RAFA BENITEZ HAS kicked off another war of words by claiming Alex Ferguson is still haranguing referees.
Manchester United’s manager has been asked to provide a written explanation to the Football Association about his public criticisms of assistant referee Simon Beck following the 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
Benitez infamously launched a calculated attack on Ferguson four years ago during his time in charge of Liverpool, suggesting the 71-year-old received preferential treatment from the FA — accusations which he believes still stand.
“I always try to concentrate on my job, but at that time with Ferguson I was defending my club,” Benítez told The Times. “I could see what was happening from my point of view, and maybe now a lot of people are seeing the same things. I will not talk too much about that because it’s obvious.
“It’s a question for the FA what they do about it. What I said at that time was what I thought, and what I’m seeing now is similar. It depends on the FA. I don’t know what they will do, it depends on them. At this moment in time I have enough things to do here, so I want to concentrate on my job.”
Advertisement
The Spaniard says he is focused on making sure Chelsea qualify for the Champions League, hoping that will be enough to land him the job on a permanent basis.
“A lot of doors can be opened, but the main one is this one here,” he said regarding his future. “I don’t want to enter this debate at the moment, as the priority for me is to do really well and to win trophies.”
Can’t say Benitez isn’t right, though. Must be pretty handy when your club’s chief exec is also vice chairman of the FA. I wonder did the FA write to Fergie by registered mail, or just have David Gill hand the letter across the office to him. Mmmm, cosy…
Gill was voted to the board by all the chairmen of the premier league clubs before him the arsneal chairman was on the board, Gill has no influence on weather fergie is charged or not so get over it
Ah this nonsense again! Gill is on the board as the member voted on by Premier League chairman in order to champion the interests of top level clubs with regard to the football calendar and the international game. This board has no say in discipline which the FA run separately. There has always been a Premier League chairman there since the leagues inception and I don’t recall the same incoherent babbling nonsense about Arsenal when David Dein held the position.
If Ian Ayre was on the FA board, as a Liverpool fan I would see the conflict of interest there. Gill shouldn’t be there, just doesn’t wash especially with the influence mr ferguson has on refs anyway
To be honest Alan I think the real conflict of influence id the Premier League having a director on a board controlling Team England, they should be involved in talks obviously but having a director on the board making decisions isn’t right. The FA, however I’d split in two, half governs rules and discipline and half the running of the game, Team England, the Cup ect. Gill’s position, quite rightly, has no influence over the disciplinary procedure, just as it didn’t in Dein’s day and won’t when Gill is replaced by someone else’s Chief Executive.
Rafa digging his grave again. He needs some serious PR direction from someone. Apart from being right about fergie, its not the way to go about raising the matter. If he has an issue, go to the FA without publicly putting it to a reporter. Sure the reporters must be licking their lips each time Rafa interviews.
He’s completely bang on the money (again!). There’s no point in him bring it to the FA. The Chief Executive of United also happens to be the vice-Chairman of the English FA. Come on like, if that’s not even a tad suspicious as too why he gets away with little more than a slap on the wrist most of the time, I don’t know what is!
So would you say that the same applied to Arsenal when Dien held the role and that Wenger had an easy ride? As a United fan I didn’t and on reflection wouldn’t. Or does it just suit your agenda better that every conspiracy leads to Old Trafford?
Ordering his players to hound referee’s. Calling referee’s to unfit for their job. Entering referee’s dressing rooms at half time. Verbally abusing match officials. Thats just a handful of the things that have been going on with him for years and yet he gets away with, at most, a nominal fine and a match ban (thats if the match ban isn’t suspended). Wenger never, and still doesn’t, get away with anything. It’s not an agenda, these are facts.
We’re you in the dressing room or training ground when he told the players to hound the ref. Or in the refs office at half time when he supposedly walked in?
When you say ‘facts’ do you really just mean your opinion?
One quick google search using the term “Man United Referees” has brought up these five links all from within the last 18 months and include quotes from both Ferguson and his players. All of them were negative. I was trying to find one with a positive comment just to attempt to look unbiased but I suppose he must only say good things about them in private.
Thats twice you’ve commented and twice you avoided the question asked. Why reply if your not going bother answering the question.
For the record, of course Ferguson bullies referees. He puts as much pressure on them as he can as it can sometimes help his team in tight situations. He would be an absolute fool not to use this to his advantage.
