Charity Shield: Ref was too nervous - Ferguson

Alex Ferguson claimed referee Andy D’Urso had been too nervous to cope with the pressure after the official denied Manchester United two penalty appeals as Liverpool clinched the Charity Shield.

D’Urso was the target of a verbal blast by Roy Keane as a group of United players harangued him two seasons ago when they infamously contested a decision in a match against Middlesbrough.

Ferguson, who also insisted the absent Andy Cole had a future at Old Trafford but had to be patient about winning a regular place, sympathised with D’Urso.

However, he believes the Middlesbrough game was still preying on the referee’s mind.

And while his players charitably shook the official’s hand at the end of their 2-1 Charity Shield defeat, they were certainly unimpressed with a string of decisions by him in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

Having awarded Liverpool a first-minute penalty for a foul by Keane on Danny Murphy, D’Urso then turned down two seemingly clear-cut spot-kick appeals for handballs against Stephane Henchoz.

That meant McAllister’s converted penalty after just one minute and a superb finish by Michael Owen 15 minutes later were enough to give Liverpool victory again in the Welsh capital, where they won the Worthington Cup and FA Cup last season.

Ferguson declared: "I felt sorry for the referee, I must say that. No matter how much training you give a person in football, management or anything, you have to have a temperament to deal with situations.

"I just think that the lad was too nervous for that situation today and I felt sorry for him.

"I felt sometimes with the way he was performing that he still had the Middlesbrough game in his mind when the players harangued him, which was wrong of them.

"He’s a decent referee and a decent person but I just think it was a big game for him and his nerves got to him."

Cole was not in Cardiff for the incident-packed game after his wife broke her collar-bone and he stayed at home to help look after their three-month-old baby.

Ferguson stressed this was the reason for Cole’s absence, rather than any link to his public declaration two days beforehand that he may have to leave Old Trafford if he is not given enough games.

In his absence, first-choice striker Ruud van Nistelrooy pulled a goal back for United and impressed Ferguson, who has rarely taken kindly to being put under public pressure to pick a player.

However, the United boss insisted: "Andy Cole doesn’t need to come to me to speak to me about his future. His future is solid as far as I’m concerned."

As to Cole’s fears about losing his England place if he is not picked regularly by United, Ferguson nevertheless warned: "There’s nothing I can do about that.

"There is a squad of players here and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been so patient over the years, while Teddy Sheringham had to be patient as well.

"We can’t win this league or anything without the squad we’ve got.

"Everyone in the Premier League has remarked on that over the years managers, players, the press - so why should we change it now?"

Ferguson insisted Cole would be able to join up with the England squad for their friendly against Holland, along with the rest of his United team-mates, as his sister-in-law was travelling up to Manchester tonight to help out.

As for the narrow Charity Shield defeat, with Sander Westerveld pulling off a string of fine saves while Keane hit the crossbar, Ferguson added: "That was the game we were talking about that we needed.

"It was pulsating and end-to-end. Having to chase a game like that was exactly the preparation we needed in pre-season.

"Our Far Eastern trip had justifiable reasons because of the fan base, which but it does take time to recover from it.

"These are the games that matter and I think we’ll be fine for the start of the season now."