YOU CAN STICK YOUR F"£K!NG ENGLAND UP YOUR ARSE
Fergie lays into England and says "Bollocks"
Matt Dickinson's column in The Times:
"David Davies says we have a duty to other countries," Ferguson said. "Bollocks! It’s about making money. We’re paying them (the players) millions a year, you know. Would ICI be happy for one of the executives to go and do part-time work for three or four days at the busiest time of the year?" When Ferguson can describe international football as "part-time work", Davies is wasting his time even calling a summit at which the managers will make all the right noises about doing their best for Eriksson and then forget every word once they leave the room.
In a profile of Rio Ferdinand to go out on Sky One tomorrow evening, Ferguson reveals that he wanted England to "get knocked out in the first round" of the World Cup finals last summer so that Leeds United could not drive up the price for the centre half. He may have been joking, but it accurately reflects his sympathy for the England team.
It is not Ferguson’s job to look after England — that is Eriksson’s and there are times when his own employer wishes he would do it more robustly — but nor is it the Scot’s place to go around undermining the Swede, as he has done so demonstrably with his criticism of a coach who "doesn’t change anything". His disdain for Eriksson’s style and, it should be noted, for a United board that was willing to pay a fortune to hire Eriksson, is a far more accurate reflection of Ferguson’s views than his scarcely credible comment yesterday that "Sven Eriksson was the best choice for the (United) job in my opinion".
Ferguson argued that he was simply "comparing the two styles, the laid-back style of Sven and the aggressive way I manage". So Chief Football Correspondent
presumably he would be phlegmatic if Eriksson came out and said: "Ferguson is a bully and you should hear what Beckham says about him in private — not that you should interpret that as criticism."
"We never concluded a deal with Sven," Peter kenyon said, but he was not willing to say how far negotiations had progressed with Eriksson or anyone else in January last year before Ferguson changed his mind about retirement.
"My personal knowledge at the time I went back to the club was that they had already spoken to two people," Ferguson said, with the other candidate believed to be Martin O’Neill, of Celtic. "I swear on my life, and on my kids’ lives, I had no idea who they were approaching." His comments this week will ensure that he is kept even farther out of the loop when the search recommences, although he has claimed that he may look to continue beyond 2005.
STUFF YOUR UNITED UP YOUR ARSE
Sven-Goran Eriksson's growing distrust of Sir Alex Ferguson is threatening a total breakdown in their working relationship after his allegation that the England coach had "shaken hands" on a deal to break his contract with the Football Association to become Manchester United's manager.
The above and below from The Guardian:
Eriksson is incensed by what he perceives as a calculated attempt to undermine him when, perhaps for the first time, serious questions are being asked about his ability to lead the national team.
He has also been angered by Ferguson's withering portrayal of him as a yes-man who follows the whims of the media, such as appointing David Beckham captain. Relations between the two managers have become increasingly strained over the past few months and there is a deep suspicion in the Eriksson camp that Ferguson, a notorious stirrer, is actively seeking to destabilise him.
Having repeatedly denied the link with Old Trafford ever since it was reported early last year, the Swede is acutely aware he now faces an allegation of duplicity. If Ferguson's claim is correct it could also be perceived that he had been disloyal to the FA, which was not privy to negotiations about the Swede succeeding Ferguson after his planned retirement last season.
"Sven's more than a little embarrassed. Quite frankly he's pissed off," said a source close to the England coach. "You shake hands only when a deal is done. And no deal was done here. That's a fact. Sven wants to know why he [Ferguson] has said this. And why he has chosen now, of all times."
OH NO I DIDN'T
Cuddly Pete scotches Eriksson 'deal'
"We made a statement at the time which was quite clear and that was we never concluded a deal with Sven and never discussed the position," Kenyon said on Sky Sports News.
"But on the basis Alex was going to retire, we had to do the right thing for Manchester United. We interviewed several candidates. On the basis Sir Alex was going to retire, our job was to get the best possible man for the job.
"What it came down to was retaining Alex and that's all that is important - and the rest is history."
LATEST FERGIE QUOTES ON ERIKSSON 'DEAL'
"I was just offering my personal opinion. It was only what I had heard [unofficially]. I've no idea, to be truthful, who they approached. Nobody here has ever told me officially and I swear that on my life and my kids' lives.
"If I had been involved [in the selection process] I can understand people would take it as fact that Manchester United approached the manager of England. But there's no way I knew it for sure.
"When I spoke to Peter Kenyon and Sir Roland Smith [the plc's now retired chairman] at the start of last season, I told them it would be unfair to involve me because I could want someone who was a friend of mine and they had to be more objective. And I think they did that. But, again, I swear on my kids' lives, I didn't know for sure."
When asked why he implied that Eriksson had been offered the job he said: "I didn't think they were going to use it".
'ERIKSSON COULD BE GOOD BUT I MAY STAY ANYWAY'
Fergie's damage limitation exercise
"I think he (Eriksson) would have been a nice choice in terms of nothing really happens, does it. He doesn't change anything. He sails along, nobody falls out with him. He comes out and says 'the first half we were good, the second half we were not so good. I'm pleased with the result.'
"The press make a suggestion, he seems to follow. Making Beckham captain, for instance. I think he'd have been all right for United, you know what I mean? The acceptable face.
"I have never said I would retire then [at the end of his current deal].
"If I'm fit and healthy at that time and the team are successful, I could stay on. Quite easily, I could stay on."
In fact The People this morning state that SAF is bidding to stay until 2007.
And a comment from The Guardian:
Yesterday, however, Ferguson said his comments should not be taken as a slight on the England coach. "I was talking about the differences between our styles: Sven's laid-back style and the aggressive way I manage.
"After 15 years of me I think Manchester United definitely needed someone with a different approach. In my opinion Sven was the best man for the job. I know it looks bad but I don't think it was a criticism."
It was odd how relaxed Ferguson seemed, unusually convivial with the press and making light of last week's contretemps with Beckham, joking that he would line up eight football boots and kick them at anyone who asked a bad question. "Eight yards it was [to Beckham] - a magnificent hit."
Eriksson's mood will have been significantly less jovial. He and Ferguson have never been close but it is clear the damage to their relationship caused by the United manager picking Paul Scholes for a match in September, two days after telling the England coach that the midfielder was not fit for international duty, has now developed into a serious rift, one that might be irreparable.
AN OPINION FROM THE OBSERVER
The big question is: why? Most of Sir Alex Ferguson's considered public utterances have a purpose and a calculated effect. His lengthy interview in The Times magazine yesterday was no exception. So why did he invite a journalist into his Wilmslow home and spend three hours discussing everything from his fear of failure, to the England manager, from excessive wages to the delights of being a grandparent?
It was not just to embarrass Sven-Göran Eriksson, of that we can be sure. That might be the most obvious effect - and Ferguson is not uncomfortable at making the England manager squirm. Ferguson's intention, though, was simply to question the Swede's credentials as a future Manchester United manager, just at the time when people are beginning to question his ability as manager of England. And why would Ferguson do that?
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