Source: Manchester_EveningNews
Opinion: Paul Hince
SIR Alex Ferguson doesn't need any reminders from me about his standing in football.
The records show that Fergie is the greatest manager in the history of the Premier League by a country mile.
Many will go further still and claim with some justification that he is THE greatest British manager of all time.
So why, with all that respect, with all those trophies, does Fergie continually lower himself by vilifying referees?
His latest rant against referee Alan Wiley at the end of United's 2-2 draw against Sunderland on Saturday was uncalled for and distasteful to say the very least.
Criticising a referee's decision is one thing. But questioning Wiley's ability to run a Premier League match was personal, cruel and beneath a manager of Ferguson's stature.
In the eyes of the United manager referee Wiley was physically not fit enough to keep up with the high tempo of the encounter at Old Trafford.
But all the referees who officiate at the highest level are given vigorous fitness tests before the start of each season.
And in every Premier League match the referee is wired to a monitor which records how far he runs during the 90 minutes. And that information is taken on board by the referees' parent body.
Fergie's argument against Wiley was that he was "taking 30 seconds to book a player and I think he was taking a rest. He just wasn't fit enough for a game of that standard."
I watched the match and Ferguson is right - the referee did take time when booking players but that's because players no longer accept a booking with a shrug of the shoulders - these days they stand there arguing the toss with the man in black.
What makes Fergie's rant against Mr Wiley so unexpected was that only a week earlier the pair of them were sharing a joke and a laugh on the touchline during the Old Trafford derby.
For long periods of Saturday's game Sunderland were the better team. That's not a "Bitter Blue" venting his spleen on the old enemy. That's a fact.
The truth is that Fergie's side took the day off against Steve Bruce's lads. There is no shame in that. The greatest teams have an occasional off day.
So when that happens to United why doesn't Fergie simply hold up his hands and admit that his team were under par?
Why try to divert attention from a poor performance by attacking the referee in the manner he did. Alan Wiley may or may not be the worst referee on the planet.
But he certainly wasn't responsible for United dropping two points against Sunderland and he certainly didn't deserve to be humiliated like that by the Old Trafford manager.
What do you think? Have your say.
