Fergie, "Middlesbrough have become paranoid about Ronaldo which, to a certain extent, you can understand when you acknowledge that penalties have cost them in their last three fixtures with us. They have disputed them all but for me the referee got it right on all three occasions. The first time, at the Riverside in the league in December, there was no dive [by Ronaldo]. I agree the goalkeeper didn't touch him but he lunged and caused Ronaldo to stumble, which to me is a penalty.
"Then, in the first FA Cup tie, Boateng was penalised for handball but what did he expect when he lifted his hands above his head in the penalty area? Ronaldo was successful with the spot-kick to earn us a replay and another hard-fought match that ended with Jonathan Woodgate's trip on him. That was described as controversial but even Woodgate admitted afterwards that he had caught his foot and that it had been the right decision.
"I can fully understand their frustration but Morrison couldn't expect anything but a red card when he lost his temper and simply scythed Ronaldo's legs. What I found more difficult to understand was Boateng saying that was what the rest of the team had wanted to do. That sort of comment was not what you want from a captain, particularly after the game when tempers have had time to cool. I was surprised the FA did nothing about it.
"Referees protect talented players now, although Ronaldo was fouled nine times in the first Cup tie at Middlesbrough. Certainly things have improved compared with the days when you see clips of George Best and the cynical attempts to hack him down. Standards have improved and although Morrison's attempted retribution does make you wonder, I think players generally have too much respect and admiration for a player like Ronaldo to set out to seriously injure him.
"They will try to nail him, but not break his leg or anything like that. That's not a worry for me."