SIR ALEX FERGUSON once branded two Manchester United stars “a***holes” for partying after a derby defeat.
Marcus Rashford was dropped for the trip to Newport on Sunday after missing training last week because he was busy partying in Belfast.
Marcus Rashford had showdown talks with Erik ten Hag after partying last week[/caption]Erik ten Hag previously slammed Rashford for partying after the Manchester Derby defeat in October.
But on this occasion he said the England star’s absence was an “internal matter”, and that he would “deal with it”.
That is a far cry from how Ferguson responded when two players had the audacity to hit the town following a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in 2013.
Both clubs were challenging for the title with United 15 points ahead in early April, meaning the Premier League was all but won.
But Fergie fumed at the two players for partying until the early hours and Robin van Persie revealed he made an example out of them.
The Dutchman said: “In my first season, we were 15 points ahead in the league, and we welcomed Manchester City to win the title.
“If we won this match, it was 18 points ahead, but we lost. This still left us 12 points ahead, most managers would not have dramatised the situation. The boss, on the other hand, he went up in the turns. It was really hot.
“Two guys from the team were out after this loss. The day after the match, he had pictures of the two players posted in the dressing room during their night out.
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“He said to the whole team, ‘Ok guys if we don’t win the championship, know that it’s because of those two a***holes that chose to go out.”
Meanwhile Rashford, 26, arrived at Carrington on Monday for showdown talks with Ten Hag.
He has been fined two weeks’ wages, worth £650,000.
Rashford trained on Wednesday and was pictured in Lavery’s Bar that evening ahead of a planned day off.
The forward went on a 12-hour tequila bender before passing out at 3am, then called in sick hours later.
A waitress who joined the Manchester United ace on his booze bender told last night how he was “on a mission to get drunk”.
She said the sloshed striker downed tequila shots and cocktails before collapsing on a hotel bed fully clothed just before 3am.
Rashford had spent two days partying on a visit to Belfast to see a pal, and got a 7am private jet back to Manchester on Friday.
Belfast waitress Sarah Adair, 30, told last night how she had served the footballer lunch before he invited her to party with him.
She claimed they then had a “weird” night out which ended with her having to put him to bed after he drunkenly dropped huge wads of cash on the floor.
Sarah said: “I’m not surprised he missed training the next day given how late he got to bed and how much he’d had to drink. He must’ve known he wasn’t going to be in any fit state to play football.”
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