Fergie slams United show
27 Sep 2007 - 11:21:20
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was "flabbergasted" by his side's Carling Cup exit at the hands of Coventry City.
Ferguson named an entirely different side from the one that defeated Chelsea on Sunday, but the new-look Red Devils lost their third round tie 2-0 to the Championship club at Old Trafford.
United still had six full internationals in their starting line-up - including expensive summer signings Nani and Anderson - but afterwards Ferguson hinted that, on the evidence of the performance, some of the club's youngsters were simply not good enough.
"I was absolutely flabbergasted by that performance," he admitted.
"I did not expect that at all. I am not interested in giving reasons or mitigating circumstances. It was just a very bad performance.
"We have trumpeted these young lads a lot, so what has happened was a big shock for us all.
"You want to give these boys a chance and we have not had the opportunity to do that.
"The number of Coventry fans who came made it a real cup-tie atmosphere and maybe that was an issue for some of our players because in the first half, we were second to every ball."