Benitez not happy with Fergie

Mr Alan wrote: »

i think when this issue dies down after we win the league this year (;))

Have you finally come out of the closet and declared for Man U?

Boggles wrote: »

Could you cite this special treatment?

how about Rooney chopping Bosingwa down & getting no yellow. then telling the ref to **** off a few times before walking away & throwing his arms in the air in disgust at the ref having the audacity to give a foul against him, refusing to turn and speak to the ref as he is asked to.

Mr Alan wrote: »

how about Rooney chopping Bosingwa down & getting no yellow. then telling the ref to **** off a few times before walking away & throwing his arms in the air in disgust at the ref having the audacity to give a foul against him, refusing to turn and speak to the ref as he is asked to.

or the manner in which he and others spoke to the lino after the disallowed goal, iirc the lino was intimidated enough to have to step back from the players screaming at him. Respect campaign my hole...

BastardPrince wrote: »

or the manner in which he and others spoke to the lino after the disallowed goal, iirc the lino was intimidated enough to have to step back from the players screaming at him. Respect campaign my hole...

You mean Giggs asking him a question fairly?, Rooney ran away from it after intially reacting.

It's called passion, you need it to win things.

Boggles wrote: »

Could you cite this special treatment?

Boggles wrote: »

Boswingwa and Bellati were lucky to stay on the pitch.

Bellettis tackle deserved a yellow, same as Rooneys, and it got one, Rooneys didnt. and Rooney followed his up with one of many torrents of abuse thrown at teh officials

Mikel could have gone for persistant fouling.

no he couldnt

Ronaldo was booked for being raped in the box, although he didn't react..

only a Utd fan would call that "raped" he had his shirt pulled a little, and there was a muddle of legs between himself & Carvalhio (mainly himself)-techincally a penalty, but rarely given, even to Utd.

It's a football match, you get some decisions, you don't get others.

Utd seem to get away with more than most.

Rooney was eventually booked. His manor prob contributed to it..

This does not prove they did not get special treatment, if anything it proves the opposite, Rooney should have been sent off yesterday, a couple of times over. Him getting a yellow late on when the game is won, does not change that.

Please again Cite the special treatment?

i'm done with you. i have work to do.

the world and its mother knew how Rooney would behave yesterday & yet the officials still made no stand against him.

Rafa is right, trying to have a respect campaign while refs are too afraid to piss off Mr Ferguson, is embarrasing & a waste of time.

Deleted User wrote: »

U didn't think Mascheranos body language was aggressive? Shoving team mates out of the way to get at the ref?


Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright.

i tried to find a video of it there but couldnt - the only part i seem to remember is when masch is there when Torres gets booked and seems to keep asking him why Torres is being booked, now i think he should have dropped it and his persistence was futile and there is absolutley no defence for his reacton after his sending off but i dont think you can compare the two incidents in terms of aggression. if anyone could find a video of rooney yesterday and maschs sending off i would love to compare...

BastardPrince wrote: »

i tried to find a video of it there but couldnt - the only part i seem to remember is when masch is there when Torres gets booked and seems to keep asking him why Torres is being booked, now i think he should have dropped it and his persistence was futile and there is absolutley no defence for his reacton after his sending off but i dont think you can compare the two incidents in terms of aggression. if anyone could find a video of rooney yesterday and maschs sending off i would love to compare...

he is right neil, mascherano only went spare after he was sent off. he was not aggressive before. it was silly of him, but he wasnt aggressive before the sending off. he was smiling for a start iirc.





Rooneys behaviour yesterday was far more aggressive & equally as persistant. as well as coming on the back of a tackle deserving a yellow card anyway. Mascheranos came after his team mate was fouled and picked up a yellow card for his troubles.

Again, i am not arguing that what masch did wasnt stupid, but for Rooney to get away with it week after week is favouritism and preferential treatment, there is no other way to describe it.

PHB wrote: »

Rooney is extremly aggressive to refs. No doubt about it. Refs need to book him. Then again, if they stopped ****ing up so much, maybe he wouldn't have so much to give out to them about.

you're kidding yourself if you think that Rooney protests are to do with the injustices done to him by refs.

his attack yesterday after he fouled Bosingwa, refs fault?

no its just the way he is, and while SAF is at Utd refs are afraid to book Rooney for dissent bar the odd time because it would result in him getting sent off most games.

