ALEX Ferguson has turned down his knighthood because his wife is cooking a nice casserole for tea on the day he was due at Buckingham Palace.

She was asked if she could keep the lamb in deep freeze for a couple more days, but argued that she already had some beef ordered from the butcher and there would be no room in the freezer for both.

It is a strange coincidence because Ferguson (if I ever call him Sir, cart me off to the funny farm) and his Manchester United chums (sic), stand accused of butchering the FA Cup.

The club, on this occasion, are not solely at fault.

And United's first signing this summer should be that contemptuous clot from the Football Association, David Davies.

He makes my skin crawl and their subservience to FIFA is sickening. If securing the World Cup means licking the boots of president Sepp Blatter, I would rather it was played in South Africa.

But didn't Davies look at home next to Ferguson and United chairman Martin Edwards as they bluffed their way around every question yesterday?

It is not about money, said Edwards.

Winning the FA Cup is said to be worth £6m and the finances of the new world club championship are, as yet, not known.

Permit me to hazard a guess that all clubs might be guaranteed a tidy little windfall from this new tournament, which is a great idea and should have been invented earlier. The real hypocrisy, though, is in the argument that no other solution could be found.

Remember the days of FA Cup replays, when ties became soap operas and dragged on for weeks.

The draw for the fifth round was often made with fourth round ties outstanding and occasionally with third round matches still undecided.

Okay, Manchester United might face a fixture pile-up towards the end of the season - but that is the inevitable price of success. Some of their vast wealth could easily be used to further strengthen playing resources.

It has been effortlessly proved that the fixtures could have been juggled to accommodate their trip to Brazil and continued progression in the FA Cup.

Ferguson's United have set precedents for devaluing English football heritage.

Under-strength sides are often fielded in the Worthington Cup. Team selection for this year's FA Cup final was a clear indication of the value Old Trafford placed on that competition.

Now United want to trim the Premier League - not the Champions' League, note.

I have a better idea. Why don't United pull out of all domestic competitions and move lock, stock and barrel to Outer Mongolia and do us all a favour?

Neil Bramwell is the Sports Editor

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.