Fergie: Tevez should have seen red

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Sir Alex Ferguson has a difference of opinion with the fourth official after being awarded six minutes of injury time in last Saturday's 1-1 draw at Birmingham. Photograph: Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

Ever since the start of the new decade an eerie and unnatural feeling, a strange and unnerving sentiment, the exact and sensational nature of which I have been struggling to identify, has pervaded my spirit. Was it simply the bitter climate, a malfunction of the pituitary gland, or the early symptoms of some malignant neurasthenic disorder?

Friends were of little comfort. "It's your age," they responded when I attempted to find outline for the nebulous yet palpable ill that afflicted me. "Look at Martin. He used to be a perfectly ordinary GP, then he turned 48. Now he spends his evenings watching bootleg DVDs of The Cuckoo Waltz and Rings On Their Fingers, and sending emails to the agent of the lovely comedy actress Diane Keen asking if, with his medical background, it might not be possible for him to make a guest appearance alongside Diane on the hit afternoon soap opera Doctors.

"It's a mid-life thing," they said. "It's the menopause. Go and get a tattoo and your navel pierced and you'll feel better."

As it has transpired, however, the unearthly mood that has disturbed my waking hours and troubled me through oppressive nights of restless sleep is the product of forces far more alien and altogether less predictable than a dip in hormone levels, a broken central-heating pump, or incipient brain fever. It is a twisting of emotional normality compared to which developing an unseemly and obsessive passion for Jan Francis, doe-eyed star of Just Good Friends and The Secret Army, appears abysmally mundane.

On Tuesday, as I leafed through the sport section, it burst upon me like a thunderclap. "Oh Lord in Heaven," I cried, the pages falling from my fingers even as my hand flashed instinctively to my heart, "I have started to feel sorry for Sir Alex Ferguson."

Yes, that – unpalatable and shocking as it will seem to many readers – is the truth of it. At some point in the past month the combination of patchy form, poor results, a mounting injury crisis, burgeoning debt, the potential sale of the training ground and more and more photos of the Glazer brothers gazing ghoulishly down from the grandstand like gargoyle sentinels on the parapets of the House of Usher, has seen my sympathies engaged by the prune-faced Scot.

For most of my life the only reason I'd fantasise about putting an arm around the gum-chewing Glaswegian was so that I might execute a Vulcan death grip but these days, in my daydreams, I pull him towards me with a hearty chuckle, ensure him that everything is going absolutely great, while simultaneously checking the immediate vicinity for anything he might slip on, or bump into.

As I look back now I can see that the signs of this enervating and singular condition were there all along. When a German friend phoned after Manchester United's defeat to Leeds and said, "Ferguson called the fact there was only five minutes injury time 'an insult to football'. An insult to football? Has he never once listened to himself talking in the last 15 years?"

Yes, I admit there was part of me that joined him in his outrage, and yet as I recall the scene I now hear clearly the other voice in my head that day, the voice that was saying softly, "Oh, poor Fergie, he's really starting to sound desperate these days."

The Football Association is clearly experiencing a similar shifting of emotion. Having put the Scot on probation after his outbursts about the fitness of Alan Wiley earlier in the season, it now seems reluctant to punish him further despite his verbal assaults on the likes of Mark Clattenburg. Some will view this as another case of the blazers pirouetting around trouble. For once, I don't believe that to be the case.

There comes a point when the passer-by stops looking at the wild-eyed man ranting on the corner and thinking "maybe I should call the police before he hurts someone" starts to think "maybe I should call the social services before someone hurts him". And this is the point we are at now, I fear.

You may say that Sir Alex is a multimillionaire with a list of achievements that will ring down the ages, and that I should save my sympathy for people who deserve it, such as the victims of plague and pestilence and whoever it was who hired Tim Lovejoy to work for Radio 5 Live.

You are probably right. It's just that I cannot help myself. These days, whenever I see Sir Alex making that characteristic gesture of running his right hand through his hair to maintain his parting, it seems more and more affecting.

It is like watching a man putting on a clean shirt and tie during the zombie apocalypse, a touchingly hopeless attempt to restore some dignity while humanity destroys itself and the living dead chew on the carcass.

I just feel sorry for Sir Alex Ferguson. I can't alter that. It's just the way it is. Though obviously half a dozen straight wins and a big-money buy during the transfer window will sharply return things to normal, I'm sure.

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Sir Alex Ferguson cited David Nugent's glaring second-half miss as the turning point in United's victory over Burnley.

