It would have been dream come true for Dimitar Berbatov when he joined Manchester United four years ago but he has left with bitter memories. He has taken a potshot at his ex-coach Sir Alex Ferguson for the treatment he meted out to him.
Dimitar Berbatov, who moved to Fulham last Friday, said that he was not happy with the way the Manchester United manager treated him the last few months.
"I don't think I deserved such treatment at United - not playing (regularly) in the last year," Berbatov told a news conference at Vasil Levski national stadium in Sofia.
"I went more than 10, probably 15, times to ask the coach if they need me. And every time I was told that I'm an important player and should not leave, but then again I was not in the team. Maybe I should've gone when he (Ferguson) left me out of the squad for the Champions League final (in 2011). I know he's the boss, but he has lost, to some extent, my respect because of the way he treated me."
Finding hard to understand why he was left out of the Manchester United squad for the Champions League final against Barcelona in spite of being the top scorer in the Premier League, the Bulgarian stricker said that he approached the coach to know if the club needed him, to which he was told to stay and fight for his place.
"I didn't deserve to be excluded from the Champions League final. I should have left the club after this game. I spoke with Ferguson 10 or 15 times. I asked him, 'Boss, do you still need me?' He said that he stood by me. I couldn't go back and ask him again because he would swear at me. I had to stay and fight for a place," The Sun quited Berbatov as saying.
"But I played 10 or 12 games. I hoped that he would understand his mistake to chalk me off the Champions League final. I still can't explain myself about this decision. I never got a reasonable explanation."
Feeling bitter with the way he was unceremoniously show the doors, Berbatov didn't bid goodbye to his ex-coach Sir Alex.
"I found it hard to accept his decision (not to play him) - I still have my dignity. I scored many goals, I won the league two times, and I was the league top scorer, so it's not bad. I'll have no problems playing against United as this already happened in my career. But there's no point to look back again. I said goodbye to the people, who deserve it. I couldn't say goodbye to Ferguson," he said.
Sir Alex Ferguson has a history of kicking out big players if they are in his scheme of things. David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo are some of them, and Dimitar Berbatov is the latest to join the list. It was rumoured that Wayne Rooney would be shown the doors following his thigh injury but Sir Alex denied it.
