Ref Rants

After Fergie's bizarre rant at referee Alan Wiley, we take a look at some famous instances when managers have lost it

Sir Alex Ferguson – Martin Atkinson

In one of Sir Alex Ferguson's many ref rants, he released his frustration on Martin Atkinson after a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth in the FA Cup. Ferguson was furious that Portsmouth had been awarded a penalty that won them the game and because he felt his players had not been protected by the referee. He was further upset that United had not been awarded a penalty when Sylvain Distin committed what Ferguson believed to a blatant foul on Cristiano Ronaldo. Ferguson added that referees should be sacked after poor games, as is the way with managers, he then concluded by calling the game a joke.

Gerard Houllier – Graham Poll

After a 2-0 defeat at Highbury, then Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was livid with referee Graham Poll after he had sent off both Gary McAllister and Dietmar Hamann. Overlooking the fact that Poll had also sent off Arsenal's Patrick Vieira, Houllier said, "I think Mr Poll had a bad game, he had a very bad game. Maybe it is the start of the season. We are very unlucky with Mr Poll, I have never won with him - that is clear."

Rafa Benitez – Phil Dowd

Rafa Benitez risked the wrath of the FA at the start of this season with a rant about Phil Dowd, following his side being denied two penalties. In the post match press conference the Liverpool manager took out his glasses and looked through them, mocking the referee. He also said that being given two penalties away from home with Phil Dowd in charge was, impossible.

Sam Allardyce – Mike Riley

Allardyce unleashed his anger on referee Mike Riley following a red card being shown to one of his players. After the game Big Sam accused Riley of blatant inconsistency and said that the decision nearly caused a riot. The tirade didn't stop there as Sam then recalled past Bolton games that Riley had refereed: "Give me a minute and I will prove what the referee (Riley) has done. He has refereed us seven times and we've had five players sent off, four in the first half. The statistics speak for themselves."

Chris Coleman – Steve Bennett

Then Fulham manager Chris Coleman slammed referee Steve Bennett after his sides 2-0 defeat to Chelsea. Coleman labelled Bennett as smug and criticised his attitude towards the Fulham players, "he was smug towards us, the way he was talking to my players, my senior players." Coleman claimed that Bennett had been too friendly with the Chelsea players and given them too much respect. On top of this he criticised Bennett for allowing two injured Chelsea players back on the pitch in a position which gave them a clear advantage and led to a goal.