Megson: someone grabbing cheap publicity at Fergie's expense
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Wiley told he can take legal action against Man Utd boss Ferguson
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been warned he could face legal action from ref Alan Wiley.
Mel Goldberg, chairman of the British Association for Sport and Law, says Wiley has a strong case for defamation after Ferguson said he was unfit.
That is despite the Manchester United manager's apology.
Goldberg told The Sun: "Ferguson has said things that were patently untrue and which have been properly exposed as false.
"I think Mr Wiley would be more than justified in taking legal action if he is not satisfied with any punishment handed out by the FA.
"The referee's union, Prospect, are clearly in favour of him suing Ferguson if the FA does not put an end to his bullying ways."
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Wiley has a good case. Ferguson openly questioned Wiley's ability to perform his job well and coming from a respected person in the football fratenity, that comment abt Wiley is bound to hurt Wiley's reputation and cast suspicion on his ability to perform his job. Wiley needs to put things right.
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BOSSES IN THE DOCK
Benitez and Ferguson both facing FA hearings
Rafael Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson face the wrath of a Football Association who do not see the funny side of the managers of Liverpool and Manchester United.
While many might have chuckled at Sir Alex questioning Alan Wiley's fitness, no one is laughing at the FA's headquarters.
And, while the spectacles joke of the Liverpool boss has badly backfired, the FA Commission are more likely to say "he should have gone to SpecSavers" when they hand out the punishment.
Benitez's case comes up on Tuesday morning, and the defence will be producing the audio and video evidence of how the Liverpool manager reached for his pocket and brought out his glasses for its case, when he was asked about the performance of referee Phil Dowd after the opening day of the season defeat by Spurs.
The FA chamber will resonate to the sound of laughter as the audio/video "evidence" shows the assembled media laughing their heads off at the Benitez joke.
The FA, however, feel it was at the referees' expense, but in terms of being a personal attack, and unless the FA have a sense of humour, then Benitez is going to be hit with a fine, and maybe even a touchline ban.
Benitez with the "controversial" glasses.
The next case on the agenda is Sir Alex and, if Benitez gets away with just a fine, then Sir Alex will expect a degree of consistency, and would not take too kindly to a touchline ban.
However, if the FA hit Benitez with a touchline ban for his glasses jibe at the referee, then Sir Alex can expect the same sort of treatment.
Sir Alex has apologised but retained his right to question the fitness levels of the official, indeed referees in general in a point that might concern the game. No-one else, though, has raised it before, at least publicly.
While the Sir Alex "I'm sorry" official statement has not gone down well with the referees' union, who are out for blood, it will not be seen as more than "damage limitation" on behalf of the FA.
The FA have given Sir Alex an extension to provide his written explanation as he is currently in New York, apparently property-hunting, having watched the Manchester City-Aston Villa Premier League game in a sports bar.
The Sir Alex "sorry" statement was produced with the United boss still in New York, but it will cut little ice with the FA, when he returns this week to hand in his letter of explanation by Friday's extended deadline.
Charges are sure to follow and it will then be at Sir Alex's discretion whether he seeks a personal hearing.
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alright man!
time for the both rival managers to be together at least for once!
blast the FA!
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RAFA BENITEZ
RAFA BENITEZ is in the dock today, fearing he could become a scapegoat for Alex Ferguson's ref rant.
He will be the first top boss to face an FA ]committee over new rules banning criticism of officials.
Liverpool's chief landed a misconduct charge following the opening-game defeat at Spurs, when Phil Dowd turned down a late Reds penalty claim.
Yet it is the fall-out from Fergie's outburst against Alan Wiley a week ago which, bizarrely, could see Benitez land in even deeper water.
The Manchester United manager outraged both referees and the FA top brass by questioning Wiley's fitness.
And if the FA want to take a tough stance in a bid to stop future embarrassments, then Benitez could be the first to pay.
Benitez is facing a huge fine and possible touchline ban for his criticism of Dowd (below) under the FA's new code of conduct aimed at protecting referees from verbal attacks.
The hearing is being held at a secret location.
Yet if Benitez believes he is being made to pay for Fergie's comments, it could end the truce between the two.
Ferguson has until Friday to explain his comments about Wiley.
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SAF
ALEX FERGUSON is to send a letter of apology to FA chiefs in a late bid to escape a rap for his blast at ref Alan Wiley.
Manchester United boss Fergie has until Friday morning to submit his response to Soho Square supremos after they asked him to explain his outburst when he labelled Wiley 'unfit' following the 2-2 draw with Sunderland this month.
Ferguson will return from holiday in the next 24 hours and set about trying to resolve the issue once and for all.
It is understood United officials have drafted an apology on his behalf to be sent to the FA.
Ferguson has already said sorry to Wiley 'for any personal embarrassment' in a statement on the club's website.
Now he is hoping a more formal apology will help him avoid an improper conduct charge.
But he fears it will make no difference because of the pressure being heaped on the FA to punish him.
Fergie has told sources it would be impossible for him to receive a fair hearing following the publicity surrounding the case.