Regardless of everything else being argued, nothing can be said to justify Rooney's behavior. He has serious anger management problems and regularly oversteps the mark.

It is obvious that the quality of refereeing is quite poor but all players are at the end of these decisions - not just Wayne Rooney..

There are countless examples of him overstepping the mark. The Aalborg match in the CL recently is the perfect example.

Nothing can justify that kind of thing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/4214075/Rafael-Benitezs-outburst-made-up-of-half-truths-and-disinformation-Football.html

Benitez is an almost compulsive intriguer. He has spent the last year engaged in a loosely concealed attempt to undermine his own chief executive, Rick Parry, employing innuendo and double-speak rather than come out and clearly define his position.

He left Valencia after falling out with the club's sporting director and has continuously tussled for every advantage behind the scenes at Liverpool.

Yet this attack on Ferguson is not the Machiavellian scheme some might attribute to Benitez.

Leaving aside, for a moment, the accusation that Benitez has risen to Ferguson's bait, it is worth examining the validity of Benitez's various accusations. Disinformation and half-truth abound.

Charge 1 "We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off."

There has only been one player sent off at Old Trafford this season. In September, Middlesbrough's Emanuel Pogatetz was shown the red card after he went in two-footed on Rodrigo Possebon. The young Brazilian midfielder was lucky to avoid serious injury and both the Boro manager Gareth Southgate and Pogatetz apologised. There can be absolutely no dispute.

Two players have been sent off for the opposition at Anfield this season. Wigan's Luis Antonio Valencia was sent off for two bookings in October in a game that Liverpool won 3-2. His first caution was for encroaching on a free-kick. Here's what Steve Bruce said about it: "I just thought all the little decisions in the second half went Liverpool's way. It's difficult enough coming to Anfield, but you need some fairness and strength. Two minutes after Valencia was dismissed, [Nabil] El Zhar tackled Mario Melchiot in the same way and... nothing. That's what annoys us to."

The other player to be sent off at Anfield? Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United.

Hardly fits Benitez's conspiracy, does it?

Charge 2 "During the respect campaign, and this is a fact, Mr Ferguson was charged by the FA for improper conduct after comments made about Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett. He was not punished. He is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things."

Ferguson was charged for making some pretty pathetic and disparaging remarks about Atkinson after the FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Portsmouth in March.

Carlos Queiroz, his then assistant, was also charged. Both were later cleared by an independent commission, not the FA.

In regards Hackett, Ferguson accused him of being biased towards Chelsea after John Terry's red card against Manchester City was rescinded. Ferguson looked paranoid – the decision to send off Terry had been considered pretty harsh – and not a little self-interested as Terry was freed up to play United. And perhaps the FA's failure to punish Ferguson was a weakness.

But to suggest other managers get punished misses the mark. Everton's David Moyes has been fined £5,000, Phil Brown has been fined £1,000 and Roy Keane received no fine at all relating to charges of improper conduct. All were warned about their future conduct. Joe Kinnear has two charges outstanding.

While this might show that the Respect campaign is a sham, it does not suggest the FA are cracking down on anyone. Not a touchline ban to be seen.

Oh, except for Ferguson, who was given a two-game ban for abusing Mike Dean after a the 4-3 win over Hull in November. He also got a £10,000 fine. So he is the one manager who has been substantially punished by the FA this season.

Charge 3 "Then he was talking about the fixtures. Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays – and we didn't say anything."

Ferguson's claims of an anti-United bias in the fixture schedule are laughable. But so is Benitez's counter-suggestion that United were favoured in the past. True, Liverpool did play five away fixtures in the early Saturday slot in the 2006-07 season, losing two, winning two and drawing one.

But then United also played five away games for the Saturday matinee audience. Again, Benitez seems to have his facts wrong. He is right that United played more Sunday games that season – nine to Liverpool's five – but they are hardly advantageous if you are playing in the middle of the following week.

