In an amazing turn of events, Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson was named Life President of the Referees’ Association, which should end their long-standing feud.
This revelation comes just hours after the Barclays Premier League stated that they are initiating yet another campaign to reinforce their failed attempt with the “Respect” program. With that announcement, most of the news sites, like soccernet.com, posted a picture of United players crowding the referee, which is just further proof that Sir Alex needed to bite the bullet and accept this role.
United, simply because they are the most prestigious club in the world, has always had their actions highlighted by the media, so olive branch offered to Sir Alex by the referees will be welcomed.
After the narrow win over Bolton at Old Trafford, Sir Alex stated how important the crowd was encouraging his players to pull it, and now two weeks later he is trying to get another 12th man on United’s side.
Currently serving his second of five-match ban for giving an honest opinion about Martin Atkinson’s dismal performance, Ferguson needs to do whatever possible, and have at least one ally in the sport. Despite popular belief, Ferguson has often praised, or at least gives some credit, when a referee makes a tough call that usually favors United.
Now that Sir Alex is growing closer to one his long-standing enemies, there is becoming a very evident gap between United and some of the over-educated, uninformed executives in England.
Divide
The Premier League chiefs have always run the risk of alienating it’s most marketable club by consistently look for ways they can try to derail the club’s ambition. It was said that Sir Alex received his unparalleled suspension for not apologizing for using the word “fair,” which just goes to show that they are looking for managers to be robots without feeling.
To not fault of his, Ferguson has never been able to curb his honest assessment of any part of the sport, refereeing in particular, which the Football Association does not appreciate or want. Unlike Sir Alex at United, these money-hungry fools are more worried about securing short-term success than sustaining it over a longer period of time.
“Fair common knowledge” is how Ferguson said that the Premier League bosses should manage the comments that he, or other managers, make about referees or any ranking official in the game.
What will be most interesting is to see how the third element of the non-football side takes this peace offering between United manager and the referees’ association. The press loves the controversy that surrounds Sir Alex when a call, or calls, dictate the outcome of a match involving Manchester United, but now they might not get that.
With that said, Sir Alex will not curb his truest feelings, so the tabloid terrors will still have something to sink their teeth into to sell some papers. Always known for his mind games, Sir Alex Ferguson could very well have pulled off another master stroke with his new title, Life President of the Referees’ Association, with such a tough stretch of matches to come for Manchester United.
Submitted by The United Religion
