LMA chief executive Richard Bevan defends Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after referee rant

Sir Alex Ferguson (Getty images)

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Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers Association, has conceded that he understands Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson’s angry post match reaction against Chelsea.

The Scot was left fuming after referee Martin Atkinson decided not to send off David Luiz and then awarded Chelsea a penalty late in the game following a Chris Smalling challenge.

United went on to lose 2-1 at a ground that they have come home pointless from since 2002.

Ferguson claimed after the game that “he feared the worst” when he heard Atkinson was the man in charge of the game, and he has since come under fire from some quarters, notably former referee Jeff Winter, who called for the veteran manager to be banned for four games.

But Bevan sympathised with Ferguson’s reaction and felt he was entitled to air his opinion after the controversial penalty decision.

He also suggested that it comes with the territory if managers are going to be interviewed minutes after a match.

“He’s a man that since 1986 has been building high performance teams and when mistakes are made he will get angry,” Bevan told talkSPORT.

“And in the 76th minute that was a big mistake.

“If you’re going to interview managers after a game when so much is riding on these games, particularly a game of such a high-profile, then unfortunately you will get emotions going over – as you saw in Celtic-Rangers as well.”