Fergie's Absolute Bollocks!

FERGIE WRITES OFF REDS TITLE CHALLENGE!

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has written off Liverpool’s chances next season before a ball has been kicked. It is the third attack Ferguson has launched against the Reds in three weeks. Last month Fergie claimed the Reds treated Michael Owen “unfairly” by putting the then 18-year-old Owen under unnecessary “strain and intensity” by playing him in high profile matches at too early an age. Only a couple of weeks ago Ferguson astonishingly stated that Liverpool’s explanation of Rafa’s now famous hand gestures, in April was “absolute bollocks.” To mark his latest outburst against the Reds, ‘LFC Alert’ will begin a regular article entitled “Fergie’s Absolute Bollocks!”

Ferguson, who took time out from the British Par 3 Championship yesterday to talk to the Times about Liverpool FC said:

"Liverpool have just had probably their best season for 20 years, finished up with 86 points and still finished four adrift," he said. "It will be hard for them to match that, let alone improve. Other teams will read Liverpool better. The thrust of their team is all about Gerrard and Torres."

"It has to be Chelsea as the main threat. Ancelotti will change how they play.”

The United manager also took a swipe at Liverpool’s infamous victory against Ancelotti’s Milan in Istanbul, claiming the Reds were undeserving of the victory. He said:

"They will play the Milan way. It brought him two European Cups - it should have been three, because they should never have lost to Liverpool. So why should he change?"

Alex Ferguson slams Reds calling Rafa's hand gestures "absolute bollocks"!

Alex Ferguson has re-opened his war of words with Liverpool football club. Clearly unable to put aside the hand gesture that Rafael Benitez gave in April following the four nil demolition of Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers, the Manchester United manager has again spoken about the incident. In the aftermath of the innocuous hand gesture, Ferguson claimed Benitez was “arrogant” lacked “humility” showed “contempt” and that he was “beyond the pale”. The Scottish manager who refused to accept The Reds clarification of the hand crossing has now caused outrage by stating Liverpool Football Club’s explanation was “absolute bollocks.”

Ferguson who maintains he does not have an unhealthy obsession with the Anfield club, also claims that Liverpool winning the European Cup five times doesn't concern him. Speaking in the Observer, the United manager did however admit he wanted to overtake The Reds in league titles, saying:

"There is a record there to be achieved, just as we have won the FA Cup more times than anyone else. But Liverpool winning the European Cup five times doesn't concern me. We have won it three times and had a chance of a fourth, but we will have another, you can be sure of that."

Perhapse revealing wishful thinking from the United manager, he said:

"You don't expect Liverpool or Chelsea to die"

Speaking about Benitez, he claims his innocents:

"I have never said a word about him.”

“The only time I responded was when he made that gesture with Sam Allardyce”

Possibly sensing an Anfield conspiracy he added:

"There was no doubt he was doing that. Liverpool were too quick to come out and respond that he was signalling they should take a free-kick a different way. That was bollocks. Absolute bollocks."

The Scottish manager also recently attacked Liverpool over their treatment of Michael Owen claiming the Anfield club had “unfairly” put the then 18-year-old Owen under unnecessary “strain and intensity” by playing him in high profile matches at too early an age. The story which was reported by LFC Alert can be read here.


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Ferguson attacks Liverpool over Owen

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has reignited his resentment for Liverpool FC with a premeditated attack on the Anfield clubs youth development system. Ferguson claims the Reds treated Michael Owen “unfairly” by putting the then 18-year-old Owen under unnecessary “strain and intensity” by playing him in high profile matches at too early an age.

Reported in the Star, the Scottish manager said: “We had Ronnie Wallwork and John Curtis playing in that England Under-20 squad in Malaysia in 1997 and when they came back we gave them six weeks off. But Michael went straight into the Liverpool first team then a year later was playing in the World Cup for England.”

“That was unfair to a young player to have that kind of strain and intensity one summer after another.”

