Is Sir Alex Ferguson Following a Double Standard?

We've been following Cristiano Ronaldo's supposed transfer saga the whole summer and have felt a certain sense of sympathy for Sir Alex Ferguson, while lambasting Real Madrid.

But, isn't it strange that when you take a couple of minutes and think about Ferguson and the way he deals with transfers himself you think: he's getting a taste of his own medicine!

Ferguson is perhaps one of the more hypocritical managers today (because, every manager is hypocritical in some way or another). What's amazing is that he's managed to be on two very opposite sides in the same summer.

Manchester United complained to FIFA about Real Madrid's conduct and how they were going "public" with their interest for Cristiano Ronaldo last month. Nothing came of it for some reason.

That said, I don't see much difference in what Madrid did in terms of expressing their interest in a public manner (although incessantly) and what Ferguson recently did with two clear cut comments about him wanting to sign Dimitar Berbatov and how he felt that the deal will be done sooner rather than later.

Ferguson has been involved in some dodgy transfer dealings during his career himself. Jaap Stam claimed that Sir Alex arranged a meeting with his agent without the consent of PSV Eindhoven (Stam's club at the time) and set-up a way for Stam to move to Old Trafford. It was after these claims in Stam's autobiograhy that Ferguson apparently became furious and sold Stam to Lazio out of the blue in 2001.

He also ensured that Rio Ferdinand sealed his move by using the media and his players in the England squad (Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Phil and Gary Neville) to good effect in luring Ferdinand to Manchester in a move that infuriated the Leeds United fans.

Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves were also two players who, although "had long-term contracts" with their respective clubs, were enticed away courtesy of Ferguson and the media.

Then came the comments about Dimitar Berbatov yesterday:

"We have made Tottenham an offer on Berbatov and we have good expectations that this deal will go through.

"Berbatov has been impressive during a long time and would be a great addition to our attack.

"I think time will work for us more than against us."

Manchester United seem to bully other clubs into selling their star players but cry foul when Cristiano Ronaldo is subject to similar speculation over his move to Real Madrid—that basically spells out hypocrisy.

I think that Ferguson should take a long, hard look at himself before he blames clubs like Madrid because with his latest instance of stupidity, he has negated the sympathy that many neutrals would have felt for him during the Ronaldo saga.

As much as I dislike Tottenham, Ferguson has clearly crossed the line yet again and it's time for the toothless F.A. to take some sort of action against the Manchester United manager this time.