Sir Alex Ferguson could be in trouble once more after his criticism
of referee Mark Clattenburg's "weird and wonderful" display at
Birmingham.
Ferguson was banned for four games, two of them suspended,
and fined £20,000 for comments about the fitness of Alan Wiley
after October's draw with Sunderland.
He was also warned about his future conduct, but on Saturday
labelled the dismissal of Darren Fletcher "ridiculous" and was also
bemused after United's goal initially seemed set to be disallowed
for offside in the 1-1 draw.
The flag went up against Wayne Rooney, itself a marginal
call, but the goal stood after it was established that Blues
defender Scott Dann got the crucial touch. Ferguson told ESPN:
"I've not seen a softer sending-off for a long time. It's
absolutely ridiculous, really.
"I've been watching Mark Clattenburg this season. He did the
Arsenal-Tottenham game - you had to have someone hit with an axe
before he'd book anyone in that game, and he sends a player off
here.
"There were some wonderful and weird decisions out there. The
linesman gives offside for our goal - it's an own goal, and he
gives offside! Anyway, we carry on."
The Red Devils had trailed to Cameron Jerome's opener late in
a first half which Ferguson's men dominated, and the United boss
continued: "We played absolutely brilliantly in the first half and
to lose a goal right on half-time was a sickener.
"Birmingham are in real good form, they work so hard and make
it difficult for you so we've got to be satisfied with a point,
particularly as we've ended with 10 men."
Opposite number Alex McLeish felt the sending-off boosted his
side, and told ESPN: "We knew United have a habit of scoring late
goals but when Fletcher went, it possibly gave us a bit more
impetus and we could have won it in the end.
"We could have won it in the end, if Cameron could have taken
care of a ball. He could have rolled it across the face of goal and
wee Chucho (Cristian Benitez) would have surely had a tap-in.
"We're not saying we're disappointed, we're playing against a
great side - albeit missing a few - but that was another fantastic
performance."