Jose Mourinho used to complain that the English league disadvantaged its Champions League competitors by failing to move games that undermined preparation for big ties. But then all teams have been disadvantaged equally.

Few managers take on Ferguson and come off unscathed. Benitez's courage might be applauded if only his claims had more substance. Ferguson is petty and irrational, and he will wind you up until you crack.

Mr Alan wrote: »

he is right neil, mascherano only went spare after he was sent off. he was not aggressive before. it was silly of him, but he wasnt aggressive before the sending off. he was smiling for a start iirc.



Rooneys behaviour yesterday was far more aggressive & equally as persistant. as well as coming on the back of a tackle deserving a yellow card anyway. Mascheranos came after his team mate was fouled and picked up a yellow card for his troubles.

Again, i am not arguing that what masch did wasnt stupid, but for Rooney to get away with it week after week is favouritism and preferential treatment, there is no other way to describe it.

You need to watch that game again. Mascherano was yapping at the ref throughout the first half. He kept at it and I think the ref just had had enough of him.

Des wrote: »

A reply to Mitch's posted article please.

Laughable that it has been ignored thus far tbh.



Fact.

In fact, if you go to that match thread, it's as plain as day what was going on.

Here is another along the same lines:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/early-doors/article/115807/

When Rafa Benitez began his extraordinary outpouring of Fergie-bashing on Friday, he said he did not want to start any mind games, which is a bit like Hitler saying he didn't want a war as Panzers were rolling into Warsaw.

Benitez said he was interested only in facts. Sadly, even the briefest look at what he actually said reveals that he is to facts what Prince Harry is to race relations.

FICTION 1: "Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays. And we didn't say anything."

FACT 1: Rafael Benitez, September 2007: "We will be talking to the Premier League about this because it is not fair. I don't know if it is possible to change these fixtures in the New Year, but I hope so because, in the last few years, we have played more games on a Saturday than anyone and more away games than anyone. There are too many early kick-offs and I am not pleased about the situation at all."

FICTION 2: "You can see every single week how they put (referees) under pressure, we know this. We have seen it before. We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off."

FACT 2: Opposition players sent off at Old Trafford in the league this season - none. Stoke's Andy Wilkinson is the only player to be sent off against United in the Premier League this season. Opposition players sent off against Liverpool this season - five, including Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United.

FICTION 3: "Now he is complaining about everything, that everybody is against United. But the second half of the season will see them playing at home against all the teams at the top of the table, it is a fantastic advantage."

FACT 3: Last time ED checked everyone had to play everyone else twice - surely the order in which you play your games is irrelevant. And it's not like United covered themselves in glory in their away games against the top four - one point out of nine hardly represents a fantastic advantage.

FICTION 4: "At Christmas, United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, they were not complaining then."

FACT 4: United played 31 hours later, but their opponents Middlesbrough also had the benefit of an extra day's rest so it wasn't much help. And Liverpool's game against Newcastle was so one-sided they would have exerted themselves more by staying in and watching Wallace and Gromit. Plus, to be really pedantic, Aston Villa - who are level on points with United - played Hull on Tuesday 30.

FICTION 5: "There are two options if we don't want more problems with fixtures. One is the same as in Spain, the draw for the first part of the league is known, everyone knows which weekend. In the second-half everyone plays the opposite, so you all know."

FACT 5: That wouldn't help at all. You all know your fixtures anyway, and a Spanish system wouldn't stop United playing all of the Big Four at home in the second half of the season.

FICTION 6: "During the Respect campaign - and this is a fact - Mr Ferguson was charged by the FA for improper conduct after comments made about Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett. He was not punished. He is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things."

FACT 6: Harry Redknapp can also get away with it, having got off scot-free for this pop at Steve Tanner: "He's a poor referee and I've seen him make a mess of so many games. I couldn't even put into words what I thought of his performance. I walked into the referee's room before the game and saw who was refereeing and I knew what was coming. I expected that sort of performance. I've had him before many times and I know what he's like. He's really not good enough."

FICTION 7: "I will be watching United's game with Chelsea. The result does not matter to us, if we win at Stoke that result does not matter."

FACT 7: Sorry, that one was a fact.