There are some medals cantankerous Fergie will never win

So, Fergie was up to his old tricks again this week. I don’t mean he was intimidating referees by pointing to his watch for eight minutes of stoppage time or even suggesting an official was favouring the opposition. No, this time the Scot was snapping at a television inquisitor after Manchester United’s match against Benfica in the European Champions League. The interviewer also just happened to be Kelly Dalglish, the daughter of Liverpool and Scotland great Kenny. Kelly is an experienced media professional once at Sky Sports and Setanta. Liverpool and United are age-old adversaries so make your own mind up whether that had anything to do with the latest stand-off. Kelly asked a perfectly reasonable question as to whether man of the match Anders Lindegaard would start Sunday’s match against Chelsea, as £19 million goalkeeper David de Gea has not started the season greatly for United. [caption id=“attachment_85408” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Alex Ferguson has snapped at more media reporters than most of us would ever know. Michael Regan/Getty Images”] [/caption] “I don’t know why you ask these questions, you’re just looking for stupid little things,” Fergie snapped back. Let’s face it, this is not an isolated incident. This isn’t a witch-hunt or a dig, just an observation of another side to someone who is otherwise one of the best-ever football managers, certainly in English football. Remember the Ryan Giggs episode earlier this year? During the United press conference in the week leading up to their Champions League final against Barcelona, a reporter from the Associated Press news wire asked a perfectly legitimate question of Giggs’s experience and importance to the team. It was at a time when Giggs was in the middle of a tabloid war over an alleged affair, but still the question was valid and not overly mischievous. Fergie smelled a rat that was more a cute little field mouse and his command to the club’s media manager to ban that reporter at a later media conference was picked up by television microphones. It was another example of his unnecessary need to control, or command. He has snapped at more media reporters than most of us would ever know. It is that unpleasant, fearsome, intimidating nature that inspires his players into great performances when they are too frightened to have a bad game than feel the force of his hairdryer. Why do you think the ever-improving England forward Ashley Young has barely put a foot wrong since moving from Aston Villa to Old Trafford for £16.5 million this summer. At Villa, he was the best player but seemed content to churn out one great display in every three or four matches. Not any more. That’s the skill of Fergie. But where there’s respect for him there must also be a share of dislike and contempt for the manner in which he conducts himself. It is enlightening to see the fear with which an otherwise ferocious and unforgiving English press pack have for him at his media conferences. Obvious probing, critical questions are replaced by platitudes and compliments and setting him up for smooth explanations. It is sometimes uncomfortable to witness, how apparent hard-nosed hacks are reduced to frightened creeps. But that’s Fergie for you. Ask him a question he doesn’t like or much care for and he will have you banned from future conferences, so you actually can’t blame this creep culture that Fergie has cultivated among the media. He is a clever guy, and knows how to use media to wind up opponents. He knows how to play the media game, for sure, but does that make him a nice bloke? Come off it. Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger has had lots of awkward questions aimed his way yet deals with them in a composed, polite, professional, calm manner, returning the respect from a fellow football industry worker. This is one medal Fergie will never win.