Sir Alex Ferguson was given a touchline ban for criticising Alan Wiley, but some feel the real punishment is being handed out on the pitch

Are you a fussy eater? Do you ask for slight menu alterations: no lettuce, maybe, or nothing remotely healthy on the plate please? If so, you were born into a world of pain, because if your specific request is not adhered to, you are exposed to the ultimate social dilemma: whether to send the plate back.

On the one hand you may get the food you want; on the other, a grouchy waiter or waitress may wonder what your problem is and why the hell you can't just move the thing you don't like on to the side plate. And if they are having a particularly bad day, and if the legend of the piqued waiter is true, and if you've just ordered cream of mushroom soup, well …

Of course this should not happen, but human nature and not doing something unspeakably vulgar to an entirely innocent person's food are sometimes locked in an impossible conflict. Same with human nature and professionalism: these things should not happen, but of course they do.

Some would argue that they are happening to Manchester United right now. Sir Alex Ferguson was given a touchline ban for his criticism of Alan Wiley (can we please stop melodramatically calling it a rant? It was calculated, not a rant. We're not 12 years old), yet arguably the real punishment is being enacted on the pitch. Indeed the former referee Jeff Winter came tantalisingly close to justifying his continued presence in the public eye when he predicted as much in the aftermath of Ferguson's comments about Wiley. "I think Sir Alex may have overstepped the line this time and he may be about to get his comeuppance," Winter said. "Human nature's a funny thing. Sir Alex might just find a few refereeing decisions going against him."

And so they have, most notably at Anfield and Stamford Bridge. It might be coincidence; it might not. But the perception that referees have closed ranks in the last month certainly exists. Most of the big decisions in the matches at Liverpool and Chelsea were sufficiently borderline to ensure those who defended Andre Marriner and Martin Atkinson would not be discredited, although some of the smaller ones have also raised eyebrows. Dimitar Berbatov's booking at Anfield was particularly hard to fathom.

Whether United are being victimised by referees at some level is in the eye of the beholder. Such a process could theoretically work two ways: either as an outright rejection of Ferguson or, more probably, a subconscious desire not to give in to his bullying. Either way, the implications for fair play would be terrifying. Yet the majority of football fans would eschew such rational concerns in favour of an emotional response: that Ferguson has had it coming for years.

What is arguably more disconcerting than these dubious decisions is the manner in which former referees, most notably Winter and Dermot Gallagher, have defended them after the event. Some of their arguments have been woolly in the extreme; Winter even said Didier Drogba should not necessarily have been penalised for fouling Wes Brown because such things happen all the time, an argument so spectacularly moronic that we feel slightly unclean even mentioning it.

While our lawyers can't stress enough that there is no suggestion of foul play in the recent treatment of United, there is enough past evidence in sport to at least invite the perception that officials do not always judge incidents on merit. To suggest otherwise would almost redefine naivety.

In cricket, in 1994, the match referee Peter Burge nailed the England captain Mike Atherton for a trivial offence during the Oval Test against South Africa, having waited a month to punish him following Atherton's perceived duplicity during the dirt-in-the-pocket affair.

In the same year, Eric Cantona was sent off for nothing more than a collision with Tony Adams at Highbury, a decision that many feel was partly or wholly the consequence of what his studs had done to Norwich's John Polston and Swindon's John Moncur in the preceding months.

Ferguson harnessed that experience positively, fostering a rewarding siege mentality that drove his side to United's first double. He may as well try to do the same this time, because the arguments about referees aren't going to go away in a hurry.

Eastbay:

HNIC,
Surely,you're nt listening to a ref whose claim to fame is booking the same player thrice in a game before remembering to send him off,are you?

slimshay:

sauron stop right there with any stupid conspiracy theory. Evrbody even blind mofos know ManU are on the advantageous end of the highest number of dubious referees calls. if we begin to list we will break nairaland page record abeg.

Alex Ferguson has been known to berate referees most times in full galre of the public, denegrating them. He usually gets away with simple relative slaps on the wrist. And its cos England respect their knights.

The FA needs to come hard on anyone no matter who he is if their respect campaign is going anywhere. Rooney is well known for talking shit to refeeres and gets away cos he's englands golden boy. Let them stop their hypocriscy and make a real scape goat of someone unexpected then others will learn. This 2 match ban is a joke.

slimshay:

sauron stop right there with any stupid conspiracy theory. Evrbody even blind mofos know ManU are on the advantageous end of the highest number of dubious referees calls. if we begin to list we will break nairaland page record abeg.

Alex Ferguson has been known to berate referees most times in full galre of the public, denegrating them. He usually gets away with simple relative slaps on the wrist. And its cos England respect their knights.

