Bad Influence? Rubbish!

So according to England's Football Association, our beloved United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is a bad influence to all fans and players of the football world.

Now we all know of the petty ban that was given to him by the FA not to long ago due to his comments made about referee Martin Atkinson after the United lose at Chelsea. A bit out of line yes, but worth any sort of repugnant say towards him? No!

The FA have gone way to far, calling out Fergie as a "Bad Influence!" What does this mean? Do the FA beleive now that since Ferguson had the gull to stand up against the referees about their mistakes mean that all will follow? Well why not? If I were to be managing a game and witness the performance made by not just my team but by the ref after such a lose, yeah I would be real furious! After the ref not able to make a call resulting in Rooney almost getting injured, if I was Ferguson I'd have said a lot more then just that!

This whole Respect Campaign is fine and all, I for the most part believe that the Ref is there representing FIFA as an official and has the governing power to say what goes and doesn't go on the pitch within the laws of the game, but when it starts to seem obvious that a referee is bias or ignorant of a manager in particular and starts making it miserable for the players of that team, then maybe it's FIFA who should be working on who they hire.

Here is what Craig Moore, who chaired the commission for the incident , had to say.

"Whatever view one may take about the performance of Mr. Atkinson, or any other (referee), respect for their integrity is essential for the integrity of the game. (The comments) clearly called into question the integrity of Mr. Atkinson and brought the game into disrepute by suggesting that a particular referee lacked impartiality."

According to Moore the fact that Ferguson not apologizing to the ref made it rather clear how to punish him, quoted as a "seriously aggravating" factor. He also added that Ferguson "undermined the (campaign) ... to encourage higher standards of behavior within the game, including respect for officials."

I'm sorry FA but just because the bloke had a previous suspension hanging over him on top of the desire to stand up for his team against what he, as well others, believed to be an unfair referee favored advantage towards Chelsea. To be honest I'm proud of the mate for standing up to the FA, allowing us to see just how snotty they are and how uptight they plan to continue being. Yes, this is an organized and very popular league, but you don't start banning people from games for challenging the ref's ability to perform at the require exceptional level.

I have something you can go do, Mr. Moore. Why don't you stand before your majesty and inform her that one of the men she had "Knighted" was a bad influence, see how far that gets you with your country. Bugger off!

Cheers,
Craig JR

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/premierleague/story/England-FA-Ferguson-undermines-campaign-against-ref-abuse