Fergie charged by the FA again

Raymond Lin · 13 May 2011 at 18:51

I wonder what happens if instead of giving an opinion, he state a fact, I.e.

Howard Webb is X years old, he has Y experience, the FA has charged me Z times in the last 12 months.

Mark1989 · 13 May 2011 at 19:01

Whilst this charge i feel is very petty, Fergie needs to just shut up about refs entirely for awhile. If asked about them just say no comment or something along them lines.

Whilst most of his charges have been expected, i think at same time FA need to realize this respect campaign has to work both ways which it currently doesnt at all and if asked a question by media about ref managers have a right to put their point across in a decent manner of course.

In short Fergie for next season just dont comment on refs at all even if you feel wrong done by then it wont keep happening.

DanH84 · 13 May 2011 at 19:10

my issue is this, it's petty. ridiculously so obviously and conjecture would have me take it that the FA are just deflecting from their crap week. However the quote I posted from Ancelotti is from the press conference before the same match:

“I don’t want to put pressure on the referee. I think Howard Webb is a fantastic referee because he has experience.

“If the referee he has no experience we can perhaps be a bit worried about this but with Howard Webb there is no problem.

“I have trust in the referees in England. Maybe they make a mistake but that is the same as anywhere in the world – this is normal.

"Either you accept the decision of the referee or you have to say that there is a conspiracy.”

with Howard Webb there is no problem because he has experience, is essentially commenting on the referee.

Would I want Ancelotti charged for this? Nope because that'd be bloody stupid, but the FA, it appears, can't even seem to be consistent within the scope of the same bloody game.

placeholder · 13 May 2011 at 21:16

Mark1989 said:
Whilst this charge i feel is very petty, Fergie needs to just shut up about refs entirely for awhile. If asked about them just say no comment or something along them lines.

Once you do that then interviewing him becomes pointless and well all saw the outcry after he chose not to give an interview.

Its a joke. Ancelotti calls HW a good ref and nothing is said. SAF calls him a good ref - FA charge. No doubt the Man City boy on the FA committee (bernstein or whatever his name is) is looking to disrupt United overshadowing Man Citys attempt to prove that £500m can buy an FA Cup tomorrow...

HangTime · 14 May 2011 at 10:23

I think the point is that there is a rule you don't talk about refs before the game. It doesn't matter what he said, he could have said he thinks Webb has a nice front garden, the point is that you don't talk about them.

The reason it doesn't matter that he praised rather than critisised the ref is because he could be trying to curry favour with the ref. You know, bigging him up, saying how good he is - to try and keep the guy onside. Praising him 2 days before the game to set the tone.

Tom84 · 14 May 2011 at 11:01

HangTime said:
I think the point is that there is a rule you don't talk about refs before the game. It doesn't matter what he said, he could have said he thinks Webb has a nice front garden, the point is that you don't talk about them.

why's Ancolotti not getting done as well then if that's the case?

Castiel · 14 May 2011 at 14:46

Tom84 said:
Called him the best ref in the league FFS Fergie you were asking for trouble throwing wild accusations like that around ZOMG

Total madness. If he get punished for this then United should simply refuse to comment to the media period.

Other managers should protest also, it is time that the FA accepted the criticism, in this case praise, of their employees. They are not Gods, and this is not N.Korea.

Marketing · 14 May 2011 at 15:02

Tom84 said:
Called him the best ref in the league FFS Fergie you were asking for trouble throwing wild accusations like that around ZOMG

I guess the FA viewed it like this 'Ferguson is trying to get the referee on his side'. Not sure, but that seems like the only logical excuse to fine him?

Although I do dislike the man.

DanH84 · 14 May 2011 at 15:13

Marketing said:
I guess the FA viewed it like this 'Ferguson is trying to get the referee on his side'. Not sure, but that seems like the only logical excuse to fine him?

Although I do dislike the man.

yep, but, and this is my only point on this. I posted Ancelotti's comments earlier in the thread. I don't think they are bad and wouldn't ask for him to be charged but they certainly are comments (whether positive or negative) about a match official, prior to the game. This is the same game that they are charging Sir Alex for, now forget about the inconsistency that this reminder letter was sent around in October and dozens of managers have commented on multiple occasions since then and not been pulled up, set that to one side... This is the same match that they're both commenting on so why go for one and not the other?

Conspiracy? nah. Incompetence and attempting to shift attention? Hell yes.

Tom84 · 15 May 2011 at 00:31

DanH84 said:
Conspiracy? nah. Incompetence and attempting to shift attention? Hell yes.

It cant be incompetence, not something as obvious as both managers making the same comment and only charging one of them

HangTime · 15 May 2011 at 12:39

Tom84 said:
why's Ancolotti not getting done as well then if that's the case?

Dunno, probably because Fergie has 'previous' so is being more closely monitored. Greater media attention too I expect, as I haven't been made aware of Ancelotti making any comments about refs two days before the game.

Could be a followup to a complaint as well, perhaps nobody has complained about Ancelotti.

placeholder · 15 May 2011 at 12:58

Ancelotti will be chaged tomorrow now that someone in the media has pointed out to the FA that he did the exact same thing as SAF.

Neither man did anything wrong but that is no longer relevant it seems.

The media (Sky, BBC, ESPN) should be fined and banned every time they ask a question that would lead a manager into a charge if he answers. How do the FA justify allowing a reporter to ask "Are you happy with the ref?" knowing full well that if the manager dares to answer honestly he will be charged??

Viper² · 15 May 2011 at 14:18

Why does everyone cry about managers getting fined for saying stuff? Not like it affects the team in any way and the fine is probably paid by the club anyway.

placeholder · 15 May 2011 at 18:08

Viper² said:
Why does everyone cry about managers getting fined for saying stuff? Not like it affects the team in any way and the fine is probably paid by the club anyway.

Because a) its not right and B) it can mean a touchline ban.

BaZ87 · 15 May 2011 at 18:09

Ferguson got charged because he was clearly taking the ****. Nobody can seriously call Webb the best ref in the league.

Purdy · 15 May 2011 at 18:10

BaZ87 said:
Ferguson got charged because he was clearly taking the ****. Nobody can seriously call Webb the best ref in the league.

Tom84 · 17 May 2011 at 12:28

Fergie Given a warning about his future conduct, still no mention of Ancolotti though

BaZ87 · 17 May 2011 at 19:06

The FA have given Ancelotti a warning for his comments too.

Dabbles · 17 May 2011 at 19:46

Ferguson gets away with his mind games. He knew EXACTLY what he was doing.

JamesU2005 · 17 May 2011 at 20:42

So problem solved, both Carlo and Fergie warned over their comments.

You can take off your tinfoil hats now United fans.