Megson said: "I mentioned to the referee [Jones] that he wasn't treating everyone the same as he was treating Kevin [Davies] and that he was getting some treatment he shouldn't have."He said 'have you seen his stats?' His stats are nothing to do with it. You should just referee the game on what you've seen, not what you think you've seen.
"I got our secretary, Simon Marland, to speak to Keith Hackett and said this wasn't right.
"People are going in with a slant on what they expect to see, but if you're going to look at stats, what about no red cards for eight years, no suspensions last year, the fact Kevin is one of the most fouled players?
"It's not part of a referee's remit to think about people's records. They just have to referee the game as they see it."
Meanwhile, The Independent have an interview with Kevin Davies, under the headline, "I knew I'd be booked. Fergie had done his job"
Sir Alex Ferguson has had other fish to fry these past few days, but his usual tactic in the run-up to a Manchester United v Bolton Wanderers game is to put it about that Kevin Davies, the Wanderers captain and centre-forward, is an aggressive so-and-so who needs watching as much by the officials as by the United defence. "Two years ago it was spread all over the papers," says Davies, with a rueful smile. "All this stuff from Fergie about me bullying and kicking. And I went there and hardly made a tackle, because I knew I'd be straight in the book. So I suppose he did his job. That's what Fergie's good at, isn't it?"
Maybe, but if Davies is suggesting that referees subconsciously allow themselves to be primed by the United manager before matches at Old Trafford, then he and Bolton could hardly be arriving at the Theatre of Dreams at a better time, with Ferguson's stock with Premier League officialdom at an all-time low following his broadside concerning Alan Wiley's fitness, apology or no apology.
The referee's apologist Alan Leighton has some new comments today, patting himself on the back:
"If we had not challenged Alex Ferguson over his comments, it would have lowered the bar even more in terms of the criticism and abuse referees face.
"We couldn't allow that to happen and what has happened over the last week or so has started to redress the balance.
"Some Man United fans can't divorce their support for Alex Ferguson from the rights and wrongs of this issue and have defended him, but we've had plenty of Man United fans tell us that Alex Ferguson went too far.
"I'd like to think this is the start of something for referees, that now they will be properly respected and their performances valued, rather than carpeted over everything they do."
Sir Alex wrote a nice letter to a Standard Liege player, Steven Defour:
it emerged he had written a letter of sympathy to the 21-year-old midfielder wishing him a speedy recovery from a broken metatarsal and promising that he will "remain in contact" with the Belgium club.Ferguson also promised Defour that he would continue to chart his progress once he has recovered from an injury that is expected to keep him out until mid-January. The United manager, mindful that he has been accused in the past of "tapping up" players, is understood to have gone through Liège officially, and was shocked to discover that his letter had been released to the Belgian media.
"Dear Steven, I have just heard about your injury and, in the name of Manchester United, I would like to wish you a full and speedy recovery," Ferguson wrote. "I am sure at the moment you must be feeling awful and that you'll have all kinds of questions. Steven, these are natural worries but I have to tell you that modern medicine and treatments are incredible; you have to have confidence in them. Don't worry, everything will work out. You will have to work hard to come back and I am going to follow your performances. I will remain in contact with Standard."
United have confirmed that the letter is genuine but that Ferguson considered it a "private matter". Ferguson likes to keep his transfer targets a closely guarded secret but it is now clear that Defour features prominently in his thinking.
Noting that sentence in bold, let's look at The Times' report:
Although Ferguson is understood to have gone through official channels to contact Defour, he has previously attracted criticism for the alleged “tapping up” of players and the personal nature of the disclosure will cause red faces at Old Trafford. ...
PSV Eindhoven have complained in the past about how Ferguson courted Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jaap Stam and Arjen Robben, while Tottenham Hotspur were critical of the manner in which he approached Dimitar Berbatov before signing the forward in September last year.
Bias posing as filler...
Some comments from Anderson:
"I feel happy here," said Anderson.
"Everybody has times that are not the best but I am at home here.
"I have been at Manchester United for three years. Everyone at the club is nice to me. It is like a family."I should score more goals but the way the team plays it can be very difficult to get inside the area," he said.
"Hopefully I will have more chances in the future and I can score lots more for Manchester United."
Finally, a little article about an interview Sir Alex gave an American radio station, featuring this humorous bit about keeping Macheda's feet on the ground:
"The thing about Macheda of course is that he had a great first season. He was only 17 when he made his debut, and scored that winning goal against Aston Villa.
"That projected him into a different kind of profile. Most people hadn't even heard of the boy. Now we're having to deal with the improvement of the lad, and he's got strong, and he's got bigger, he's an outstanding finisher. We're trying to improve parts of his game which will be important for his development as a top player."
Ferguson revealed that when he saw the striker with two Italian girls after United lost in the Champions League final in Rome, he quipped: "When I was 17 I had three girls! It's wishful thinking," Ferguson explained. "I did say that to him and he was quite impressed."
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