The on-loan Clarets striker shot wide just four minutes before Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring, and the United manager felt the let-off galvanised home players and supporters sufficiently to prompt victory.

"If he'd scored then, Burnley would have had something to hold onto," he told MUTV. "I think we got a wee bit of a gee up then, and when the crowd gets up it makes a difference to our game. It wakens the players up. We had more speed about our game and I think we finished well.

"It was a funny game. We were frivilous with our chances and they had chances themselves. It could have been embarrassing. We were maybe just a bit nervous and anxious about our game, but the way the second half was going I just felt we were going to score.

"You need that goal to break open teams like that, particularly teams who are settling in at Old Trafford with men behind the ball. They played with three central midfield players, which causes problems at times. A 3-0 scoreline was maybe a bit unfair on them, but I don't think unjustly fair."

Berbatov broke the deadlock before being substituted along with Rooney, and Sir Alex confirmed that the Bulgarian had suffered a recurrence of his troublesome knee injury.

"Dimitar was feeling his knee again," he said. "He's played through it today. He could have come off at half time but he wanted to stay on, which is good. We'll look at it on Monday again.

"I think Dimitar was the one who looked like scoring today. Wayne had one of these days where he kept knocking it by the post, over the bar and he must have had 10 attempts, so he'll be relieved to get his goal. That calmed us down, that second goal."

The starting strikers were both removed after Rooney's killer goal, for Michael Owen and Mame Biram Diouf, and the latter celebrated his introduction by heading home a late third goal on his home debut.

"We've got a big programme coming up and I wanted to see how Michael Owen and Mame Diouf would do together, and they did ok," said Sir Alex.

"Mame's got great spring, the boy, he's quick and he'll look to run in behind them all the time. He's very good in the air and he's got a lot of good attributes we could use. we're quite excited about him."

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted Manchester City are now one of the champions' major competitors.

While Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal plus, briefly, Blackburn and Newcastle, have gone head-to-head with United during Ferguson's glorious reign, City have been little more than an irritant.

Although they have occasionally managed to get in a pretty fierce blow; the 5-1 win at Maine Road in 1989 was pretty sore, as were the 3-1 and 4-1 defeats immediately before and after the Blues' move to Eastlands, as a threat to the United honours board they were not even on the same radar screen.

Now times are changing.

United's supporters will emerge from their naval gazing at a fairly chronic financial situation to confront their ironically cash-rich neighbours in the Carling Cup semi-final.

Victory for City in the two-legged encounter would put them into a first major domestic final since 1981 and within touching distance of their first trophy in 34 years.

It is a position the Red Devils desperately want to avoid. Yet, as Ferguson acknowledges, given the vast sums being invested from Abu Dhabi, it does not appear they are going away.

"You have to recognise they are a competitor now," said Ferguson.

"We have had to wait a long time for it to be like that but they are obviously making a much better fist of their league programme this year than they have done in the past.

"You could not compare it to Rangers and Celtic but having rivals in the same city does create far more emotion."

Not that Ferguson expects the same intensity at Eastlands on Tuesday as he endured in September when a Michael Owen winner in the sixth minute of injury-time nearly took the roof off Old Trafford at the end of a dramatic 4-3 victory.

It is a semi-final though, and United are eager to debunk the myth that it means more to their opponents just because the Reds have enjoyed 17 such occasions since City reached the FA Cup final under John Bond.

"That is a popular argument," reflected Ferguson.

"But it doesn't matter how many semi-finals you have played in, they are occasions when you always want to do well. That is important."

It is why Ferguson will be spending a good deal of his time trying to get the team selection right.

Rio Ferdinand will not be considered despite edging closer to full fitness after three months out with a back injury.

Ryan Giggs is having a spell out of the team too, although Darren Fletcher is available after suspension and should be involved.

There is even a possibility Dimitar Berbatov could retain his place up front after Ferguson revealed he got it wrong on Saturday when he claimed his £30.75million record signing had suffered a recurrence of his knee injury during the win over Burnley, which hastened the Bulgarian's departure after he had opened the scoring.

"I thought Dimitar had got a knock on the knee," said Ferguson. "It turned out it was a dead leg and we are having a look at that it.

"I am hoping he will be all right but he is a doubt."

It will take Ferguson significantly less time to work out who will play in attack for City.

