Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was famous for his success in the dugout – and his close scrutiny of referees.
When the match clock would strike 90 minutes at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson would patrol the touchline tapping his watch. It would be a clear message to the officials that he was keeping a close eye on their timekeeping.
Ferguson frequently clashed with officials, and he was ‘distraught’ when Nani was sent off for Manchester United against Real Madrid in a controversial decision that proved to be his last ever Champions League game.
Former referee Dermot Gallagher once claimed: “Years and years ago one of the referees had a heart monitor on during a match at Old Trafford.
“They were assessing it and suddenly it jumped and went through the roof. They looked at the DVD and he’d just turned down a penalty in front of the Stretford End. The pressure is immense.”
Nowadays at Manchester United, there is notably no Sir Alex Ferguson in charge, but there is also a totally new system in place, with referees removing some of the responsibility on their shoulders by referring decisions to VAR.
VAR has been an imperfect system which has made mistakes – with Mark Clattenburg recently pointing out an error for Arsenal’s goal at Old Trafford in Manchester United’s 2025/26 opening day defeat.
Debate is ongoing whether VAR has actually improved football, and Sir Alex Ferguson has his own view.
Sir Alex Ferguson checks his watch on the touchline
Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
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Sir Alex Ferguson believes VAR is difficult to forgive
Sir Alex Ferguson is sceptical about the value VAR has brought to the game, due to the fact decisions still come out incorrect.
Speaking to the Beyond The Back Four podcast, former MUTV host Sam Homewood recounted a conversation he had with Ferguson about VAR.
Ferguson believed VAR is harder to forgive than a referee who makes a wrong decision in a split-second heat of the moment.
Homewood explained: “I wonder if for fans the frustration over one VAR decision is so much higher than the threshold to fans frustration over to one incorrect refereeing decision prior to VAR.
“I had this conversation once with Sir Alex Ferguson, this was his viewpoint: it’s much easier to forgive a referee who makes a mistake in the moment, even if you are passionately against that decision, than it is to wait four minutes and then feel that the wrong decision has still been made.
“It’s much harder to forgive that incorrect call because they’ve watched it, you’ve watched it, you’ve all seen it, and it’s still come out wrong, and you’ve had to wait.”
Manchester United have been on the right and wrong side of incorrect refereeing decisions with VAR in recent seasons. It is clear that the inconsistency is still there.
Mark Clattenburg responds to Sir Alex Ferguson complaints
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg told Beyond The Back Four that he has sympathy for Sir Alex Ferguson’s viewpoint.
Clattenburg acknowledged that Ferguson is still plugged in with many coaches in today’s game, and his views are also likely reflective of their sentiments.
He said: “I think there’s a point of what Sir Alex is saying. I think he listens to a lot of coaches that are [from] before, using the system prior and now using the system.”
Clattenburg believes a collective re-think is required about VAR and how it is implemented across the game.
“We’ve got to accept in football which I think Sir Alex did, without VAR, referee was the sole person.”
“We’ve got to accept at some point where we want to see VAR. Do we really want to see every decision scrutinised?
“Do we allow the referee to referee, and if it’s subjective, it stays with the referee. We shouldn’t have this scrutiny that we are seeing over the last three years where every decision is looked at in fine detail, and you can find whatever you want from 10 different angles.
“That’s not what VAR was for, that’s not what football wants. Football wants excitement, we want goals.”