Phelan the Berb effect

WITH Alex Ferguson high in the stands, it was up to assistant boss Mike Phelan to walk the line at Old Trafford on Saturday.

And after a frustrating afternoon, he had words of praise of United’s goal hero, Dimitar Berbatov, who came off the bench to grab the winner.

“Dimitar is doing very well,” said Phelan.

“He has done everything we have asked of him and is working hard.

“It is never easy to come off the bench. But he kept his focus and got us the goal.”

Phelan was thrust into the role of pitch-side director as Ferguson began his five-match touchline ban.

The wisdom of accepting a guilty verdict on Thursday and asking for the suspension to begin immediately was shown by the ease with which Ferguson was able to communicate with the bench by telephone from his seat in the directors’ box.

It is an advantage he will not have when United head to West Ham in a fortnight, or face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on April 16.

Phelan does not see the ban as a particularly big issue, anyway.

“To be perfectly truthful all you do is react to what is going on in the game,” he said. “The work has been done and the players know exactly what is expected of them.

“The communication was good but we know exactly what each other is thinking anyway.”