Football Thoughts

This past weekend, like so many others in the world of the FA Premier League, has been dominated by referees.

To my great disappointment, but I have to say not surprise, it was Sir Alex Ferguson who set the ball rolling on Saturday evening following his teams disappointing performance - and crucially result - at home against Sunderland.

According to Sir Alex's comments the match referee, Mr Alan Wiley, was not physically fit enough to referee a game of such high intensity and, as a result, missed crucial decisions throughout the game. Sir Alex also claimed that Mr Wiley booked players to give himself an opportunity to rest and catch his breath having apparently admitted as much to one of the Manchester players.

It's one thing in my opinion to criticise a match official for making mistakes - issuing a card when it wasn't deserved or awarding a dubious penalty for instance - but to claim the referee's fitness was inadequate is out of order and, I'd suggest, factually incorrect.

All officials must undertake, and pass, a series of tough fitness checks before the start of the season - and the season only started 6 weeks ago - before they are 'licenced' for the new season. Ironically Mr Wiley was the fourth official at the recent Manchester derby fixture and was seen enjoying a laugh and a joke with Sir Alex on the touchline when United scored their 95th minute winner.

It's fair to say that Mr Wiley's physique rather counts against him - he's not the tallest of men and is, to use a quaint term, somewhat 'barrel-chested'. That said, he will have passed the relevant fitness tests pre-season and doesn't deserve this smear on his reputation.

Perhaps Sir Alex might look a little closer to home to explain his disappointment with the result - his goalkeeper is currently displaying a severe lack of confidence, his forward line looked impotent and even the most reliable of his players failed to respond to the challenge, perhaps feeling the after-effects of a difficult European Champions League encounter in midweek.

Even if Sir Alex had valid concerns regarding Mr Wiley's fitness he should, in my opinion, have gone through the proper channels to inform the authorities of his views - and those proper channels don't include the after match interview on live television.

The broadcast media won't criticise Sir Alex for his comments: after all it's a good - easy (lazy) - story for them and, let's be honest, they are far too close to most club managers and players to say anything critical. Entertainment ahead of journalism and integrity is the order of the game it seems.

Over the years I have developed an enormous amount of respect for Sir Alex Ferguson - for his knowledge of the game and for his achievements within it - and I continue to respect him despite this outburst. That said, on this occasion I feel he's out of order and should face FA charges.

Whether he does - and the extent of any reaction from the authorities - remains to be seen.