The FA needs to come hard on anyone no matter who he is if their respect campaign is going anywhere. Rooney is well known for talking shit to refeeres and gets away cos he's englands golden boy. Let them stop their hypocriscy and make a real scape goat of someone unexpected then others will learn. This 2 match ban is a joke.

rasputinn:

Hope that shuts him up a bit,but if it doesn't,then the FA should consider using super glue

slimshay:

sauron stop right there with any stupid conspiracy theory. Evrbody even blind mofos know ManU are on the advantageous end of the highest number of dubious referees calls. if we begin to list we will break nairaland page record abeg.

Alex Ferguson has been known to berate referees most times in full galre of the public, denegrating them. He usually gets away with simple relative slaps on the wrist. And its cos England respect their knights.

I've read a lot of opinionated nonsense on this thread, ranging from those who think that almost all decisions have gone in Manchester United's favour in recent years, to those who think that an opposition player has to "take a machete" to a United player for United to get a penalty. So I thought I'd do some research. I used statistics from all Premiership seasons since 2003 to the present day, using clubs who have been ever present in the Premiership during that period.

Quite simply, I wanted to find answers to some questions. Who has had the most penalties awarded to them over the years? Who has had the least penalties awarded against them? Do the refs really favour bigger teams rather than smaller teams?

The first two questions are easy to answer. Here is a list of the teams in order of the number of penalties they have scored since 2003:

Liverpool - 36
Arsenal - 35
Chelsea - 29
Aston Villa - 27
Fulham - 24
Tottenham - 23
Man Utd - 23
Blackburn - 22
Man City - 22
Everton - 21
Bolton - 19
Portsmouth - 19

And here are the same 12 teams in order of the number of penalties they have conceded:

Aston Villa - 29
Portsmouth - 28
Blackburn - 24
Bolton - 24
Fulham - 23
Everton - 21
Tottenham - 21
Man City - 19
Arsenal - 17
Liverpool - 15
Man Utd - 13
Chelsea - 12

Unsurprisingly, some would say, the big four find themselves in general at the top of the first list and the bottom of the second. The only notable exception here is how few penalties Manchester United have been awarded - they are equal 6th in this table. Liverpool (+21), Arsenal (+18) and Chelsea (+17) have the largest "penalty difference", while Portsmouth (-9) have suffered more than any other team. Manchester United lag well behind the other "Sky 4" clubs with a difference of +10.

So how do we tell where the referees' bias - if any - lies? The answer, of course, is that we can't conclusively. However, we can give ourselves an idea by comparing the number of penalties given and conceded as a percentage of the total number of goals scored and conceded. As I say, this is not definitive, but one can infer that a team with a lower than average percentage of penalties scored has been more harshly treated by the referees than a team with a higher than average percentage. Vice versa with penalties conceded.

Here are the twelve teams in order of percentage of goals since 2003 scored from the penalty spot:

Liverpool - 392 goals, 36 pens, 9.1%
Fulham - 281 goals, 24 pens, 8.6%
Aston Villa - 323 goals, 27 pens, 8.4%
Blackburn - 290 goals, 22 pens, 7.6%
Arsenal - 469 goals, 35 pens, 7.5%
Man City - 298 goals, 22 pens, 7.4%
Portsmouth - 268 goals, 19 pens, 7.1%
Everton - 301 goals, 21 pens, 7.0%
Tottenham - 338 goals, 23 pens, 6.8%
Bolton - 285 goals, 19 pens, 6.7%
Chelsea - 437 goals, 29 pens, 6.6%
Man Utd - 448 goals, 23 pens, 5.1%

And here are the same teams in order of percentage of goals conceded from the spot in the same period:

Aston Villa - 303 goals, 29 pens, 9.6%
Portsmouth - 332 goals, 28 pens, 8.4%
Chelsea - 149 goals, 12 pens, 8.1%
Arsenal - 210 goals, 17 pens, 8.1%
Everton - 275 goals, 21 pens, 7.7%
Bolton - 324 goals, 24 pens, 7.4%
Liverpool - 203 goals, 15 pens, 7.4%
Blackburn - 331 goals, 24 pens, 7.3%
Man Utd - 180 goals, 13 pens, 7.2%
Fulham - 332 goals, 23 pens, 6.9%
Tottenham - 313 goals, 21 pens, 6.7%
Man City - 302 goals, 19 pens, 6.3%

These statistics are more illuminating. Firstly they certainly support the view that Manchester United certainly find it incredibly difficult to win a penalty - in fact they win far less as a proportion of their goals than any other team. To balance this, teams also find it relatively difficult to win a penalty against Manchester United, though their City rivals are the most lucky in this regard.

