Ferguson turns to cow metaphor to explain his beef
MANCHESTER UTD (1) VS BURSASPOR (0)
MANAGER Sir Alex Ferguson issued a passionate defence of Manchester United and his own record after a low-key European win overshadowed by his escalating public row with Wayne Rooney.
Ferguson hit back at Rooney’s criticism of United’s ability to challenge for trophies by pointing to his own hugely successful spell in charge.
Then in a bizarre twist the Scot chose a metaphor involving cows to illustrate that Rooney would come to regret switching clubs.
“He wants assurances? Have I won 30 trophies or what?” quipped Ferguson. “We have a structure at the club which is good, we have the right staff, the right manager, the right chief executive, he’s a brilliant man. There’s nothing wrong with Manchester United, not a thing wrong with it.”
Ferguson revealed United owners the Glazer family had been contacted last night and today would be “the end of it”.
He added: “Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it’s a better cow than the one you’ve got in your own field. But it never really works out that way.
“It’s probably the same cow which is only as good as your own cow. We have to deal with that – some players like to think that it’s a better world somewhere else. It never really works like that.”
Rooney’s shadow hung over Old Trafford last night during an unspectacular victory, albeit earned by an eye-catching strike from Nani, that cemented United’s place at the top of Group C. Valencia’s failure to win at Rangers makes United strong favourites.
Portugal winger Nani (left) opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he cut in from the right and curled a 20-yard shot past goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov.
Defender Nemanja Vidic headed wide when he should have doubled the advantage before half-time and the Premier League side wasted further chances to add to their tally after the break. French midfielder Gabriel Obertan nodded off target from a good position, while Mexico striker Javier Hernandez was also guilty of dragging a shot wide.