Source: Daily_Mail
Warring Fergie and Rafa are told by LMA: Time to call it quits
The League Managers Association have attempted to broker a peace agreement between Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez in a bid to end the escalating war of words between the bitter title rivals.
Richard Bevan, the LMA chief executive, contacted the managers of Manchester United and Liverpool over the weekend after Ferguson launched an extraordinary and seemingly unfounded attack on Benitez.
Ferguson accused the Spaniard of 'arrogance' and showing Sam Allardyce 'contempt' when Liverpool scored their second goal against Blackburn the previous weekend - even though Allardyce made no complaint at the time for a gesture Liverpool insist Benitez was directing at his players.
One senior member of the LMA said: 'It's an emotional time of the season but Alex seems to have seized on something that was inconclusive at best.
These things do happen when two teams are competing for the championship but it's not a healthy situation and, hopefully, the LMA can help them draw a line under it.'
Liverpool assistant manager Sammy Lee came to Benitez's defence yesterday, saying: 'I am surprised Sam never mentioned anything about it when the two of us had a drink after the game.
'I'm fairly sure that, if anyone felt that strongly about something, they would have brought it up at the time but there wasn't a single word.
'That surprised me more than anything. We all knew what the gesture was about. It concerned something we thought should be done out on the pitch but wasn't. It still resulted in a goal so, naturally, there were a few smiles.'
