Ferguson wins again

Very few people seem to realise that Alex Ferguson has achieved exactly what he set out to and that he really couldn't give a toss if the FA forces him to watch the next few matches from the stands. His sole aim in criticising referees is to deflect public attention from his team's poor performances and he has done this twice recently, first when he questioned Alan Wiley's fitness and then again on Sunday when he made frankly bizarre criticisms of Andrew Marriner's refereeing experience.
Ferguson, in his cold and craggy heart, loathes referees anyway and has done all his life. As with all managers, referees should keep him at a respectful distance. He has developed wiles over the years but the criticism of referees is really one of the most transparent of his ruses. He's only doing it to stop his super-sensitive players from being criticised. If criticism of the Anfield playing surface, the floodlights or of his Aunt Jemimah tickled the national press and TV, Fergie would be blaming them for defeats.
Such has been Man United's dominance over the years that Fergis has only needed to pull this iron out of the fire a couple of times a season. But now his ageing team is showing distinct signs of fallibility, he's being forced to use - and over-use - the "useless ref" card. The Guardian may have run a full page about Fergie's relations with refs today but sooner or later the journalists will start devoting as much time to picking apart the Man Utd team, which is a long way from the force it was five years ago. The list of poor performers grows by the week. Giggs, Scholes, O'Shea, Vidic, Ferdinand, Rooney - all previously untouchable - to name but a few.
I suspect that if the rot continues, the spotlight may fall rather quickly on Ferguson and his inability to change and renew his squad, something he has been so good at doing in the past. So with his anti-ref torades, Fergie is hoping to keep the spotlight off his own managerial failings as well.