Carlos Tevez is certain to be involved, raising the possibility of a player who enjoyed such success in his two years at Old Trafford before leaving so acrimoniously, inflicting severe punishment on his former club.

Wisely, Ferguson is not seeking a confrontation, as he did with his summer claim that the South American's goalscoring record was patchy at best.

The response has been 16 so far this season, although for the United boss the issue is old news.

"What happens with him doesn't concern me," he said.

"You have to move on with life. Plenty of players have left here to go to other clubs.

"I wouldn't have thought it would affect him either. He always had a decent temperament."

The United boss is considering whether to add a bit of youth to his team in the form of Darron Gibson and the Da Silva twins Rafael and Fabio.

Having already absolved the younger members of his side from blame for the shock home FA Cup defeat by Leeds, Ferguson would have no qualms about putting them into such a high-octane encounter.

But it does seem the United boss intends to select a far stronger team than the one he originally intended when the draw was made last month.

"I have got to think about getting a mix in terms of the programme we have got and also the fact I have given young players a game in the past," he said.

"I will have a strongish team but there will be some young players as well."

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Sir Alex Ferguson is optimistic a repeat performance of Tuesday night's Carling Cup effort in the second leg at Old Trafford next week will be enough to send Manchester United to Wembley.

Ferguson found it hard to be too critical of his side following the 2-1 reverse at Manchester City given they dominated for half an hour and continue to create clear openings after Carlos Tevez had ambushed his old club.

And, while they must win to stand any chance of successfully defending their trophy, the United boss remains confident.

"The most important thing will be to play like we did this time," he said.

"We dominated the match and were reasonably in control. Then we had a mad five minutes before half-time and it brought them back into the game.

"But with the crowd at Old Trafford, the occasion and what is at stake, we will be okay."

The mad five minutes Ferguson referred to revolved around the penalty teenage defender Rafael needlessly gave away five minutes before half-time for a tug on Craig Bellamy's shirt.

Rafael made his first grab outside the box but was still clinging on as the Welshman entered the area and referee Mike Dean immediately pointed to the spot.

Given his recent altercations with officialdom, Ferguson probably wisely diluted his words, instead inviting others to judge its merits.

"Everyone can see the penalty for themselves," he said.

"It is the kind of decision that has gone against us tonight but could go for us on another day."

Ferguson was not happy with City's second though.

A debatable corner turned into a disaster when Wes Brown and Jonny Evans both went to try and close Vincent Kompany down, meaning Tevez was on his own as the Belgian turned the ball back into the six-yard box.

It was a disappointing mistake given it involved two orthodox defenders, the kind Ferguson was desperate to return during that awful period when he had nine men missing.

"I don't know if it was a corner or not. But we certainly didn't defend it well," he grumbled.

Ryan Giggs meanwhile admitted that United had allowed their neighbours to fight their way back into the game after taking that early lead.

"It was the perfect start," Giggs told MUTV. "You always want to go 1-0 up in a cup tie away from home. After that we probably weren't as crisp with our passing and kept playing the ball backwards. We let City back into it, really."

"We felt we were a little unlucky to go into the break at 1-1," Giggs admitted, "but we also knew we could play better.

"[The penalty decision] was a turning point. If we'd have gone in 1-0 up it might have been a different story. Sometimes you get decisions and sometimes you don't - you just have to get on with it."

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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes Carlos Tevez should have been shown a red card in Tuesday's Manchester derby at Eastlands.

Tevez returned to haunt his former employers with two goals as Manchester City defeated United 2-1 in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final encounter, but the Argentinian frontman has been accused of making a reckless challenge on Wes Brown.

Tevez's high boot caught the thigh of the United defender in a 50-50 tackle, and Ferguson believes the challenge was severe enough to warrant a dismissal.

"Tevez should have been sent off really," said Ferguson. "Have you seen the tackle? He went over the top of the ball.

"He didn't even get booked."

Ferguson's views have emerged ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday, when emotions are expected to be running high amid the fallout from Tevez's clash with United stalwart Gary Neville.

In celebrating his first goal against United last week, Tevez made a "shut it" gesture in response to pre-match comments from Neville that the Argentina star was not worth the money it would have cost United to keep him at Old Trafford last summer.

Neville responded with a one-fingered gesture, which prompted further reaction from Tevez, who followed up by winning the game with a second-half header and then aimed fierce criticism at the Red Devils skipper.

In a wide-ranging attack, Tevez labelled Neville "a moron" and "a boot-licker".