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Ferguson short of Beckham apology
LONDON, England (AP) -- Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is famous for his "hairdryer treatment" of players, where he stands eye-to-eye and vents his anger. But on Tuesday, the 61-year-old Scot looked anything like the man capable of striking fear into the toughest of players as he faced a crowded Old Trafford news conference. As he explained away the most famous changing room incident in British football -- which left England captain David Beckham with a cut above his left eye -- Ferguson stopped short of an apology. After United were beaten in Saturday's 2-0 defeat by arch rival Arsenal, Ferguson kicked a soccer boot across the changing room. It hit and cut Beckham leaving him with a gash above his eye. The incident was enough to knock a looming war with Iraq off the front pages of British newspapers on Tuesday. Tabloids and broadsheets alike all ran a photograph of Beckham with two adhesive bandages over his eye. The Daily Telegraph ran the front page headline: "Sir Alex admits Beckham own-goal." Ferguson kept his eyes lowered as he read a prepared statement: "The publicity it has created? The only reaction I have to that is that it was a freakish incident. "If I tried it 100 or one million times it couldn't happen again. If I could I would have carried on playing." The bust up was even a talking point for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who jokingly threatened reporters on Wednesday at a news conference on Iraq with: "I've got a stack of football boots here under the table." Back at Old Trafford Ferguson said: "I have to stress that in 29 years as a manager and a coach, whatever happens in the dressing room remains sacrosanct. "There is no way I would betray the trust of the players however much benefit there may be. It never works that way, loyalty is 100 percent -- never any less than that." Ferguson said contrary to reports, Beckham did not need stitches. "It was a graze which was dealt with by the doctor," he said. "There is no problem and we move on. That is all there is to say." Beckham, 27, had his hair swept back off his forehead and the wound in full view of the waiting photographers on Monday. With speculation growing that one of the pair may now leave the club, bookmaker William Hill has released odds of 4-7 for Beckham to leave the club first and 5-4 for Ferguson. Beckham joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1991 but now has one of the highest profiles in British sport -- partly due to his performances on the pitch and partly due to his marriage to "Posh Spice" Victoria Adams. Ferguson once fined Beckham for attending a party with his wife before a Champions League match in 1999 and has ordered him from the training ground after he missed a practice session. Beckham's wife is no fan of Ferguson. In her 2001 autobiography, she described Ferguson as "vindictive" and said he "went berserk" when Beckham asked for two extra days off following their wedding. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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