Fergie's BBC boycott

[Rosco]

Looks like it's about to end !

Sir Alex Ferguson is considering abandoning his boycott of the BBC, thus ending one of the oldest grudges of his career, amid growing pressure from the Premier League and the League Managers Association (LMA). The Premier League has written to Manchester United explaining that Ferguson will face a sliding scale of punishments if he continues to ignore Match of the Day and 5 Live. Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the LMA, has had conversations with the Old Trafford manager to try to persuade him to put his grievances to one side.

The talks have been described as delicate and finely poised, with Ferguson dismayed by the idea that he may have to speak to the institution for the first time since a Panorama documentary in 2004, entitled Father and Son, about the business activities of his son Jason, then working as a football agent.

The Premier League has brought in a new rule stipulating that all managers must speak to the broadcasting rights-holders, which include the BBC, and there have been discussions behind the scenes, with Bevan acting as an intermediary to try to talk around one of the most famously stubborn managers in the business.

Ferguson's initial reaction was that he would ignore the new rule, regardless of the consequences, until his family received an apology from the BBC, which he has accused of "breathtaking arrogance".

Since then, however, there have been more high-level talks, with BBC officials and United's chief executive, David Gill, involved. The club are sympathetic to Ferguson's grievances but, behind the scenes, there is a feeling that it is becoming a battle he cannot win – at least if he wants to avoid a series of escalating fines.

In previous years Ferguson was immune to punishment because of a loophole in the rules, which requested that managers talk to the rights-holders under a "best endeavours" clause. Tightening it was specifically designed to tackle Ferguson's habit of dodging the BBC, the United manager usually sending his assistant, Mike Phelan, to answer their questions.

Ferguson did break the boycott to present Sir Bobby Robson with a lifetime achievement award on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards programme in 2007, but his opinion about the institution can be gauged from an interview earlier that year.

"The BBC is the kind of company that never apologise, and they never will apologise," he said. "They did a story about my son that was a whole lot of nonsense. It was all made-up stuff, brown paper bags and that kind of carry-on. It was a horrible attack on my son's honour and he should never have been accused of that.

"But it is such a huge organisation that they will never apologise. They don't even care if you sue them or whatever, because they are so huge and have insurance. They carry on regardless and it's breathtaking."

The BBC has tried to initiate talks with Ferguson but with no success. Acutely aware of the delicacy of the situation, it does not expect to receive confirmation about his plans until United's first weekend match of the new league season, against Fulham on 22 August.

However, the Premier League has withdrawn its plans to introduce another rule that could have forced Ferguson to attend post-match press conferences.

For the past seven years Ferguson has been the only manager in the league not to talk to newspaper reporters after league games, giving interviews only to Sky and Manchester United's in-house television station, MUTV. The plan was to make it mandatory for a manager or senior member of the coaching staff to hold a press conference, but that will probably not be introduced until the 2011-12 season.

 

[The Slugmonster]

I know he's a dickhead and all, but if they aired a program on one of my family that was bullshit id have a hard time speaking to them as well!

 

[Spionkop69]

[quote author=The Slugmonster link=topic=41322.msg1149950#msg1149950 date=1281171344]
I know he's a dickhead and all, but if they aired a program on one of my family that was bullshit id have a hard time speaking to them as well!
[/quote]

Yeah but was it just bullshit in just Fergie's opinion? I seem to remember the programme and there seemed to be plenty of factual stuff in it rather than just journalistic opinion.

Plus I love the way that Fergie goes on about "breathtaking arrogance", he'd know all about that wouldn't he?

 

[The Slugmonster]

[quote author=Spionkop69 link=topic=41322.msg1149960#msg1149960 date=1281172023]
[quote author=The Slugmonster link=topic=41322.msg1149950#msg1149950 date=1281171344]
I know he's a dickhead and all, but if they aired a program on one of my family that was bullshit id have a hard time speaking to them as well!
[/quote]

Yeah but was it just bullshit in just Fergie's opinion? I seem to remember the programme and there seemed to be plenty of factual stuff in it rather than just journalistic opinion.

Plus I love the way that Fergie goes on about "breathtaking arrogance", he'd know all about that wouldn't he?
[/quote]

Still though, once its a family thing you can see why he's done what he's done.

 

[doctor_mac]

His boycott predated that though, I'm sure. Didn't he take umbrage at comments made by Allan Green or something, and start whinging that the BEEB had it in for him?

 

[Judge Jules]

Yes, besides which Spion's absolutely right about the evidence and Ferguson knows it. The old b@stard has just been throwing his weight around to try and censor legitimate reporting. Shame on the authorities for letting him get away with it for so long.

 

[Avmenon]

[quote author=Spionkop69 link=topic=41322.msg1149960#msg1149960 date=1281172023]
[quote author=The Slugmonster link=topic=41322.msg1149950#msg1149950 date=1281171344]
I know he's a dickhead and all, but if they aired a program on one of my family that was bullshit id have a hard time speaking to them as well!
[/quote]

Yeah but was it just bullshit in just Fergie's opinion? I seem to remember the programme and there seemed to be plenty of factual stuff in it rather than just journalistic opinion.

Plus I love the way that Fergie goes on about "breathtaking arrogance", he'd know all about that wouldn't he?
[/quote]

Damn straight.

Fuck Fergie.

He might like to paint his family as victims, but there were plenty of questionable issues in that piece; even Macca raised some points about his shenanigans at Aberdeen..so his actions were more a bunch of typical posturing than some rightful grievances.

Othrwise he'd have sued (and probably won) for libel.

 

[Vlads Quiff]

he has his reasons, why the fuck should he be made to speak to the BB fucking C . It will be interesting to see how far it could go.

Regards

 

[keniget]

Because it's part of his job description.

 

[Judge Jules]

Exactly. His reasons derive solely from the fact that he's wedged securely up his own @rse, and let's not have any nonsense about how he's "entitled to be". Nobody's "entitled" to behave as Ferguson has got away with behaving for FAR too long.

 

[peterhague]

you've got to feel for fergie, the BBC's clearly 'beyond the pale'.

 

[ibromurph]

BBC.. typical Germans.

 

[Shadey]

Talking of BBC any one watching Leeds v Derby? great game 1-2 btw

 

[doctor_mac]

Can I just say, with no hint of malice, that Fergie is a massive
[move][size=34pt]CUNT[/size][/move]

 

[RedStar]

The only real surprise here is that the BBC never forced the issue before and there was a simple way of doing this, all they had to do was to refuse to broadcast the comments of which ever lackey he sent out in his place to stand infront of the advertising banners and act as his mouthpiece. In about 2 weeks he would have been back because the guys that pay millions in sponsorship to have their logos viewed on primetime BBC would have threatened to pul the plug and that would have been the end of it.

He plays the family card like its a matter of honour but thats just his way of justifing it, there was no honour in the way he systematically banned every print journalist who raised uncomfortable questions for him over the years until he got to the point where he stopped doing press conferences for the print media.

Write what I want or you will be cut off, thats not the actions of an honourable man its the actions of a dictator

 

[Judge Jules]

Well said.

 

[Richey]

If it was our manager wasting his time on silly feuds i'd be wanting him to get over it and concentrate on other more important things but since its Fergie, i don't care what time he wastes and i don't really want to hear him anyway, i kinda hope he sticks to his guns on this.

I don't like that the BBC can try to control things like this really.

 

[Judge Jules]

I'd sooner they got their way than Ferguson got his.

 

[Avmenon]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=41322.msg1150796#msg1150796 date=1281342964]
I'd sooner they got their way than Ferguson got his. choked on his gum and joined Kenny from South Park in hell.
[/quote]