Ferguson Slams City For Paparazzi Involvement

Last updated : 04 January 2013 By Footy Mad - Editor

Ferguson says that Manchester City are to blame for allowing the incident to be captured by photographers.

Ferguson enjoyed a laugh at his Friday press conference and took the opportunity to have a dig at City over yesterday's big story.

The whole episode was caught by snappers waiting next to the training ground, but Fergie is at a loss as to why the club allow such free access.

The footpaths on either side of the Carrington training ground are public, meaning that anyone wanting to watch a training session is free to.

The club has experimented with a six-foot tarpaulin curtain around the edge of the ground, but that hasn't stopped photographers or members of the public who climb ladders or trees in order to watch their heroes train.

Planning permission to extend the height of the curtain has been sought but six foot is the limit without the agreement of Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council.

In 18 months' time the squad are set to move their training to the new Etihad Campus training ground, but until then it looks as though Mancini and his players will be vulnerable to the paparazzi.

Ferguson: "You’re protecting the possibility of your success. Do the major companies tell their opponents what they're doing? I'm sure they don't.

"Football has got the profile. Cameramen want to do training sessions which is ridiculous.

"It is very difficult to coach and do work related to a game because you don't know where the information can go. Clubs like Real Madrid, the press were there every day, that's stopped under Jose.

"A lot of clubs I know don't [allow it]. How you can do your work and if you want to do tactical work, how do you do it with press around you?

"Fortunately at our place we can protect against it to a certain degree. Sometimes a photographer tries to wander across the woods but now we've put those wolves in there they don’t come!"