He is understood to be fuming at the campaign raging against him and believes it is being fuelled by people close to top-flight refs.
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the talk is that the "apology" is inadequate...
he apologised for "any personal embarrassment" caused but has not apologised for a patently wrong statement which he has made, one which was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt...
Wiley can still take him to court for defamation for that...
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FA go soft on Rafa over ref rant: Liverpool boss Benitez cleared for Phil Dowd outburst
In the clear: Benitez
Rafa Benitez was found guilty of misconduct on Tuesday but escaped punishment as FA bosses passed up an opportunity to launch a crackdown on managerial outbursts.
Three days before deciding whether Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has a case to answer for branding Alan Wiley unfit to referee, the FA considered three charges of improper conduct against Benitez following Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham in August.
They delivered a guilty verdict on one count yet decided against a fine or touchline ban and ruled he did not have to pay costs. There was even a suggestion from the three-man panel, sitting in Manchester, that Benitez could feel aggrieved at being summoned after another manager went unpunished over a similar matter.
Butt of the joke: Dowd
Benitez’s warning was for appearing to question referee Phil Dowd’s eyesight by holding up a pair of glasses after his side were denied two penalties at Tottenham.
Liverpool released a statement claiming the commission ‘expressed their surprise at the failure of the FA to charge another manager who had made a similar gesture the same weekend.’
It is believed the panel were referring to Crystal Palace’s Neil Warnock, who circled his eyes with his hands to simulate spectacles after the officials at Bristol City failed to spot a shot by Freddie Sears had gone in.
Their leniency towards Benitez will have been noted by Ferguson, who has faced mounting criticism for his disparaging remarks about Wiley and has requested an extension until Friday to explain himself to Soho Square chiefs because he has been away on holiday.
Ferguson is weighing up whether to issue a second apology after his first
was dismissed as falling short of being a full retraction. But he may be less fearful of the outcome after learning of Benitez’s fate.The commission described Benitez’s gesture as ‘objectively offensive’, but said: ‘Taking into account all relevant factors, including his previous exemplary record, it was concluded that the appropriate penalty was to warn him.’
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I mean, the only creditable evidence is the sports reports of the referees.
Get some transparency on that, and we will know whether all these are true.Cause for that game,it shows that Wiley covered more ground than half the United team which did raise some eye-brows.. I tot only applicable for Berba.
well, this issue transcends into whether referees are "god-like" and are questionable by many..
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Originally posted by the Bear:
the talk is that the "apology" is inadequate...
he apologised for "any personal embarrassment" caused but has not apologised for a patently wrong statement which he has made, one which was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt...
Wiley can still take him to court for defamation for that...
they want a knight's kiss on their bum??
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I think Rafa got away with it because there were no open criticisms of the referee's ability to do a job. Putting his eyes to signify the need to have glasses can be open to interpretations and thus can be said that it has minimal personal damage to the credibilty of the referee. It is just a jibe between a player and another player.
But what Fergie did was different. He openly singled out Wiley and used the words UNFIT on him. This casts doubts to whether is it true that Wiley is really unfit. Because Fergie is such a huge character in the soccer scene, his words carried some weight and so if Wiley and the association do not come out strongly and shoot Fergie's accusations down, people might really think that Wiley is really unfit and thus affecting's Wiley personal reputation and the association's as well because this means that the association allowed someone unfit to referee the match.
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United boss Sir Alex Ferguson 'hung out to dry' over Alan Wiley attack, blasts Bolton's Gary Megson
Hairdryer: Sir Alex Ferguson (left) has apologised since questioning the fitness of referee Alan Wiley (right) but the FA have demanded he explain the comments
Bolton manager Gary Megson believes Sir Alex Ferguson has been 'hung out to dry' over his controversial comments on referee Alan Wiley.
Ferguson has until Friday to offer the Football Association an insight into his comments, which followed Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford 10 days ago.
The United manager was fuming with Wiley's handling of the match and made a series of statements about Wiley's fitness, including a belief that he took longer than necessary to book players because he 'needed a rest'.
The veteran boss has already offered a public apology and has stated he never meant to personalise what he feels is a valid topic for debate.
That was not enough for referees' chief Alan Leighton, who has called for a UEFA-style touchline ban which would prevent Ferguson having any contact with his team during a match.
Outspoken: Bolton boss Gary Megson
For Megson, this is just another example of someone grabbing cheap publicity at Ferguson's expense. 'Fergie couldn't have done any more,' the Bolton boss said. 'He gets hung out to dry because of who he is. He has apologised and then everyone criticised the apology.
'Alan Leighton seems to have a bee in his bonnet about the apology. I have seen him quoted as saying it is half-hearted. But you are damned if you don't apologise and damned if you do.
'What is he supposed to do? He has said something and then, having had time to think about it, he has said 'sorry'. End of story - move on.'
Ferguson is due to return from a short break in New York today and will be back behind his desk in the morning to consider his response, which needs to be with FA officials on Friday.
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Rawwww! I'm a puddicat!