“I wouldn’t have done that but he was such a talent that Liverpool needed him in the team and then England needed him in the World Cup.”

Ferguson who needs very little excuse to attack Liverpool has clearly forgotten the age of 18-year-old Wayne Rooney when he joined United. Earlier this year Ferguson accused Reds boss Rafa Benitez of disrespecting Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce with an innocuous hand gesture. The attack, which the Manchester United coach may have interpreted as ‘voodoo’ hand signals, was intended to derail the Reds Premiership campaign was reported in full at ‘LFC Alert’ and can be read here.

Rafa makes peace with Fergie

Today’s Mirror is claiming that Rafael Benitez has penned a private letter to Alex Ferguson to make peace after the Manchester United grandson was injured in a car crash. The comments are ambiguously taken from “An Anfield Insider” and the article goes on to say: “Benitez, a father of two girls, wrote offering his help while 10-year-old Charlie Ferguson is at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.” An Anfield insider said: "There is an intense football rivalry between them, but that’s all it is - a football rivalry. Everything that has been said has been designed to gain an edge on the pitch. But when it comes to matters like this, Rafa is a family man who understands exactly what Sir Alex is going through.

"He wants to help any way he can. Rafa knows how difficult it must be, and he feels for a fellow manager who he respects as a person and a family man himself."

But the letter will help build bridges and another source said: "Rafa wanted Sir Alex to know that if he or his family needed anything while the youngster was in Liverpool, they only had to ask."

This is another article to file under "Bullshit or not"

Rafa will knock Fergie off his perch

A number of media outlets are clearly attempting to re-fuel the feud between Benitez and Fergie by claiming Rafa refuses to congratulate Ferguson for winning the league. Well quite frankly why should he? Ferguson has consistently made it his resolve to bash Liverpool, beginning with his famous I want to “knock Liverpool off their fucking perch” statement, to last years "I did my job of getting rid of Liverpool from the top a long time ago. The club will take care of the rest." Clearly the man has Liverpool ‘issue’s’. He has relentlessly pursued the club for many years with the LFC symbolising a sort of 'Moby Dick' to Fergie's Captain Ahab. Fergie would be advised to read the novel. Its themes include: Revenge, obsession and sanity. To Ahab, killing the whale becomes the ultimate goal in his life. But he doesn’t realise the whale is a symbol for many things, including nature and those elements of life that are out of human control.

The media is clear in it's contrasting reports of Ferguson, and Benitez. Fergie has consistently disrespected other players, teams and managers during his reign as manager yet his outbursts are seen as “mind games”. Rafa criticises what he see’s as a clear biased towards United by referee’s and it’s seen as an “attack”. Clearly the press are unwilling to criticise Ferguson too greatly for fear that he may bar them from interviews. His ongoing refusal to speak to the BBC since September 2007 a clear illustration of this. When Liverpool Hammered United 1-4 in March, their worst home defeat in 17 years, what did Fergie do? He spat out his dummy, refused to speak to the waiting press, instead giving his only interview to Man Utd TV, where he proclaimed "I thought we were the better team", then snubbed an interview with Sky Sports claiming the 12:45 kick off time had given Liverpool an unfair advantage.

Would Fergie have congratulated Rafa if Liverpool had won the Premiership? I think we all know the answer to that one. He couldn't even congratulate David Moyes after Everton knocked them out of the FA cup and he’s a manager ‘friendly’ to Fergie’s cause, instead he went on to moan that "Everton didn't make one chance in the game. I couldn't see Everton scoring, put it that way.” As proof that Fergie only congratulates teams he doesn’t see as a threat, try typing “Ferguson congratulates Chelsea or Arsenal on winning the Premiership” into Google and see what you get.

Speaking at the post match press conference after the win at West Brom, Rafa had this to say about United winning the league:

"I will say congratulations to Manchester United. They have done well, but I do not want to say too much. I prefer just to say well done to the club, a big club, a good club. Normally you have to be polite and respect the other manager. During the season we have seen a lot of things that I didn't like, so that's it. I say congratulations to United because they have won. And that's it."

