Ogay, first of all, I'm going to preface this with: I dont want to come across as ragging on United, their fans or anyone else, even Fergie. I just read this little news article and thought it was hilarious. Particularly in the context of Hockey discipline being a gong show.
Ferguson defence to hinge on 'fair.':
Quote:
Ferguson is believed to feel unhappy that the FA have charged him with improper conduct for his comments about Atkinson after United's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea earlier this month, when he claimed the official should never have been appointed because the occasion needed "a fair referee".
ESPNsoccernet has a transcript of the words the FA has taken issue with, and has learned how Ferguson has questioned the FA's interpretation of those words. His own interpretation, he believes, will totally exonerate him.
There are those within the FA who believe Ferguson should not be shown any preferential treatment and should be hit with a hefty fine and lengthy touchline ban. But everything revolves around the use of the word "fair".
The United manager believes his comments have been incorrectly taken out of context and hopes that charges will subsequently be dropped.
"You hope you will get a real strong ref in games like this. It was a major game for the club. You want a fair ref, you know, and you want a strong ref, anyway, and we didn't get that."
Ferguson's argument is that "we didn't get that" refers to a "strong referee" and not "fair".
This is the fifth time in five years that Ferguson has been charged because of comments either to or about a referee - and the United manager already has a suspended two-game touchline ban hanging over him for a previous offense.
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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...air%27?cc=5901
Alright, the first thing thats funny to me is the fact that whenever anyone says anything in England that is objected to by anyone, the first thing they do is fall back on 'context.'
I mean, its so standard that you had to know it was coming.
Now, I dont know how anyone else read that comment about the refereeing, I know how I read it. It would be interesting to see the video of how he actually said it. And then the big question, is this contextual contest enough of a dodge to let the FA let him off the hook? I think so.
Either way, the guy has been charged 5 times in 5 years and actually has a ban right now being suspended, so its not like its uncommon for him to complain about refereeing, and its not uncommon to do nothing about it either.