Oliver Holt in the Mirror:
‘If you want to stop Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger slagging each other off, well, congratulations, you've just joined the moral majority intent on strangling sport. If you're outraged by two intelligent men having the temerity to voice an opinion about one another, give yourself a pat on the back, then go away and dream up new ideas for killing off the last vestiges of individuality in our sportsmen.
‘Because that's what's happening. Trying to silence Ferguson and Wenger is just the tip of a very scary iceberg. This is about Big Brother watching you. And I'm not talking about Bez, Brigitte and their buddies. This is about control. It's about trying to erect a cordon sanitaire around sport and squeezing anything threatening or rebellious out of it.
‘If Ferguson still wants an apology from Wenger, let him say it. What would he prefer? That he lied about it? That he said the men were the best of friends? What's wrong with the truth? What's wrong with a bit of emotion? What's wrong with Wayne Rooney standing in front of the Kop celebrating a goal?
‘If a referee makes a mistake, let a manager criticise him. Why not? Are we supposed to pretend the mistake never happened? I thought we were supposed to enjoy free speech in this country. I thought we wanted footballers and managers to talk more openly. Instead, we're hammering them for speaking their mind. It's gone way beyond a desire for a degree of discipline. It's getting downright sinister.’