Okay. No its not an opinion. As the above links show it ‘s an absolute fact. Alex Ferguson and his players deliberately intimidate referee’s on a regular basis to gain an advantage, and most importantly they are very rarely pulled up on it by the FA.
Yes Val but you are conveniently forgetting that he has had several fines over the last 2 or 3 years and will be up in front of the FA for this. Surely if David Gill ran the FA as you crazily suggest he would not have had a single summons in this time. Also to suggest Wenger doesn’t criticise refs is ridiculous, they all do.
Trolling again Val. Between conspiracies and FACTS which are not facts, so is Fergie the only ref who criticises refs…. he isn’t.
Anyway who cares, Rafa is dead man walking and won’t be here soon, again he will be shuffled off to waiting tables.
Try another search there with any other premier league team, followed by referee and see what comes up. So far I’ve done Man City, West Ham, Liverpool… All the results are the same.
So, just for you. All managers complain and try to intimidate referees just as much as Alex Ferguson… I nearly forgot…. FACT (stating that it’s a fact makes above statement true)
Riiiiiight Val I looked at your links that made your “facts”. Two are incidents of Fergie criticising a ref in a post match interview. One is a tongue in cheek opinion piece, one is a demented rant on a blog, how massively credible, and the final one is a complaint by a player on international duty about a ref in an international game in South America!! I’m sorry you are hardly compelling me with your “proof”!
Mourinho used be going mental about david dein bein on fa board. Arsenal always got home games in league after CL weeks and Chelsea got 5 out of 6 away, think it was 05 season. As an arsenal fan, David Dein is sorely missed. The clubs bein in steady decline since 07:-(
All man Utd games after champions league were away this season…. Man it’s haters need to pipe down. If Gill had any influence I’m sure this wouldn’t have happened.
rafa is right. ferguson is a bully and the fa are afraid of him. he should be banned. he gets away with everything . rooney dived. why was he not sent off. be good to see if the official gets banned from man utd matches in future as what is normal when fergie opens his big mouth.
Because he didn’t dive and even if he had its a yellow card offence, not to blow down your house of cards!! Phil Dowd hasn’t been removed from United games, he’s one of the better refs and Fergie has recognised this in the past
Man charged with alleged sexual assault after Armagh GAA trip to the US last year
1 hr ago
As it happened
Rory McIlroy wins the Masters in mind-boggling drama
Gavin Cooney
23 hrs ago
170
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 168 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 113 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 149 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 117 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 84 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 84 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 138 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 63 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 78 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 86 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 49 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 95 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 102 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 73 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 54 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 92 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 72 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Can’t say Benitez isn’t right, though. Must be pretty handy when your club’s chief exec is also vice chairman of the FA. I wonder did the FA write to Fergie by registered mail, or just have David Gill hand the letter across the office to him. Mmmm, cosy…
Gill was voted to the board by all the chairmen of the premier league clubs before him the arsneal chairman was on the board, Gill has no influence on weather fergie is charged or not so get over it
Ah this nonsense again! Gill is on the board as the member voted on by Premier League chairman in order to champion the interests of top level clubs with regard to the football calendar and the international game. This board has no say in discipline which the FA run separately. There has always been a Premier League chairman there since the leagues inception and I don’t recall the same incoherent babbling nonsense about Arsenal when David Dein held the position.
The common sense….. It burns!!!
If Ian Ayre was on the FA board, as a Liverpool fan I would see the conflict of interest there. Gill shouldn’t be there, just doesn’t wash especially with the influence mr ferguson has on refs anyway
To be honest Alan I think the real conflict of influence id the Premier League having a director on a board controlling Team England, they should be involved in talks obviously but having a director on the board making decisions isn’t right. The FA, however I’d split in two, half governs rules and discipline and half the running of the game, Team England, the Cup ect. Gill’s position, quite rightly, has no influence over the disciplinary procedure, just as it didn’t in Dein’s day and won’t when Gill is replaced by someone else’s Chief Executive.
Rafa digging his grave again. He needs some serious PR direction from someone. Apart from being right about fergie, its not the way to go about raising the matter. If he has an issue, go to the FA without publicly putting it to a reporter. Sure the reporters must be licking their lips each time Rafa interviews.
Did Rafa not learn his lesson with his “facts” last time?
He’s completely bang on the money (again!). There’s no point in him bring it to the FA. The Chief Executive of United also happens to be the vice-Chairman of the English FA. Come on like, if that’s not even a tad suspicious as too why he gets away with little more than a slap on the wrist most of the time, I don’t know what is!
