Brotherhood

I'm not sure that Sir Alex's public apology is the best move. Just as the furore has died down the apology puts it back in the public eye. Here's the full text of the apology:

"I apologise to Mr Wiley for any personal embarrassment my comments may have caused and to the FA for going public with my views," said Ferguson.

"In retrospect I accept that they could be deemed as expressing those views in an inappropriate form.

"It was never my intention to bring the focus of intense media interest on Mr Wiley and I will apologise to him personally when I return from an overseas trip during the international break."

Only two weeks previously Ferguson had been seen joking with Wiley on the touchline immediately after Michael Owen’s controversial winner in the six minutes of added time against Manchester City.

As opposed to the view given in last week’s outburst, the United manager insists he still has a high regard for the Staffordshire official.

“I wish it to be noted that I have always respected Mr Wiley’s integrity and I did not mean to imply that 1) Mr Wiley is a bad referee, 2) that he was in any way biased, 3) that decisions he made during the game were wrong and 4) that he missed any important incidents in the game.

“My only intention in speaking publicly was to highlight what I believed to be serious issues in the game, namely the fitness levels of referees.”

For once a refereeing spokesman says something correct:

“What Sir Alex appears to be trying to do is to say he has apologised and therefore that should be the end of the matter. But what he’s done is crank it up.”

Although the true situation w/r/t referees is maybe best summed up by this from The Telegraph:

Referees, including retired official Graham Poll, had come out strongly in the week to condemn Ferguson’s comments and demand tough sanctions.

It is understood that there is still a lot of resentment about the way Ferguson avoided punishment for his outburst against referee Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett, the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, in the aftermath of an FA Cup quarter final with Portsmouth in March 2008.

So it is not so much this "attack" that has drawn so much ire, but that referees see this as a chance to strike back. From all the talk, one would have thought that Sir Alex is the only person to have ever criticised a referee - which is another reason he probably shouldn't have apologised in the unprecedented way - it now makes it look a bigger deal than it actually is, which is precisely what the referees and the FA would like. If asking questions about the fitness levels of referees is considered "bringing the game into disrepute," we're on dangerous ground. The stupidity of the brotherhod of referees is shown by this threat to sue:

Alan Leighton, national secretary of Prospect, insists Ferguson's response only "cranked up" his apparent belief that referees like Wiley are not fit enough to do their job.

And Leighton told the Sport of the World: "If the FA don't satisfy us, we would have to take legal advice. Any issue of defamation would be against Sir Alex." ...

Leighton said: "We're very anxious not to have this seen as Referees v Sir Alex Ferguson, but he doesn't help himself in many ways.

What utter rubbish. And why everyone is so defensive, if they are so wrong why don't they just ignore the comments? Why keep turning them over? Hit a nerve?

Michael Calvin in The Mirror has an opinion piece on the whole thing, not really defending Sir Alex, but putting things in better perspective, and also making an interesting point:

Fergie won’t change. He is a man of fluctuating moods, who occasionally laces shafts of insight with illogical opinions.

But the international break was well timed.

He retreated to his newly-acquired New York apartment, and took stock.

You can be sure Wiley will have done the same, in less exalted surroundings. He’s the referee I respect most. He gets most of the big decisions right, which is all we can expect.

He treats players like consenting adults, and won’t end up in vaudeville, like Graham Poll and the ludicrous Jeff Winter.

My hunch is that Wiley cringed when he saw footage of him giggling with Fergie, like a pair of old boys on the sauce, as time ebbed away in the Manchester derby. That was conduct unbecoming.

Wiley refereed the Sunderland game with an eye on the City game? It's an obvious point, but one which has been lost in the whole unfitness issue. And note The Times going big with the clown Jeff Winter - it's almost enough to make you wish for Graham Poll...
The Mail points out the main reason why the apology shouldn't have been given:

The Mail on Sunday understands that while Ferguson's apology will be welcomed by the FA because it removes an alleged stain on Wiley's reputation, it will not alter the disciplinary process.

So why lower yourself to an apology?
Two other stories. Jamie Carragher on Owen's return to Liverpool. And transfer rumour of the day sees us after Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson.