Sir Alex Ferguson Shows Signs of Cracking

It's not often that you can accuse Sir Alex Ferguson of losing the plot but he certainly seems to have been ruffled during this close season.

The Manchester United manager is king of the "mind games" but it has been a tough pre-season for the wily old boss and he certainly seems to be letting matters outside Old Trafford get to him.

Fergie, who has guided United to three successive Premier League titles, hasn't had things his own way over the last few months and he appears to have taken his eye off the ball.

Ferguson was unable to stop Cristiano Ronaldo leaving for Real Madrid, despite saying earlier in the year that he, "wouldn't sell that lot a virus" and, despite giving a public blessing to the Portuguese star's exit, it's understood he was desperately hoping to hang on to the player.

Then Fergie was unable to broker a deal to keep Carlos Tevez at Old Trafford and to make matters worse he had to watch the Argentinian striker switch to rivals Manchester City.

Uncharacteristically, the United boss got caught up in a slanging match with Tevez over who had contacted who, or not as the case may be, and what offer had been put on the table to the forward.

Soon after that Ferguson targeted France forward Karim Benzema as the man he wanted to replace Tevez.

However that pursuit also ended in failure as Benzema snubbed a move to Old Trafford in favour of a big-money transfer to "that lot", or Real Madrid to be more precise.

It's been an eventful summer for Ferguson and certainly one that has prompted him to hit out at their rivals.

Fergie was fuming at Manchester City's welcoming of Tevez.

City officials had a billboard created which read: "Carlos Tevez, welcome to Manchester."

It didn't go down too well with Fergie and was branded "arrogant", while he also slammed City as a "small club with a small mentality".

Ferguson has also spoken about Real Madrid and believes Ronaldo's arrival could unbalance the Spanish giants.

It's unlike Fergie to focus his attention and energy on anything else other than matters concerning United and could be an indication that he's feeling the heat with the champions.

Whether any of this affects Premier League betting or Champions League betting remains to be seen.