Fergie hits out at 'incomprehensible' accusations

Alex Ferguson has condemned accusations that he has abused his position as manager of Manchester United as “incomprehensible”.

Just two days after signing a one-year rolling contract extension that will keep him at Old Trafford beyond 2005, the furious United boss hit back at major shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus in the dispute that is threatening to rip the club apart.

For the last month, Ferguson has stood back as his integrity was questioned and his reputation dragged through the mud by a succession of allegations questioning the role of agents and associates of his son Jason in recent United transfers.

Now the fiery Scot has launched a blistering counter-offensive, during which he also revealed that Jason had been forced to call in the police after finding that his mail had been stolen.

The true extent of the demands being placed on the Old Trafford board by Magnier and McManus came to light today with publication of a covering letter to United chairman Sir Roy Gardner and all 99 questions the duo want answers to as they try to establish why the club have paid vast sums to agents in 15 recent transfers.

While there are no specific allegations concerning Ferguson or his son – a director of the Manchester-based Elite Sports Group – Magnier and McManus have requested the introduction of a code of practice that prohibits “payments for player transfers to agents or agencies whose members or directors have a close personal connection with the company or any officer or employee of the company”.

For the United boss, who believed his own personal legal dispute with Magnier over record-breaking stallion Rock of Gibraltar could be kept separate from club business, it was clearly a step too far.

“This is distressing,” said an emotional Ferguson.

“It is incomprehensible that I would abuse my position at this club. I have been here 17 and a half years and nobody has ever raised a doubt.

“All of a sudden, because of a private matter about a racehorse it is all coming out.

“My son has had a terrible time. People have been stealing his mail, going through his bin bags and hiding in bushes. In the end he has had to call the police in.

“It is all a result of what we are reading about in terms of the transfer stuff and it is not easy to take.”

With no sign that Ferguson is willing to back down on his claims over Rock of Gibraltar, the situation looks like getting worse before it improves, but the manager’s conscience is clear.

“I have nothing to do with agents,” he told MUTV. “I never speak to them on transfer deals, it is not my domain.

“When we signed players when I first came to England, Martin Edwards would speak to the agent, now it is (chief executive) David Gill.”

While both Gardner, chief executive Gill and all the club’s influential supporter groups have voiced their backing for Ferguson, Magnier, whose house in Cork was daubed with obscene slogans earlier in the week, and McManus seem hell-bent on exposing frailties in United’s financial structures.

Sources in Ireland claim the pair, who between them own over 25% of the club, have not even received an acknowledgement of their letter, let alone a reply.

The “thorough internal review” announced by Gardner on Monday has done little to ease the frustrations of the pair, who are among the most wealthy and powerful men in Ireland.

Suggestions that Magnier and McManus have already unearthed for themselves the answers they have demanded of the United board have been categorically dismissed by sources in Ireland today.

However, the nightmare possibility of an emergency general meeting and a subsequent vote of no confidence in the United board and their manager remains a distinct possibility.

The attempt to clarify fees paid to agents would have been lauded as admirable had it been launched by the Premier League or Football Association but in this instance, senior figures at United believe it merely to be a vindictive act aimed at placing more pressure on Ferguson to drop his case.

While the United hierarchy must continue to tip-toe across the narrowing middle ground between the club’s manager and major shareholders, the Red Devils’ support has no such problem.

Ferguson publicly thanked them today, stating: “There has been a great bond between us down the years. They have proved themselves beyond measure and at times like this I depend on them.”

And almost immediately, he found them rallying to his cause again.

T-shirts depicting Magnier’s head in the middle of a gun sight will be on sale outside Old Trafford before tomorrow’s televised encounter with Southampton and during the game fans will be urged to let viewers know exactly whose side they are on.

“Magnier and McManus are money-grabbing speculators who have no interest in Manchester United,” said Jules Spencer, chairman of the influential Independent Manchester United Supporters’ Association.

“They are not supporters of the club, they do not attend games and we do not want them in control of our club.

“These are rich men with a greedy, selfish interest in the club but they can be stopped, just as Rupert Murdoch was.

“We very much hope that despite their complete lack of interest in Manchester United Football Club and the game itself, Magnier and McManus will be watching our game against Southampton – if only on television.

“Supporters will be raising the roof to make sure our feelings about them - and Sir Alex Ferguson – are understood, loud and clear.”