Comments on: (Lack of) Respect campaign

By: Dan Church

Dan Church — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:04:19 +0000

ps, it appears my “no comment” turned into a “comment”. Apologies.

By: Dan Church

Dan Church — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:03:36 +0000

Apologies all, been on me holibobs……..

on this issue, i have no comment, Fergie said what he said, whether it was to deflect attention from the teams performance or not, only he knows, but at the end of the day, blimey, he only said he thought the ref was a bit unfit……..its his opinion….a points deduction is a bit harsh i feel……yes, Fergies opinionated, yes he gets his own way, you know what i say…..good for him.

I realise that his comments only serve to wind up managers and fans of opposing clubs, to which end, looks like hes doing a bloody good job…… Long live SAF !!!!!

By: Giulio di Sagrata

Giulio di Sagrata — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:00:25 +0000

Good night and good luck! Well now you’re talking. Great film that, I’ll never forget it. Just remind me, what was it called?

By: Nev Napier

Nev Napier — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:08:54 +0000

I guess we might as well all give up and go home then. Good night and good luck!

By: Giulio di Sagrata

Giulio di Sagrata — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:26:15 +0000

Nev you’re right, of course you are. In an ideal world politicians and refs would be men of firm principle and behave exactly as you say. Unfortunately the real world is not very often the same as the ideal one. Refs work under huge pressure anyway, and as Patrick says there must be a temptation to take the easy route out and tow Ferguson’s line.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:41:13 +0000

Agree with Nev on this. Look at Robin Cook. Resigned because he couldn’t support the governments decision to take military action in Iraq. Had courage in his convictions. Unfortunately if refs don’t bow to pressure at Old Trafford there’s a chance they’ll get some very public hairdrying from Fergie which could tarnish their professional reputation and might even ruin their careers. Instead they take the easy route out and tow Ferguson’s line. Since Wiley’s public lambasting at the weekend, however, it has been proven that he actually covered a lot more ground than over a dozen professional sportsmen (as Finn rightly pointed out). Therefore the conclusion that can be drawn is that Ferguson is a bully and a coward trying to cover his teams shortcomings by highlighting what he perceives to be faults in others. The disgrace is that he has got away with it time and time again over the years and will probably continue to do so. Unless the FA stand up to him and hand out a proper punishment like a points deduction. That’s really the only thing that would hurt United and pull Fergie in to line. Fines and touchline bans are meaningless.

By the way, I notice that all the United apologists (Matt, Dan Church etc) are conspicuous by their absence on this issue. Any words of defence for Britain’s least deserving Knight of the Realm?

By: Nev Napier

Nev Napier — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:22:28 +0000

Well, that shouldn’t be case though should it Giulio? The refereess should have the courage of their convictions, or find another job. I’m glad when they stand up to Ferguson and will back them every time, even if it means they will never referee a game at Old Trafford again. It’s a bit like when a politician resigns from the front bench because they can’t endorse the party’s policies, they know it will kill their career but it’s the right thing to do. I respect referees for making difficult decisions, especially against the big four, Furgusen should show the game a bit more respect and do the same.

By: Giulio di Sagrata

Giulio di Sagrata — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:16:09 +0000

Right Dean, I’d say there could well be a link between this and Patrick’s big Four piece. By attacking refs (being a bully, yes) AF very possibly intimidates them into the kind of leniency towards Utd he wrote about earlier. It’s only human nature to be reluctant to give pens against Man U etc etc for fear of the Great Man’s hairdrier treatment.

By: dean

dean — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:29:54 +0000

i don’t think managers and players should run the risk of getting in trouble for criticising referees. I thought the big sam incident was a joke. The ref missed a clear cut pen, he should take the criticism he gets.

Ferguson, however, is just a whiny bitch who moans whenever things don’t go his way. He should have looked at the facts first as only 4 united players ran further than he did. Ferguson continually says what he likes about refs and gets away with it (remember patricks big 4 article? You think this is linked in some way? I sure do!) so if the F.A don’t make example of him this time, they will be mugging themselves right off!!

By: Finn

Finn — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:29:08 +0000

What hasn’t been mentioned here is that 7 outfield players covered more distance than Wiley. Discounting the goalies that means a 49 year old ref still ran further than at least 13 sportsmen in their prime (subs may change this) during the 90 minutes of game. Obviously Fergie and others will say what they want but to me this does seem like an extremely desperate attempt by Fergie to deflect attention from the fact that his team failed to beat Sunderland at home. It only makes him look like an idiot but it does work – witness the amount of articles about his comments as opposed to the amount about the game for evidence!

As for Wiley – perhaps he should sue Fergie – that’d make him think twice. It could be called defamation and, having read more about referees training recently, one thing they aren’t short of is match fitness. The tests they have to go through weekly are rigorous enough so, again, it all points to a weak attempt to turn the spotlight away from a below par performance by Man Utd.

By: Nev Napier

Nev Napier — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:25:12 +0000

The FA should punish Ferguson with a longer ban in this instance, Premiership managers cannot continue to undermine referees by criticising their integrity, or even their fitness. Ferguson, now that Mourinho has left, gets the most coverage. He should not abuse that position but set an example. It is clear to everyone that he is deflecting blame away from his own players and he should stop patronising us all. If managers have a grievance they should take it up with the referee or approach the FA through the correct channels, spouting off on Sky is just tacky and gives the papers a cheap headline.

There is no doubt that referees can be poor, but their job is not made any easier by comments from the likes of Ferguson, it sends out the wrong message and sets a bad example to young players. He, after all his years in the game should know better.

By: Stevie

Stevie — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:57:01 +0000

come on, every knows Fergi can say and do what he likes.

As much as I respect the man there’s no more annoying site then watching him chew his gum and looking at his clock. I’d love to throw an old egg on his stupid face!