10@10: The worst refereeing decisions of Sir Alex Ferguson's lifetime (warning: contains petulant behaviour)

By Dan Silver in Football Banter

Published 09:57 04/11/09

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Welcome to our new daily topical comedy list, 10@10...

Today: Sir Alex Ferguson broke the, er, habit of a lifetime last night to criticise the referee following a disappointing Manchester United performance, claiming Olegario Benquerenca's decision to book Darren Fletcher for diving in the area was one of "the worst in my lifetime" .

Oh really, Sir Alex? Worse, say, than these ten others?

1) October 2009: Andre Marriner's decision to dismiss Nemanja Vidic against Liverpool rather than Jamie Carragher.
Fergie said: “The Vidic booking was the worst decision. It is a foul, fine. But the player has played on, he won the second ball and knocked it for a throw in and got booked. It put Nemanja under pressure.”

2) October 2009: Alan Wiley's decision not to add any more injury time at the end of Manchester United's draw with Sunderland.
Fergie said: "I was disappointed with the referee. He didn't add on any time for the goal. He played four minutes and two seconds. He was also walking up the pitch for the second goal needing a rest. He was not fit enough for a game of that standard. The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit. It is an indictment of our game.

3) August 2009: Chris Foy's decision to allow play to continue after Michael Ballack had floored Patrice Evara in the Community Shield.
Fergie said: "The referee saw it, he clearly saw it. I’m disappointed because he has stopped the game twice before that. Once when Ballack went down he jumped up and was back on his feet again in seconds. That decision cost us the game. We’ve said it time and time again, all we want is consistency.”

4) November 2008: Mike Dean's decision not to send off Hull's Michael Turner during United's 4-3 win at Old Trafford.
Fergie said: "The player's already been booked so the referee's failed in his duty there. It should have been a red card as he was right through."

5) September 2008: Keith Hackett's decision to rescind a red card awarded to John Terry by Mark Halsey, clearing him to play in a crucial league game against Manchester United.
Fergie said: "My information is that Hackett told Mark Halsey to rescind the red card and he would not do it. Now I understand that Halsey is being made to referee in the Second Division this weekend. I just don't understand how this could have happened. If it had been a Manchester United player, Hackett would never have done this for us."

6) March 2008: Martin Atkinson's decision to award Portsmouth a penalty and send off Tomasz Kuszczak during the FA Cup tquarter-final at Old Trafford.
Fergie said: "Managers get sacked because of things like that and he's going to referee a game next week."

7) December 2007: Mark Clattenburg's decision not to protect Manchester United players enough during a 1-0 defeat at Bolton.
Fergie said: “I told [Clattenburg] exactly what I thought and he didn’t like it. I told him just how bad he was in the first half.”

8) November 2007: Howard Webb's decision to award Arsenal a 92nd minute equaliser after Edwin van der Sar thought he'd kept William Gallas' header out.
Fergie said: "It is very difficult for the referee ... at times, he favoured Arsenal. Their second goal came from him not giving a free-kick for a foul on Louis Saha on the far side. It should have been a foul for us!"

9) April 2007: Herbert Fandel's decision to send Paul Scholes off during United's 2-1 defeat to Roma in the Champions Legaue.
Fergie said: "I can't have any complaints about [Scholes's] first booking but I do have complaints about the second one. In a big game like that, a good referee would not have sent him off."

10) August 2003: Uriah Rennie's decision not to penalise Newcastle's Andy O'Brien after he brought down Ryan Giggs.
Fergie said: "!#@!" - or words to that effect to fourth official Jeff Winter, for which he was subsequently charged with misconduct

Previous 10@10s:

More ways that Phil Brown could save money for cash-strapped Hull City 

Other ways Newcastle's players could have decided who left St James' Park

More things Craig Bellamy could give up when Manchester City qualify for the Champions League:  

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