MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson has waded into the Carlos Tevez saga by describing the rule which forced Manchester City to halve the fine they handed to the Argentine striker as "a bit crazy."
An intervention from the Professional Footballers' Association, following a ruling agreed by the Premier League and FA, saw them step in and refuse to sanction the initial four-week punishment.
Tevez, the former Manchester United striker, was facing being hit in the pocket by up #1,000,000 after allegedly refusing to play against Bayern Munich last month.
But the players' union, who must ratify the decision of any club to impose a fine of more than two weeks' wages, failed to support the hardline stance taken and the penalty imposed by the club.
Manchester City claim the PFA have a "conflict interests," but Manchester United manager Ferguson stepped in to offer his riposte and said: "I think it is a bit strange of course, but the regulations are there.
"It is a fact that the maximum fine you can give a player is two weeks' (wages)," he said.
"It seems a bit crazy in that particular situation, but it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Manchester City, who continue to fail to answer an questions on the on-going Tevez saga, consider the matter closed in that they have found Tevez guilty of misconduct and issued a fine, even though they anticipate an appeal.
But while that news has taken centre stage this week, it hasn't stopped the blue half of Manchester from revelling in the wake of last Sunday's 6-1 derby-day demolition at Old Trafford.
Ferguson insists his players are still smarting from that humbling experience, and their worst home defeat since 1955, as they look to come to terms with their humiliation in front of their own supporters.
And while he maintains it was the worst day ever during his long reign at the club, Ferguson believes Manchester United will recover to mount a challenge for Premier League title during the remainder of the season.
Almost 15 years ago, Ferguson's side suffered embarrassing heavy defeats at the hands of Newcastle and Southampton but still bounced back to win the title.
The Scot says history can repeat itself, and said: "Of course it's been tough mentally for everyone, but we have to get over it.
"It was a bad result. But we have to get over that. That's the name of the game. For the players, employees, supporters and staff, everybody has been involved in that disappointment, but we have to kick on.
"We feel we can recover from the disappointment. It's something we have done over the years well, and we are going to have to do it again.
"Nothing changes in football. The challenge is always there to be the very best."
Ferguson believes the resumption of the season, following next month's international break, could have a major say on where the silverware ends up next May.
"Once the international football finishes in the next period, I think all the clubs can get settled and can then kick on in terms of an interrupted run between November and March," he said.
"It's an opportunity to kick on."
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