This has of course prompted furious headlines like:

“Benitez withholds Ferguson praise” Says the BBC, it then goes on to say “Benitez's comments will only serve to continue the on-going feud between the two managers as they have traded blows while their teams have battled for the league crown.”

Sky Sports reports: “Benitez ice cold with Alex” stating “Reds boss refuses to congratulate rival” the article goes on to say that “Benitez and Ferguson have rarely seen eye-to-eye this term, with the Spaniard launching an astonishing attack earlier in the season with his presentation of a series of 'facts' relating to United and Ferguson.” Notice the story says Rafa “launched an attack” on Ferguson.

The article then goes on to say “The Scot responded later in the campaign by accusing Benitez of 'arrogance' and 'contempt' in his dealings with fellow top-flight managers.” Notice the article says Ferguson “responded”. Another clear highlight of biased reporting

The Daily Mail screams with the headline “Rafa re-ignites Fergie feud – Liverpool boss Benitez refuses to congratulate United’s champion chief Sir Alex”. The article claims that Rafa “was twice given the opportunity at the post match press conference to congratulate Ferguson on winning the title. Each time he made it clear that he was only prepared to congratulate the Old Trafford club as a whole.”

The Daily Mirror appears to be the only paper that’s backing Rafa. They have run the story: “Rift proves Liverpool are closing in”. The article goes on to say “Instead of the usual message of congratulations, Benitez has sent a defiant warning to United that Liverpool will overtake them next season. Benitez said: "Ferguson used to be my friend, he was OK with me, and everything was fine between us - before this season. "Over the past four years or so he never spoke about Liverpool. This year has changed everything in our relationship. He now talks about Liverpool all the time and I think that shows we are now the team to challenge him. If Ferguson wants to speak about Liverpool that is fine, but it is my job to defend my club - and that is what I will always do. I will not play his games. It is clear to me that we have improved this season and it doesn't matter what he has to say about us. Benitez added: "I know what Ferguson's ambition was when he went to United, what he said about Liverpool.

Clearly Rafa completely understands Ferguson’s single minded pursuit of Liverpool and recognizes all the ‘win at all costs’ tricks the bitter manager is willing to pull. He coerced Allardyce into his pact to undermine Benitez because of a simple hand gesture. Rafa clearly understood the nature of this attack and its true purpose, which was explained thoroughly in my blog here. Fergie of course forgot the celebration he gave on the 19th January 2008. When United scored against Reading at the Madejski Stadium, Fergie gave a series of ‘up yours’ salutes towards the Reading fans whilst running up the touch line. Not at all disrespectful, arrogant or lacking in humility.

But Rafa is made of different stock. He has dignity, poise and is unwilling to bend over and accept what he see’s as unjust behavior. The Mirror article finishes with a great quote:
"My ambition? It's to win every game for Liverpool and not worry about other teams. To challenge for the title so well this season is a good achievement. Of course, that isn't good enough. Liverpool want to be No.1. But we are getting closer and I think we can do it."

Fergie should be afraid because Rafa is a much younger man then him, with many more years to be successful. Possibly the real satisfaction for any Red would be to see Fergie’s ambition to topple Liverpool thwarted at the final hurdle. Man United have matched Liverpool’s record, not beaten it. I believe Liverpool will finally win the Premier League next year and Rafa will be knocking Fergie off his perch.

Rafa’s defense falls on deaf ears

During his pre match meeting with the media on Friday, Rafa Benitez explained for the first time since the incident, his hand movements that had so enraged Fergie and his puppet Sam Allardyce. In an article in Saturdays Mail written by John Edwards, Rafa described the event which was detailed in my blog here. “Xabi Alonso and Emiliano Insua were standing over a free-kick and I was shouting orders to them in Spanish. I kept saying, ‘Play it short’ because I thought there could be a surprise element. But Xabi just whipped it straight into the area and when Fernando Torres headed it in, he turned round and gave me a big grin. I just had to laugh and I just made a sign to say, ‘OK, don’t listen to me.” Published in the Mail, Rafa’s explanation was also picked up on Sky Sports website and The Guardian where he explained why his gestures had created such outrage he said "to create something around this means that maybe people have nothing to do." No other media outlet appears to have ran Rafa's explanation of the incident.

