Why the FA have brought themselves into disrepute with Alex Ferguson's gutless penalty - Martin Lipton's tea-time digest

By Martin Lipton in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 16:15 12/11/09

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So how do you deal with a manager who publicly invites ridicule to be hurled at one of the country's senior referees?

By feigning outrage and disgust - and imposing a penalty that doesn't actually hurt.

As the FA announced Sir Alex Ferguson's punishment for his verbal attack on Alan Wiley was a £20,000 fine and two-game touchline ban, the blazer brigade stood accused of bringing themselves into disrepute.

If Fergie's behaviour was as scandalous as the statement by Peter Griffiths QC suggested, then surely it was incumbent on the governing body to impose a  punishment that meant something.

Instead, the FA version of the touchline ban does not, as in the case of a UEFA punishment, prevent Ferguson from doing everything he normally does on match-day, except creaking out of the dug-out to perform his  "old man jig" when United score.

Of course, the FA's disciplinary regulations - and their application - are about as solid and consistent as the Hull City back-line especially when confronted by gamekeeper-turned-poacher Graham Bean, the former in-house compliance officer who represented Ferguson.

Fergie, who has got away with far worse than his comments about Wiley - just look at his past and recent pronouncements about Martin Atkinson, who suddenly metamorphosed into a good referee when he added six minutes of stoppage time against Manchester City - will know he has been let off with little more than a slap over the wrist.

Whether the Prospect trade union should have become involved in this dispute is another matter - given Fergie's unflinching support for the movement, he may ask Gordon Brown to cross Alan Leighton's name off the No 10 Christmas Card list - and with the stick that Wiley receives from fans every Saturday, Ferguson's comments should not have affected him at all.

Everybody knows that Ferguson used Wiley as a means to deflect attention away from how poor his team had been against Sunderland, when they deserved to lose, but the penalty imposed today will have no affect on the Manchester United manager whatsoever.

Then again, should we really expect anything different?

At least the other body that shares the running of the game did something right as Premier League clubs dismissed the idea of Celtic and Rangers transporting themselves over the border out of sight .

While the Old Firm are great clubs with fantastic fans, they are Scottish and should play in Scotland.

For both Celtic and Rangers, the interest in joining an expanded Premier League was purely financial, not due to some long-term grand vision.

The proposal by Bolton's Phil Gartside was based on fear, with a self-elected, self-perpetuating elite locking themselves into a guarantee of easy money - and no punishment for failure.

That would have been a disgrace, irrespective of the identity of the clubs involved, with the idea of extending an open invitation to the Glasgow giants simply making things even worse. At least that has now been shelved.