Rebecca Lowe, the ESPN correspondent who was responsible for bringing out the now (in)famous Fergie interview where he launched into Alan Wiley’s fitness of all things, brings out a fascinating account of the whole incident. According to Lowe, Sir Alex was all smiles as he made his way to the media crew, which is weird considering the fact that United were uncharacteristically poor on the night. If Rowe’s observations are not distorted, then it leaves no doubts about the cold-bloodedness of Sir Alex’s attack. Poor Mr. Wiley had to pay for United’s mediocrity on the field. Sir Alex, in a ploy to keep the media attention off his under-performing players, decided to shift the eye of the storm to an altogether different location. And going by the amount of news-reel that has already been consumed by this story, it was a ploy that was more than successful.

There was bound to be a certain amount of backlash in the form of media criticism and a little rap on the knuckles for Sir Alex, but having gone through these rigours a million times there was hardly anything that would have caused him to panic. That was until Ian Leighton, the head of Prospect, an organization that represents all referees, came out and called for a ban being imposed on our manager. If Sir Alex’ tirade was a little unjustified, a call for a ban is by far one of the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard.

The FA had recently asked Sir Alex to explain his comments after word came out that the ProZone stats were completely at odds with what Sir Alex was saying. Apparently, the chubby looking Alan Wiley covered more distance on the field than many of our players. Sir Alex’ outburst was all the more surprising to me considering the fact that Wiley is one of the better refs in the Premier League and didn’t do much wrong during the game itself. There is no arguing the fact that Sir Alex was in the wrong when calling Wiley ‘unfit’. However, going so far as to handing him a touchline ban is a decision that simply has no precedent. Rafael Benitez had called a fourth official ‘too young’ after his the game against Tottenham and had gone totally unpunished for it. Managers keep criticizing referees especially after a game is lost but never before has word been raised about a ban. Just because it is someone of the stature of Sir Alex involved does not mean that the FA will go out of their tried and tested path in handing out a ban. Meanwhile, Jeff Winter, in a characteristic display of attention-deficit syndrome, has brandished Sir Alex a ‘coward’. One can only pity such a fool who has the nerve and the audacity of calling the most successful manager in British football a coward. Sir Alex might not be the most polite man, but he is anything but a coward.

On the other hand, Sir Alex can not go scot-free either. There needs to be some kind of fine or a warning issued in order to send out a message that referees are not merely rag-tag dolls that managers are at liberty to play with. But amidst the entire hullabaloo, one has to sit back and admire Sir Alex’s adeptness at using the art of diversion. No wonder he is the best in the business.

Tagged as: FA, Sir Alex Ferguson