Also appearing in the Mail on Friday anonymously written by ‘Sportsmail Reporter’ was a piece clearly supporting Fergie. Picturing him as a serial victim it stated “Benitez has launched a series of scathing attacks on Ferguson since the turn of the year”. Ignoring that he’d made any attack on Benitez, Fergie clearly trying to paint a picture that he’s overflowing in dignity and above the entire argument which he masterminded, said “He s definitely saying a lot, But I’m happy for him to carry on with it”. This was a reply to an article published in Spanish newspaper ABC where Rafa was reported to have claimed that Liverpool are better then United. Talking about this comment, Benitez said “It is an old interview and it is badly translated so it is not true,” he said. "I did not say this. It was a normal conversation with a good journalist and then has been twisted a little bit."

It’s clear that Rafa’s comments attacking Fergie were plastered all over the back pages, whilst the explanation of the incident seems to have been mostly ignored.

“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story”

Publishing tycoon and media magnet William Randolph Hearst, once famously said “never let the truth get in the way of a good story”. This quote has not had greater relevance then in the past week for Liverpool football Club and in particular its manager Rafael Benitez. Benitez has come in for some serious criticisms in his time. Whether it’s rotation, where to play Gerrard, not taking the Premier League seriously, selling Robbie Keane, zonal marking, not taking the FA Cup seriously, his substitution policy or taking the Champions League ‘too’ seriously, the media has always found ways to condemn him. But recently the criticisms took a more laughable turn when Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray declared that Rafa never celebrated any goals. This became another stick to beat Benitez with, as Andy Gray took particular relish in trying to embarrass Rafa. They picked over footage of Rafa looking more annoyed then celebratory after Liverpool scored a whole host of goals against Real Madrid, Manchester United and Aston Villa. My personal favourite reaction appeared to show Rafa winding his watch after the fourth goal went in against Villa. Sky began to focus on Rafa’s responses more and more with each game. During Liverpool’s 4 nil trouncing of a wholly inadequate Blackburn Rovers on April 11th, Benitez appeared to enjoy the second goal by Fernando Torres. Sky Sports thinking this was a huge talking point, showed the incident a number of times. The clip showed Rafa furiously shouting towards the players on the pitch, then looking slightly embarrassed, shrugging his shoulders, smiling, and then crossing one hand above the other. They repeated the clip and within the context of the goal, it became clear that Benitez was trying to catch the attention of Alonso who was about to take the free kick. Alonso, does not hear his managers cries, takes the free kick, Torres heads the goal home and Rafa responds with his now famous reaction. Liverpool convincingly went on to win, with Rovers offering little resistance.

