Sir Alex Ferguson faces a possible touchline ban from Manchester United's visit to Liverpool after being charged by the Football Association for "using abusive and insulting words" during his finger-jabbing attack on the referee Mark Clattenburg.
Ferguson, enraged by the tactics employed by Bolton Wanderers during Saturday's 1-0 defeat of United, was banished from the dugout after letting Clattenburg know "exactly what he thought of him". A full note of the incident was included in Clattenburg's match report, alleging that Ferguson had repeatedly sworn and jabbed out his finger, and the FA contacted Ferguson last night to confirm it is taking disciplinary action.
The United manager has been instructed to answer the charge by December 11, five days before he takes his team to Liverpool. He is facing a fine that, in itself, would be of little consequence for a man of Ferguson's wealth, but he will be mindful that on the last occasion he was charged with such an offence, after verbally abusing the fourth official Jeff Winter at Newcastle in 2003, he was banned from the touchline for two games, as well as being ordered to pay £10,000.
Ferguson was unapologetic yesterday, claiming that the referee had given his players no protection. "You expect a team in Bolton's position to play that way," he said. "A team near the bottom will battle, scrap and fight because they do not have the quality of teams like us, and that is why they we are in different positions in the league. But the key thing is how the referee controls it."