Faithless Ferguson sounds a familiar tone (Updates with ban)

November 13, 2009

Thursday update: Nothing to do with this incident, of course, but worth noting that Ferguson has been banished to the stands, receiving a two-match ban and a fine of 20,000 quid for the comments he made about Alan Wiley in October.

So, the FA has decided to get tough with the United boss. Are they right to do it? Read the full story here.

You might think Alex Ferguson would have realised, after half a century in the professional game, that the view from the manager’s dug-out is rarely objective or entirely accurate.

And if a referee does happen to make a mistake, which he is bound to do in the high-speed hurly-burly of a Premier League match, the Scot might also have come to the conclusion that venting your spleen at the powerless fourth official is a waste of everybody’s time.

But no, it seems not. Week after week, month after month, season after season, barely a match passes without Ferguson complaining about something that didn’t go United’s way.

On Sunday, when he might have been questioning his decision to play only one striker in a cautious approach to the showdown with Chelsea or berating his walkabout defence for failing to defend the key free kick, he found three reasons why John Terry’s goal should not have stood.

The initial foul on Ashley Cole by Darren Fletcher should not have been given, he said. Wes Brown was impeded in trying to defend the subsequent Frank Lampard free kick and Didier Drogba was offside and obscuring Edwin van der Sar’s view of the ball when it went in.

Of the hat-trick, the initial one appeared to have the most merit but any number of aggressive tackles are deemed fouls these days and Cristiano Ronaldo used to benefit as much if not more than anyone else in that regard.

The marginal contact between Drogba and Brown is also small beer in the current climate where wrestling in the box ahead of free kicks and corners has become an established part of the game. Rest assured that when Steve Bruce was patrolling the centre of United’s defence he would not have allowed himself to so easily be taken out of the game at a vital moment.

TV replays were inconclusive over Drogba’s position and, even if all three moans were justified, people have surely just stopped listening.

“You lose faith in refereeing sometimes, that’s the way the players are talking in there — it was a bad one,” he said, with Wayne Rooney chipping in by apparently mouthing “12 men” at a TV camera as he trudged off at the end.

PHOTO: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson reacts during their English Premier League soccer match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London November 8, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

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Busby influence lingers for Solskjaer

September 5, 2009

Manchester United would not be the force they are in the game today were it not for the role of the late Matt Busby, former striker and current reserve coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer acknowledged Saturday.

United will continue commemorating the centenary of the legendary manager’s birth on Sunday when Solskjaer takes a team up to Motherwell for a meeting at Fir Park.

Busby’s spirit was forged from the tough environment of his Lanarkshire origins and Solsjkaer is aware that the man who led United to their first European Cup in 1968 after surviving the Munich Air Crash of a decade earlier has left an indelible mark.

“When I first came to the club I got to know all about its history and, through that, Sir Matt,” said Solskjaer.

“I know exactly what he means to Manchester United.

“I have spoken to his son, Sandy, on a number of occasions, which helps to learn more about the man who built the club.

“Manchester United owes a lot to him.

“It was Sir Matt who had the drive and vision to take the club into Europe when no-one else would.”

Solskjaer, of course, made his own imprint on the European stage in netting the last-gasp winner in the 1999 Champions League final which saw United come from behind to beat Bayern Munich.

Not only that, but the final was the day of what would have been Busby’s 90th birthday.

“Of course, I will never forget May 26, 1999,” said the Norwegian.

“To score the winning goal in the European Cup final on what would have been Matt’s 90th birthday was extraordinary.

“It just brought me even closer to the club and, of course, to Sandy.”

Now it falls to Solskjaer to bring through emerging talent and he will send out a young team against Motherwell, as he looks to build on the legacy of youth which Busby began with his Busby Babes half a century ago.

“Sir Matt always believed in giving youth a chance. That was his big legacy and one that Sir Alex (Ferguson) followed.

“I am so honoured to now be playing a part in that myself.

“Young players at Manchester United know if they are good enough they will get a chance.

Proceeds from the game will go towards the Sir Matt Busby Scholarship, a programme to provide people in the Lanarkshire community with free coaching education.

MANCHESTER (AFP)

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Hearts legend Conn dies

January 7, 2009

GLASGOW (AFP) – Hearts legend Alfie Conn Senior died on Wednesday aged 82.

Conn, whose son Alfie Junior also had a successful footballing career with Rangers and Celtic, formed a third of the memorable Hearts frontline of the late 1940’s and 1950’s known popularly as the ‘Terrible Trio’ – the other two being Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhaugh.

Conn, who scored 115 goals in 223 matches for Hearts from 1944-58, collected winners medals in the 1954 League Cup final and then in the famous 3-1 defeat of Celtic in the 1956 Scottish Cup final, their first win in that competition in half a century.

A serious ankle injury shortly after that triumph virtually ended his career and was a major reason he was was restricted to just the one cap in which he scored a goal against Austria.

He was a bit part player in Hearts’ 1958 title success and then moved to Raith Rovers before hanging up his boots in 1960. He went on to manage albeit briefly Gala Fairydean and then Raith.

Hearts players were due to wear black armbands as a tribute to him in their Premier League match with Motherwell on Wednesday.

Former Hearts and Scotland great Dave Mackay said that Conn had been one of his role models.

"Alfie was one of my heroes," he told the club website. "He was a brilliant player with a powerful shot who could score goals for fun."

Written by: AFP