lee Bowyer’s header could easily have been joined by further goals from Christian Benitez, who was denied twice by Tomas Kuszczak and United had to rely on their opponents assisting them with a contentious own goal to avoid an unthinkable fifth away defeat of the season.
Assistant referee Stephen Child flagged Wayne Rooney offside as the England striker attempted to reach Patrice Evra’s cross, but sensing the danger, Scott Dann thrust out a leg to intercept and only succeeded in diverting the ball into his own net.
“A cross came in from Patrice Evra. The player from the home side scored the own goal. What the assistant referee saw was that Wayne Rooney was in an offside position and he quite correctly put his flag up,” said referee Mark Clattenburg.
“He asked me of Rooney had scored and if he had he would have been given offside, but the law states the he must be playing the ball or interfering with play. As Wayne Rooney was two or three yards away he was not interfering with play. He would only have been active if he had been interfering with the ‘keeper.”
It was the correct decision, arrived at in a roundabout fashion, but the grey area over being active and passive remains a sore point in the Birmingham dressing room, especially as several players were made to wait outside in the freezing cold, while MUTV took over the corridors to interview Ferguson post-match.
“I’m not going to say it’s a bad decision but it’s a stupid law. The linesman flagged for Rooney being offside. Because he never touched it, it doesn’t count. But if he’s not there then Scott Dann doesn’t touch the ball at all so it’s a stupid rule,” said James McFadden. The fact United had to rely on it, should be of huge consolation for McLeish and his players.
Man of the Match: Roger Johnson – The ex-Cardiff City defender grows in stature with every game. He risked physical injury on numerous occasions to keep United at bay. Ferguson could do with a defender as brave – neither Johnny Evans or Wes Brown come close.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg – Came in for plenty of stick from Ferguson, but got the correct decision in the two major incidents in the game.
Match Rating: 3/5 – Billed as the master against the pupil it never really got going. United were below standard and Birmingham fully deserving of their point.
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