SOCCER/Ferguson-Beckham row: Manchester United's increasingly fraught relationship with Arsenal has come under added strain after it emerged yesterday that Alex Ferguson holds the London club responsible for leaking the news about his dressing-room clash with David Beckham. Ferguson believes it was a sly and deliberate attempt to undermine him, and United's directors are so angry that they intend to raise the matter with their Highbury counterparts.
As Beckham's grievance against Ferguson was exacerbated yesterday by the manager's continued refusal to show any remorse, not least his glib dismissal of the midfielder's head wound as merely a "graze", it was said that a mole-hunt inside Old Trafford had uncovered solid evidence that there was no betrayal from within the club.
Instead Ferguson, along with United's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, is known to be furious after hearing whispers that one of the most embarrassing episodes of his 16-year tenure at the club hit the headlines because of a phone call to the Sun on Sunday night from a member of Arsene Wenger's backroom staff who had access to the corridors outside the home dressing-room.
"You can imagine our sense of displeasure," said a United source. "It seems like a deliberate act of mischief on their part and at our expense."
Further allegations that Beckham spat at Ferguson and that they had to be pulled apart have ensured the rift will cast a shadow over tonight's Champions League tie against Juventus.
At an Old Trafford news conference yesterday the matter was hardly helped when Ferguson passed up the opportunity to apologise and seemed more concerned with quibbling about the seriousness of the gash he had inflicted upon Beckham by kicking a stray football boot at him after Saturday's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal.
"Contrary to a lot of reports, David did not have two stitches to his head," Ferguson said. "He had no stitches. It was a graze that was treated by the doctor. No problems. We'll move on and that's all there is to say."
Unimpressed, Beckham's advisers, SFX, subsequently released a statement with the intention of clarifying the matter: "David did not want stitches at first, but two hours after the game blood was still dripping from the wound. The club doctor visited David's house and fixed two steri-strips to stop the bleeding."
Beckham is expected to play tonight after recovering from his calf injury and the fact Ferguson is apparently willing to select him suggests he wants to put the matter behind them.
Nevertheless, the England captain was said to be "frustrated" about his manager's choice of words yesterday. Beckham knows the stubborn side of Ferguson too well to have expected him to issue a public apology but he was still dismayed there was no regret shown by his manager. Ferguson's anger about Arsenal's apparent role in the leak was also evident.
"First and foremost, I have to stress, as I have in all my 29 years as a coach, that whatever happens in the dressing-room should be sacrosanct," he said.
Refusing to answer questions, Ferguson left abruptly after reiterating that the whole thing had been an accident.
"It was freakish. If I'd tried it 100 times, or even a million times, it could not happen again." Explaining why he would not add anything, he said: "There's no way I could ever betray the trust of the players by letting anything out of the dressing-room."
Earlier he had threatened to abandon the press conference if the photographers were not removed, warning: "If you don't leave, I'm leaving." Beckham's advisers maintain he believes he has been seriously wronged and deserves an apology. One looks unlikely but, while that will damage the relationship between manager and player, it is not deemed serious enough to jeopardise Beckham's future at the club.
As ever, when Beckham is involved there is a danger of hysteria and exaggeration. Officials at Old Trafford reacted with disdain yesterday to the news that one bookmaker was offering odds on which of Ferguson or Beckham would leave the club first.
