By Luke Reddy
20 Mar 2011 22:57:00
Blackpool Manager Ian Holloway (Getty Images)
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Banning Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson from the touchline for five matches is extremely harsh and the £30,000 fine for the Scot is “nonsense”, according to Blackpool manager Ian Holloway.
The United boss was dealt his punishment for controversial comments on the performance of Martin Atkinson following defeat at Stamford Bridge in early march but Bloomfield Road boss Holloway believes the Scot has been a victim of a failing system.
Holloway said, as quoted by the Independent: “Refs are only human and they cannot possibly get it right without help. We already use technology in cricket, tennis and rugby. I have always said it has to be introduced in football and I think my point is being proven every week.
“Every big decision would be right and Sir Alex would not be spending the next five games in the stand because he wouldn’t have had anything to moan about.”
According to Holloway, FA decision makers fail to take into consideration the fact that the United manager’s frustrations are simply a function of how much he cares and the pressure he is under to deliver results at such a big club.
He added: “Quite why they have hit Sir Alex so hard I’m not sure. He is the greatest manager at the greatest club and us mere mortals can’t even begin to imagine the pressure he is under every single week to get results.
“One day I’d like to be in a similar position, managing a club where everyone expects you to get three points in every game. But for now I couldn’t bear the thought of it. It would be too much. The Premier League is such an incredibly intense level and even now, seven months into the season, I am still getting to grips with it and learning how to handle myself.
“So it is no wonder that if a referee makes an error and it costs his team, Sir Alex will speak out. He is only human. For the FA to punish him so harshly for complaining about what everyone else can see with their own eyes, I just can’t understand.
“If the FA were trying to prove a point, they’ve certainly done that. But I’m not altogether sure it is fair when it wasn’t Sir Alex that made a mistake in the first place.”
The Tangerines boss is also adamant that the £30,000 fine picked up by Ferguson is over the top and questioned where the money was going.
“To say his punishment is harsh, by the way, is putting it mildly. A £30,000 fine on top of the ban is nonsense too, especially as the FA will pocket that. Why? Who are they to take that money? Give it to the people in Japan or Christchurch instead,” said 48-year-old Holloway.
“When I got fined earlier in the season, I asked if I could give it to the family of Gary Parkinson, our youth team coach who had a stroke, but the FA wouldn’t let me.”