The Manchester United boss was found guilty of improper conduct by the FA this week for his post-match rant at referee Mike Dean after the Red Devils overcame Hull 4-3 at Old Trafford.

It is the second time Ferguson has been consigned to the stands for a couple of games in the last 12 months, having served a similar suspension last Christmas for his verbal attack on Mark Clattenburg.

Ferguson claimed a couple of weeks ago he was surprised to have been charged. But the Scot was in phlegmatic mood as he assessed the latest turn of events.

"It happens," reflected Ferguson. "It is my own fault."

The Scot feels that for all the FA's work on their Respect campaign, it may eventually prove fruitless as human decision-making will always involve a degree of inconsistency, which managers find maddening.

"The (disciplinary panel's) job is not to consider the performance level of referees," said Ferguson.

"You will always get inconsistent decisions because every referee has their own opinions of things and his own judgement about things. That is one of the great things about our game.

"That has not changed from the day refereeing started."