The Arrogance Of Alex Ferguson

There's no denying the success that Sir Alex Ferguson has had at Manchester United. In an era where managers are seemingly discarded at will, where even the big clubs have long strings of poor results, he's survived - and won - over and over again. You would think that after spending over two decades as the preeminent manager in the world's biggest league, Ferguson would be able to comport himself with more dignity. But you'd be wrong.

In case you missed it, Ferguson berated the officials at halftime of Wednesday's match, furious that the Jonny Evans own goal was - rightly, in my view - allowed to stand. In his post-match comments, Alan Pardew noted the "pressure" faced by referee Mike Dean, and suggested that either Dean or the FA should have taken action, which is not unusual when a managerial rant goes over the top. Ferguson responded by calling Pardew "the worst for haranguing referees" and referred to himself as "the manager of the most famous club in the world. I'm not at Newcastle, a wee club in the North East." 

The "he did it too" and "my dad is bigger than your dad" defenses are what you'd expect from a five-year-old, not a man in his 70s who has won virtually every trophy on offer in his sport. They're also the sort of comments one makes when he knows he's virtually immune from punishment, as the FA's refusal to even consider any sanctions has shown. It's pure, unadulterated arrogance, and doesn't reflect at all well on the man or the club employing him. 

In my non-soccer life, I've seen the other side of this coin. The Duke Blue Devils basketball team is essentially the Manchester United of college basketball in the States. It's virtually a national holiday whenever Duke loses, and there may not be a more hated coach in the country than Duke's boss, Mike Krzyzewski. He's also not averse to letting referees know what he thinks of their decisions. But as far as I can remember, I've never seen "Coach K" let that heat-of-the-moment frustration with a referee's call boil over into belittling opposing teams or coaches. It's a shame that the Premier League's top manager fails to share the same philosophy.

Sir Alex, your managerial record proves that you're a winner. Would it kill you to behave like one?

Comments

[rob]

This was just another case of Ferguson acting like an idiot. Sure, Pardew has his run-ins with the referees but he GETS BANS FOR IT. Also, I agree Duke is a hated basketball team but Coach K, maybe through his successes with Team USA Basketball, is not the most hated coach. Maybe at one time he was, but I would say Calipari is the most hated coach in college hoops.

[Dave in Newcastle]

Even the ManU radio hosts after the game were expecting min 1, prob 2-3 match touch line ban. Not even mentioned in the ref's report. Dean should get a 1-2 game ban for that.

[fATASH]

My personal view.
The managers should not be able to address the 3 officials on the field of play, they should only be allowed to address the the 4th official, any other attempt to address a match official should result in them being sent to the stands and banned other than that they should be in the dugout or the technical box and no where else. Ferguson has long abused his position and constantly harangues officials if the game is not going his way. A bad sportsman , bad tempered and bad example of football managers behaviour, in short the most successful of modern times is a disgrace.

[Jaeger]

yea i would say that coach K is one of my favorite coaches, even though i love it when duke loses. yes he gets fired up during games and does talk to referees, but i don't think ive ever heard of a complaint towards him or even a technical foul against him ever.

i dont see how fergie thinks we're a 'wee' club. just a childish statement, and mentioning how he helped pardew out once or twice. one of the highest gates in the country. finished 5th last year and is in the second round in europa, not to mention the years of shearer where we were top 4 consistently and in champions league. i agree with fATASH that managers should be only able to talk to the 4th official, that's part of the reason why they are there.

id be worried if i were arsenal. think we'll come out blazing tomorrow

[Windy]

1. If SAF was so bad the referee could have sent him off.
2, The ref didn't mention anything about this incident in his report
3, Why no mention of the Newcastle staff harrassing the officials?
4, Didn't Pardew push a ref once?

[Pavel]

I don't agree that Ferguson's record of success can't be doubted. As manager of the 'biggest club in the world' he has only won the champions league twice in over 25 years. Domestic success is without doubt, he has almost as many trophies as Celtic, Rangers, Ajax, etc... But beyond that his record is shocking.

[mikey]

Yes pardew pushed a referee but the difference with a wee club manager is he got a 2 game ban and a £20.000 pound which he came out after the game and admitted his guilt and said whatever fine handed out by the fa he would accept unlike the big so called manager who the fa are afraid to upset got.there is one rule for the english premiere teams and 1 rule for man utd.the fa and referees need to grow a set and stand up to the bully which is man utd and there manager.

[Windy]

Firstly Pavel. 'Only won the champions league twice' United would have won it 4 times only they were playing one of the best club sides in history twice, no shame in losing to that Barca side. Winning the champions league is an incredibly hard thing to do once, never mind twice. Secondly, how many trophies have Newcastle in the last 30 odd years? Didn't think so.

Mikey, I say again. The referee didn't put anything in his report, so the FA are powerless to act. It's got nothing to with 'growing some balls' Nothing in the report, can't do anything. Again if the ref was THAT offended he could have sent SAF off. He has that power, but didn't.

Assaulting a match official is just a tiny bit different than what SAF did so comparing the offences in a non starter.

Here we go again with the FA are afraid of United argument again. Could you kindly produce some actual evidence to back this claim up, or is more of a 'I read it in paper', so thought I'd blog about it kind of approach? Let me make one small point. Rio Ferdinand missed a drugs test a few years ago, he later tested negative. He got banned for about 8 months. Around 6 weeks or so later a Man City player did exactly that same thing, got a 6 week ban.
Or this for testing positive http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/15629719

I could go on but you get my point, you don't have one.

[rob]

I love it when self-conscience supporters of other clubs come on to the site and and try to argue. Don't you have any blogs of your own to read?

[Bob]

Not any good ones.

[Adam]

You're wrong about everything. Just saying. You clearly don't understand basketball, especially college basketball or USA Basketball. Calling Krzyzewski "hated" makes you sound unfathomably ignorant. He only just led Team USA to a Gold Medal this past summer.