Soccer:Alex Ferguson today defended his on-field outburst at referee Mike Dean and launched into an astonishing tirade at Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, describing him as a manager of a "wee club in the north east".
The English Football Association announced yesterday that no action will be taken against the Manchester United manager.
The Scot was furious after Dean overruled assistant Jake Collin and awarded Newcastle’s second goal in the Red Devils’ 4-3 win on St Stephen’s Day.
Ferguson approached Dean as he made his way out for the second half, before rounding on the fourth official Neil Swarbrick and Collin.
Pardew said yesterday that said Dean will have been “slightly disappointed” he did not take action against Ferguson at the time and today Ferguson hit back at his critics.
“I was demonstrative but I was not out of order,” he said. “The press have had a field day. The only person they have not spoken to is Barack Obama because he is busy.
“It is unfortunate but I am the manager of the most famous club in the world. Not Newcastle, a wee club in the north east.
“I was demonstrative. I am always demonstrative. Everyone knows that. I am an emotional guy. But I was not abusive.
“I shouted Mike over. We walked towards each other. I was only on (the pitch) three or four yards. That has been overplayed.
“The problem for me is that the profile of this club is huge. Alan Pardew has come out and criticised me. He is the worst at haranguing referees. He shoves them and makes a joke of it. How he can criticise me is unbelievable. He forgets the help I gave him, by the way.”
Pardew was given a two-match touchline ban and fined £20,000 after accepting an FA charge of improper conduct for pushing an assistant referee earlier this season.
He was sent off during the 2-1 win over Tottenham on August 18 at St James’ Park when he pushed Peter Kirkup after claiming the ball had gone out of play during a Spurs attack.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also joined in the criticism of the decision by the FA not to take any action over Ferguson’s behaviour.
Wenger, who has had his fair share of run-ins with Ferguson during his 16 years in England, thinks the Manchester United manager behaved improperly and should have been punished.
“Should you behave like that? No,” said Wenger, who was sent to the stands by Dean for kicking a water bottle in 2009.
“I did not always behave like I should and you can call that a bad example, yes. The message it sends out when you look at the pictures is just not to behave like that.
“We go sometimes overboard on the touchline and when we do it we have to be punished, it is as simple as that.
“(If) it is me or Ferguson or anybody else in the world, the rules are the rules. It is not rules for one person and the rules for another person, it is the same for everybody.”
