Mad Alex?

Sir Alex Ferguson has continued his crusade to blame everyone but himself or his players for Sunday's draw with Tottenham Hotspur, after pinpointing Benoit Assou-Ekotto's 'outrageous' haircut as the latest reason for the disappointing result.

Ferguson, who had previously laid the blame at the feet of Lance Armstrong, Luis Suarez and the bloke with the turban who always sits behind him at home matches, has now turned on Assou-Ekotto's audacious afro.

"As soon as the boy came on as a substitute I made the point to the fourth official that a haircut like that was unacceptable" said Ferguson. "Phil Jones was totally mesmerized by it for twenty minutes and the referee did nothing: I thought it was irresponsible and cowardly of him not to clamp down on it. We've had bad experiences with this referee in the past and it's happened again."

Ferguson may well be referring to an incident during a home game with Aston Villa in 2008, when the referee in question, Simon Beck, inexplicably failed to show a red card to Richard Dunne after the Irish defender cast several menacing glances at Anderson.

"Our young boys need to have some protection out there and they're just not getting it" added Ferguson. "The boy at Spurs intimidated our players with the most ridiculous haircut I've ever seen in my career. Phil is lucky to be alive after that."

Ferguson's latest comments have cast further doubts upon the manager's mental state. It comes weeks after he blamed a 'giant bat-like creature' for Swansea's equalizer at the Liberty Stadium. Ferguson claims the beast was circling the United penalty area at the time of the goal, rendering Rio Ferdinand disorientated and dizzy. When asked to describe the animal in front of baffled journalists, he commented that it was 'the size of a house' with 'really mean eyes.'

FEAR AND LOATHING IN SWANSEA: An artist's impression of the bat-like creature

He is not the first Premiership manager suffering from health problems as a result of the stressful nature of the job. Arsene Wenger famously loses all sight in both eyes whenever the ball enters Arsenal's box, with the Frenchman frustratingly never able to see strong penalty claims for opposing teams. And last season beleaguered former Blackburn boss Steve Kean publicly admitted that he had developed a condition which means he is incapable of distinguishing boos from cheers, after several incidents of him thanking violent Rovers protesters for their support.