So would you say that the same applied to Arsenal when Dien held the role and that Wenger had an easy ride? As a United fan I didn’t and on reflection wouldn’t. Or does it just suit your agenda better that every conspiracy leads to Old Trafford?
Ordering his players to hound referee’s. Calling referee’s to unfit for their job. Entering referee’s dressing rooms at half time. Verbally abusing match officials. Thats just a handful of the things that have been going on with him for years and yet he gets away with, at most, a nominal fine and a match ban (thats if the match ban isn’t suspended). Wenger never, and still doesn’t, get away with anything. It’s not an agenda, these are facts.
We’re you in the dressing room or training ground when he told the players to hound the ref. Or in the refs office at half time when he supposedly walked in?
When you say ‘facts’ do you really just mean your opinion?
One quick google search using the term “Man United Referees” has brought up these five links all from within the last 18 months and include quotes from both Ferguson and his players. All of them were negative. I was trying to find one with a positive comment just to attempt to look unbiased but I suppose he must only say good things about them in private.
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3841/world-cup-2014/2012/09/12/3370647/the-referee-is-a-total-clown-manchester-united-star-valencia
http://www.teamtalk.com/premier-league/8418115/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-blasts-assistant-referee-after-Manchester-United-held-by-Spurs
http://www.bnltimes.com/index.php/sunday-times/headlines/columns/319-hard-tackle/12214-if-referees-were-fair-where-would-manchester-united-be
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/9198981/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-slams-performance-of-referee-Phil-Dowd-after-Manchester-United-lose-1-0-to-Wigan.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/8358300/How-would-Manchester-United-manager-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-treat-referees-if-he-were-in-charge.html
Val,
Thats twice you’ve commented and twice you avoided the question asked. Why reply if your not going bother answering the question.
For the record, of course Ferguson bullies referees. He puts as much pressure on them as he can as it can sometimes help his team in tight situations. He would be an absolute fool not to use this to his advantage.
Okay. No its not an opinion. As the above links show it ‘s an absolute fact. Alex Ferguson and his players deliberately intimidate referee’s on a regular basis to gain an advantage, and most importantly they are very rarely pulled up on it by the FA.
Yes Val but you are conveniently forgetting that he has had several fines over the last 2 or 3 years and will be up in front of the FA for this. Surely if David Gill ran the FA as you crazily suggest he would not have had a single summons in this time. Also to suggest Wenger doesn’t criticise refs is ridiculous, they all do.
Trolling again Val. Between conspiracies and FACTS which are not facts, so is Fergie the only ref who criticises refs…. he isn’t.
Anyway who cares, Rafa is dead man walking and won’t be here soon, again he will be shuffled off to waiting tables.
Try another search there with any other premier league team, followed by referee and see what comes up. So far I’ve done Man City, West Ham, Liverpool… All the results are the same.
So, just for you. All managers complain and try to intimidate referees just as much as Alex Ferguson… I nearly forgot…. FACT (stating that it’s a fact makes above statement true)
Riiiiiight Val I looked at your links that made your “facts”. Two are incidents of Fergie criticising a ref in a post match interview. One is a tongue in cheek opinion piece, one is a demented rant on a blog, how massively credible, and the final one is a complaint by a player on international duty about a ref in an international game in South America!! I’m sorry you are hardly compelling me with your “proof”!
who cares what Rafa has to say ..wont b at chelsea to long for anyone to care what he says ..
Mourinho used be going mental about david dein bein on fa board. Arsenal always got home games in league after CL weeks and Chelsea got 5 out of 6 away, think it was 05 season. As an arsenal fan, David Dein is sorely missed. The clubs bein in steady decline since 07:-(
All man Utd games after champions league were away this season…. Man it’s haters need to pipe down. If Gill had any influence I’m sure this wouldn’t have happened.
rafa is right. ferguson is a bully and the fa are afraid of him. he should be banned. he gets away with everything . rooney dived. why was he not sent off. be good to see if the official gets banned from man utd matches in future as what is normal when fergie opens his big mouth.
Because he didn’t dive and even if he had its a yellow card offence, not to blow down your house of cards!! Phil Dowd hasn’t been removed from United games, he’s one of the better refs and Fergie has recognised this in the past
Yeah, he likes the fatty