Sir Alex Ferguson's Phone Rant Received With Little Response

has today reported that Ferguson made a personal call to Hackett after the game, to continue his rant. In a game where Portsmouth offered little to nothing going forward, their goal coming from United pouring players forward to get the winning goal, after wrongly being denied the opportunity to 1-0 up after seven minutes, they are now through to the semis of the FA Cup at the expense of United. Whilst at least this now stops the tripe being printed about a repeat of the Treble winning season, it certainly shows an injustice against United.

Reports suggest Hackett’s response to the phone call was that he was not in charge of appointing referees for FA Cup matches, with that role being handed to the FA, but this does not excuse him for allowing such poor standards of refereeing in our game generally. There have been an incredible amount of poor decisions this season in the Premier League, with far too many players escaping punishment for fouls, far too many penalty decisions being ignored, far too many rightful goals being disallowed, and it is costing teams vital points and places in the Cup.

Despite claims United always get their own way at Old Trafford, an incredible six stonewall penalties have been turned away this season, in games against Chelsea, Fulham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Portsmouth at home.

If an employee isn’t doing their job properly, then it is the boss’ job to correct this. Hackett, as Ferguson claims, is not doing his job.

The FA are now reviewing Fergie’s comments, meaning he will undoubtedly face some sort of punishment. By claiming the referee was too lenient on Portsmouth, he is doubting the integrity and professionalism of the ref, therefore meaning his punishment could be rather severe.

Having a pop at the refereeing top dog is certainly not going to go down too well the FA either. However, with poor judgement from referees costing teams on varying scales week in week out, surely it’s time someone was allowed to question the slipping standards of officiating in our game.

Was Ferguson wrong to slate Hackett so publicly?

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