FA punishment for Fergie: It's a slap on the wrist...

The tiresome saga surrounding Fergie's ill-timed and ill-conceived attack on Alan Wiley has finally been dealt with; the punishment will no doubt be seen as a slap on the wrist. The FA's decision to fine the United manager and ban him for four games, two of them suspended, isn't going to harm Manchester United or the manager. Granted the decision to ban Fergie for his-post match comments is a first, but still with some justification the referees' are likely to be unhappy with the outcome.

Despite the punishment and suspended ban, privately, Fergie might well feel vindicated in making his point so publicly, in so doing he has made his point and he's got away with it. It is also highly unlikely that the United manager has changed his views on the general standard of fitness where the officials are concerned.

There's no doubting some referees have looked unfit, but apparently Wiley is among the fittest and that was Fergie's big mistake, following the heat of battle with Sunderland in a Premier League fixture that ended 2-2, the Scot picked on the wrong one. One school of thought is that Fergie was actually trying to deflect attention away from his team's poor performance on the day - the attack was a diversionary tactic, but one that back-fired.

However, having catapulted the fitness issue into the football headlines, it is a topic that is likely to be revisited time and time again; ergo referees' will need to be seen to be on their toes and not lagging behind play.

Sure enough Fergie has been warned, but the spotlight is also firmly on the men in the middle. In time, it could well be the case that in voicing his concerns, Fergie could have done "the game" a favour if the general standard of referee fitness improves over the coming weeks and months.

Fitness issues aside something needs to be done about the standard of refereeing in general, the performance of Martin Atkinson last weekend at Stamford Bridge left an awful lot to be desired.