Six days later Alex Ferguson intent on disrupting any momentum Liverpool may have gained in the title race launched a blistering attack on Benitez proclaiming he was “arrogant” lacked “humility” showed “contempt” and that he was “beyond the pale”. Allardyce, clearly in on the whole act, dished in with “The gestures he made were dismissive to myself and to Blackburn Rovers," and "they were disrespectful and quite humiliating." Sky Sports News seized upon the outbursts with delight, repeating the ‘disrespectful hand gesture’ over and over. Even in its edited form it was difficult to see how this innocuous gesture had caused so much controversy. But controversy it caused, and by the bucket load. The papers followed suite the next morning with headlines like “Ferguson slams ‘arrogant’ Rafa”. The Mirror reported that the Liverpool manager had brought the outburst upon himself declaring “the tirade should enliven the Premier League title” and “Ferguson will feel justified in making the attack”, because Benitez had delivered the "facts" about United. The paper amazingly added that “Ferguson has tried to resist the temptation to respond, but this time he felt he needed to make a stand against the Liverpool manager”. Football Focus showed the clip with Manish Bhasin asking if Rafa was being ‘disrespectful’. Many journalists admitted to being surprised that Benitez’s hand motions had created such a reaction from Ferguson, but presumably in a bid to stoke the stories flames higher, offered little to explain the gesture stating it was “open to interpretation”. Amidst the media feeding frenzy, few attempted to tell the whole story. However Daniel Taylor and Andy Hunter reporting for the Guardian on Saturday the 18th offered to explain the whole storm in a tea cup, stating that Benítez was instructing “Alonso and Emiliano Insúa to take a short free-kick and attack the Blackburn full-back, Keith Andrews, two versus one. Instead, Alonso whipped in a long ball that Fernando Torres headed beyond Paul Robinson and the Liverpool manager responded with a gesture to his players that apparently loosely translated as: "You were right. What do I know?" adding that ‘the claims were ridiculed at Anfield where there is a strong suspicion that Ferguson and Allardyce, both of whom dislike Benítez, collaborated before their respective press conferences. “Rafa has laughed off what is clearly a co-ordinated attack on him," said a source close to the Liverpool manager.’

Despite this explanation, the row spilled over into the following week with Sky Sports News continuously referring to the story with its usual exploitational zeal. However they opted not to show all the footage which would have cemented Benitez’s explanation of the incident as true. This was of course in stark contrast to when the event occurred on Sky Sports live broadcast of the game, when they repeatedly played the whole incident in full. So what happened to the clip? Did they loose it? Or did they ‘choose’ not to show it incase it finally put the story to bed and made Fergie look more foolish? It was quite obvious the broadcaster was going to milk this saga for as long as it could.

The nation’s media gathered for Rafa’s pre match press conference before the Arsenal game, only to be greeted by assistant Sammy Lee, who again explained that "Any gestures made pitchside are made to our players, not to anyone else. If anyone sees anything in any gestures they are mistaken." Adding "One thing I'll say is that Rafa is certainly not arrogant, no way, I think it's quite sad, really. At the end of the day, we try to get on with the job we've got to do and not worry about what other people are thinking about us”. This of course prompted headlines like: “Sammy Lee hits out at Sam Allardyce and Sir Alex Ferguson's 'sad' attack on Rafael Benitez”.

The pre match build-up to the Arsenal game was dominated with the incident. Steven Gerrard who was in the Sky Sports studio for the match said "I was sitting right behind Rafa and I can guarantee that it was in no way trying to disrespect their bench," Gerrard said. "We had the set-pieces up on the board before the game and he'd told Xabi Alonso to do a certain free-kick. Xabi did the opposite but we managed to score from it, so he was basically saying 'don't listen to me, do your own thing'."

Once again this would have been the ideal opportunity for Sky to play the clip in full, illustrating clearly what Gerrard was explaining. The clip of course failed to materialize. Sky, usually at the forefront of trying to validate an incident via replays, graphics and even more replays in super slow-mo have still not shown the clip. Amazingly rather then explaining the incident and trying to put it to bed Gerrard’s comments were reported in the media as “continuing the backlash.”

The accusations from Ferguson and Allardyce had no basis in truth or fact and were a coordinated smear campaign from both, intended to derail Liverpool’s season and undermine Rafael Benitez, with the media standing by to observe. It’s obvious Ferguson was worried about Liverpool’s charge in the league and was resorting to a dirty tricks campaign enlisting the help of Allardyce, despite ‘big’ Sam’s innocent protestations of a synchronized attack. The media lapped it up, admitting that Ferguson was “great copy” and whatever he says demands the top story. Its clear Ferguson understands the power he holds with the media and exploited it to the full, making sure his message was sung from the rafters. In fact the one thing clearly apparent in this whole insidious affair is Allardyce and Ferguson’s disrespectful behavior and contempt towards Benitez!

Irony??