So if we look at the differences in these percentages, which teams are the most and least fortunate when it comes to penalties:

Liverpool - 9.1% of goals scored, 7.4% conceded, Difference = +1.7%
Fulham - 8.6% of goals scored, 6.9% conceded, Difference = +1.7%
Man City - 7.4% of goals scored, 6.3% conceded, Difference = +1.1%
Blackburn - 7.6% of goals scored, 7.3% conceded, Difference = +0.3%
Tottenham - 6.8% of goals scored, 6.7% conceded, Difference = +0.1%
Arsenal - 7.5% of goals scored, 8.1% conceded, Difference = -0.6%
Bolton - 6.7% of goals scored, 7.4% conceded, Difference = -0.7%
Everton - 7.0% of goals scored, 7.7% conceded, Difference = -0.7%
Aston Villa - 8.4% of goals scored, 9.6% conceded, Difference = -1.2%
Portsmouth - 7.1% of goals scored, 8.4% conceded, Difference = -1.3%
Chelsea - 6.6% of goals scored, 8.1% conceded, Difference = -1.5%
Man Utd - 5.1% of goals scored, 7.2% conceded, Difference = -2.1%

So statistically, Liverpool have been the most lucky team with regard to penalties in the past 6 years, and, amazingly, Manchester United have been the most unlucky.
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Not conclusive, but just some food for thought. Dissect these figures if you can!

They berate and banish Sir Alex Ferguson for a stupid comment about a slightly chubby referee and cravenly ignore all the good the Manchester United manager has done, all the glory he has brought to English football, all the talent he has helped mould for the cause of St George.
So who do you want influencing football? Pen-pushers or Treble-winners?

Ferguson's verdict on Alan Wiley's fitness was undoubtedly insulting and iniquitous. Referees, even those like Wiley slightly lacking sleekness, deserve respect. The alternative is mayhem in the opinion-forming playgrounds of the Premier League and subsequent anarchy in the UK schoolyards.
Those brought up to bow at the altar of "the referee is always right even when he is blatantly wrong'' cannot tolerate Ferguson's stance.

The belittling of officials is a widespread modern curse that needs combating.
Even Fabio Capello ambushed the referee in the tunnel in Dnepropetrovsk, raging about decisions against England, using language that would make Ferguson blush. Did the FA call Capello to account? No chance.

"As the senior statesman Fergie should be setting an example,'' reflected an England supporter. "A lot of young managers look up to him, but any other manager probably would not have been punished so harshly. The FA have got to be more consistent really. Players abuse the officials weekly.'' And escape.

The case against Ferguson lacks perspective.
It is like hounding Barack Obama for double-parking outside the White House. The FA must see the bigger picture with Ferguson.
This is an individual whose managerial feats have been worth tens of millions of pounds to his rivals, raising the Premier League's coefficient to permit a fourth side into the Champions League.

At the risk of straying further into Monty Python territory, what has Ferguson ever done for English football? Well, this is a leader of men who has built on David Moyes's fine work at Everton to nurture Wayne Rooney into England's one saving grace.
This is the club boss who could supply more than half of England's starting XI in Ben Foster, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves and Rooney, let alone cultivating Ravel Morrison as a potential gem for 2014.

Better than Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere, certainly up there with Jack Rodwell, if Morrison does emerge as the pre-eminent English footballer of his generation, it will be because of a certain Scot's shrewd guidance.
I can't remember the last time the FA acknowledged Ferguson's role in shaping England's present or future.

Crassly imitating a scene from Swift, Lilliputian no-names attempt to bring down a giant of the game. The cast of pygmies includes Alan Leighton, a rep from referees' union Prospect, an unknown organisation in football until its pushy principal began piggybacking on Ferguson's fame.
Apparently, Prospect represents referees. So Leighton will know that Ferguson was the first manager to inquire after Mark Halsey's health.

It is the inconsistency of individuals such as Leighton that is particularly galling. Ferguson makes a mistake and gets pilloried.
Leighton's members make shocking errors, ignoring beach-balls and bad challenges, yet the Prospect chief stays silent.
The FA seems to have been swayed by a union man stamping his feet and spouting off on the airwaves. Football would be better place if a wise owl such as Ferguson, for all his acerbic outbursts, was advising the FA and its hordes of amateurs on how to run the game.

In a land where many FA types just worry about guaranteeing their free tickets to Wembley every year, Ferguson plots how to take his team there again and again. Ferguson contributes so much to the game that the FA fails to note.
England's most important player, Rooney, rallied to his manager's defence yesterday, detailing why Ferguson should be cherished.
"First of all the trophies he's won,'' began Rooney, "and the type of football he wants you to play – attacking football all the time.
Sometimes you feel you can't do it but he keeps you going. At his age [67], he still wants to win all the time. That's incredible to see.''

Ferguson should show more respect to referees – and football should show more respect to Ferguson.

edoyad:

FACT : Since Alex Ferguson started coaching in England - Inspite of the so called stars He's introduced to the England squad, they have not reached the Final of any major tournament and are not even a respected footballing side anymore.
So of what use are the so called stars he has brought into the English game ?

edoyad:

You cannot honestly tell me that you believe SAF is primarily responsible for the Success of EPL ?
There're are many more factors that go into the league's success and i'd personally even commend Kenyon above SAF any day if we Zero it down to Man yoo's success alone