"Is Sir Alex Ferguson: a) absurd, b) pathetic or c) right?"
This was the title of Simon Barnes' column for the Times the other day, and it made me re-visit my stance on humility in both victory and defeat.
Even as a loyal Manchester United supporter, I have a tough time blaming the losses to Bayern Munich and Chelsea this past week on the officials. Even if there were some calls that appeared to go against United (specifically, Drogba being offside on his game-winner), it tended to even itself out with Gary Neville's foul in the 18-yard box not being called.
The reality is that a call by an official is totally out of a player's and manager's control. There are also normally instances in a match that a team did have control over - not finishing or creating scoring chances, defending poorly - that contributed to that team's defeat as much (if not more) than the perception of a poor call by an official.
Barnes comments on why Ferguson behaved the way he did in defeat this past week.
It was the referee’s fault that Manchester United went out of the Champions League on Wednesday night. Nicola Rizzoli showed insufficient resolve when surrounded by the Bayern Munich players. “Typical Germans. The referee has got to handle it.”
Rafael Da Silva was sent off for two obvious fouls. “With 11 men, no problem, we would have won the game. They got him sent off. Everyone sprinted towards the referee.”
But come, let us ignore the breathtaking hypocrisy of a manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, whose team perpetrated the finest massed, bulging-veined referee harangues of all time, with Andy D’Urso their victim in January 2000. Let us keep our minds on those naughty referees.
When was the last time the referee cost United the result they so clearly deserved? Last weekend, actually. Mike Dean turned down two appeals for penalties as they lost 2-1 to Chelsea and Simon Beck, one of the assistants, ruled that Didier Drogba was onside for Chelsea’s second goal. “A game of that magnitude, you really need quality officials and we didn’t get them today. It was a poor, poor performance.”
Referees have done many other terrible things this season. Alan Wiley was “unfit” when United drew 2-2 with Sunderland in October. The same month, when United lost 2-0 against Liverpool, it was because the referee, Andre Marriner, did not “have the experience”.
When Chelsea beat United 1-0 in November, it was Martin Atkinson’s fault. “The referee’s position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous. The goal shouldn’t have been allowed. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes.”
And on, and on, back into history. Atkinson’s performance was “unacceptable” when Portsmouth put United out of the FA Cup in 2008. That sort of thing “should not be accepted in our game”. Against Hull City that same year, Dean “failed in his duty”. And United actually won that one 4-3.
In 2007 Howard Webb “at times favoured Arsenal” in a 2-2 draw. That same year, Ferguson was sent to the stands for a half-time rant at Mark Clattenburg: “I told him how bad he was and he didn’t like it.”
In his consistency, Ferguson is absurd, pathetic, a figure of fun. But he carries on doing it. Some believe there is method in it — over the course of time he intimidates referees into giving pro-United decisions and, anyway, ref-bashing takes attention away from his players’ — and his own — failings. Without the latest rants, we might all be talking about the unprofessional behaviour of Rafael or United’s overreliance on Wayne Rooney.
But we’re talking about those things anyway. Meanwhile, referees continue to make decisions that go against United as well as decisions that go in their favour. So if referee-ranting is a Cunning Plan, it isn’t one that actually works.
This was the title of Simon Barnes' column for the Times the other day, and it made me re-visit my stance on humility in both victory and defeat.
Even as a loyal Manchester United supporter, I have a tough time blaming the losses to Bayern Munich and Chelsea this past week on the officials. Even if there were some calls that appeared to go against United (specifically, Drogba being offside on his game-winner), it tended to even itself out with Gary Neville's foul in the 18-yard box not being called.
The reality is that a call by an official is totally out of a player's and manager's control. There are also normally instances in a match that a team did have control over - not finishing or creating scoring chances, defending poorly - that contributed to that team's defeat as much (if not more) than the perception of a poor call by an official.
Barnes comments on why Ferguson behaved the way he did in defeat this past week.
It was the referee’s fault that Manchester United went out of the Champions League on Wednesday night. Nicola Rizzoli showed insufficient resolve when surrounded by the Bayern Munich players. “Typical Germans. The referee has got to handle it.”
Rafael Da Silva was sent off for two obvious fouls. “With 11 men, no problem, we would have won the game. They got him sent off. Everyone sprinted towards the referee.”
But come, let us ignore the breathtaking hypocrisy of a manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, whose team perpetrated the finest massed, bulging-veined referee harangues of all time, with Andy D’Urso their victim in January 2000. Let us keep our minds on those naughty referees.
When was the last time the referee cost United the result they so clearly deserved? Last weekend, actually. Mike Dean turned down two appeals for penalties as they lost 2-1 to Chelsea and Simon Beck, one of the assistants, ruled that Didier Drogba was onside for Chelsea’s second goal. “A game of that magnitude, you really need quality officials and we didn’t get them today. It was a poor, poor performance.”
Referees have done many other terrible things this season. Alan Wiley was “unfit” when United drew 2-2 with Sunderland in October. The same month, when United lost 2-0 against Liverpool, it was because the referee, Andre Marriner, did not “have the experience”.
When Chelsea beat United 1-0 in November, it was Martin Atkinson’s fault. “The referee’s position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous. The goal shouldn’t have been allowed. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes.”
And on, and on, back into history. Atkinson’s performance was “unacceptable” when Portsmouth put United out of the FA Cup in 2008. That sort of thing “should not be accepted in our game”. Against Hull City that same year, Dean “failed in his duty”. And United actually won that one 4-3.
In 2007 Howard Webb “at times favoured Arsenal” in a 2-2 draw. That same year, Ferguson was sent to the stands for a half-time rant at Mark Clattenburg: “I told him how bad he was and he didn’t like it.”
In his consistency, Ferguson is absurd, pathetic, a figure of fun. But he carries on doing it. Some believe there is method in it — over the course of time he intimidates referees into giving pro-United decisions and, anyway, ref-bashing takes attention away from his players’ — and his own — failings. Without the latest rants, we might all be talking about the unprofessional behaviour of Rafael or United’s overreliance on Wayne Rooney.
But we’re talking about those things anyway. Meanwhile, referees continue to make decisions that go against United as well as decisions that go in their favour. So if referee-ranting is a Cunning Plan, it isn’t one that actually works.
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