Sir Alex Ferguson has accused Rafael Benitez of "arrogance" and showing "contempt" in his dealings with fellow Premier League managers.
The Liverpool chief has been in combative mood recently, on several occasions launching verbal volleys at Ferguson.
And ahead of Sunday's FA Cup semi-final with Everton, Ferguson has hit back with a withering assessment of Benitez's conduct.
First he lambasted the Spaniard for his description of Everton as a "small club" before rounding on him for the attitude he showed in dismissing Blackburn last weekend once Liverpool had scored their second goal at Anfield.
"Everton are a big club, not a small one which Benitez arrogantly said," said Ferguson.
"But arrogance is one thing. You cannot forgive contempt, which is what he showed (Blackburn manager) Sam Allardyce last weekend.
"When Liverpool scored their second goal he signalled as if the game was finished. I do not think Sam deserved that.
"Sam has worked so hard for the LMA (League Managers' Association) and he's had a weakened team. I just thought it showed contempt.
"In my experience no Liverpool manager has ever done that. It was beyond the pale."
The tirade should enliven the Premier League title battle when it resumes next week, although Ferguson will feel justified in making the attack.
Benitez had delivered what he claimed to be "facts", about United which the Red Devils do not believe to be true.
And while Ferguson has tried to resist the temptation to respond, this time he felt he needed to make a stand against the Liverpool manager, who feels more sure of his ground after finally steering his club into championship contention despite this week's Champions League exit at the hands of Chelsea.
Your Comments
bun9
"Amazing! I had assumed by the nature of Ulysess's 3 posts that he's about 8. Especially as there's been a lot of his posts in the last couple of weeks which would tie in with the spring break. However the using of the word "thrice" means he can't be that young. How old are you Ulysees?"
Kopqueen
"Problem with fergie is he is complains about something and then does the exact same thing a few weeks later.
Also can some united fans please explain a couple of things to me?
1) Why does fergie call for extra protection for ronaldo from refs? Is he the only one that can't see he's a diver?
2) Why do united always get more injury time than every other team when they're losing? Or is that time added on ronaldo's diving? I mean some games there have been hardly ANY injuries or substitutions but because they are losing they get FIVE minutes, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw it a few weeks back.
PS Then fergie has the cheek to point to his watch when they are winning and tell the ref to end the game!!! HYPOCRITE!!!!"
McFunkalot
"joe90 "....bitter and full of hate.." you could be talking about Fergie there"
loverpool
"Lets just ignore the old fart, he's just having one of those days, cant remember if it was yesterday or 3 years ago, probably put his slippers out last night & tried to put the cat on his feet. I dont think it was showing contempt to blackburn, it was a fact the game was over at 2-0. great fergie quote: 'If Chelsea drop points, the cat's out in the open. And you know what cats are like - sometimes they don't come home.' as i said ignore the old man, he'll be gone soon.
PS. kenbush your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend must give you hell at home, everytime you are on here you're having a go at everyone, is it really that bad ? smile ken, your face wont crack"
bezza
"slicksta2704, of course Rafa's the best manager in the league, can't wait for Fergie to leave United so that he can take over for us!! Yeah Right my left a*se Cheek! Remind me what he's done? Where's your league title? nothing yet, no silver ware just mouth!"
joe90
"'rafa best manager in the league look what hes done while at liverpool'... Yeah what has Fergie won? United fans should wait until their team win the premier league or the champions league or the F.A. Cup or the Carling cup before they talk about how good they're team is, whereas Liverpool, a trophy every two or three years (never the league)... amazing!"
alip
"sick of hearing the same old liverpool rubbish , they all seem to think it is their devine right to win trophys , fraid not lads , all together now " NEXT YEAR WE WILL WIN IT " seem to have heard that old line before , about, mmmmm 19 times i think .......
fergie is by far the best manager in the prem , look at his record , how can you argue ???? you can't unless of course you are some one eyed liverpool fan "
bojan1981
"the same goes for liverpool and man city fans: massive losers, pathetic megalomaniacs living in the past!"
ngogginthe_ngog
"joe90, I don't agree with your comment, but just wanted to congratulate you on spelling & punctuating everything correctly, except for your second sentence, which as a direct question should have ended with a question mark. Still, compared to the other commenters you're a regular Lynne Truss."
KingKenny7
"Poooor fergie has lost it, plain and simple. Hes watched "the greatest" utd squad get found out for what it really is..mediocre, and the main pretenders have been discussed on this site many times so im not gonna get into it again..Look if fergie was so confident and happy with the way his team are playing why would he feel the need to start mouthing off? and since when does he give a foook about any other managers...its dam funny tho.... "
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