If you thought the departed & creepy Chelsea chairman Ken Bates was a master at baiting Alex Ferguson (and not nearly so masterful at anything else), think again. Current manager Jose Mourinho (above) has refined the practice to the point of an art form. From today’s Guardian :

Sir Alex Ferguson has attacked Jose Mourinho and John Terry in the wake of claims that Manchester United ‘cheated’ their way to a Carling Cup draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

The Football Association have confirmed they are looking into Mourinho’s latest allegations after deciding not to take any action over his post-match comments about Ferguson attempting to influence referee Neale Barry.

In an interview with Chelsea TV, Mourinho said it was ‘fault after fault, cheat after cheat’ after half-time on Wednesday.

The former Porto boss insinuated United players where diving to win free-kicks and Barry, whom he had seen talking to Ferguson at the end of the first half, was favouring the visitors with his decisions.

Having considered Mourinho’s comments, which statistics do not back up, Ferguson has come to the conclusion that the main reason behind them was to try and exert his own influence on Graham Poll who takes charge of tomorrow’s encounter between Chelsea and Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

But the Scot was annoyed enough to recall Porto’s diving antics during last season’s Champions League clash with United when the Portugal side were still under Mourinho’s control.

Ferguson then set his sights on Terry’s claim that Barry refused to listen to him during then game.

“I think Mourinho has opened a can of worms for himself,” said Ferguson. “We remember what happened in Porto.

“Look back a couple of weeks to the penalty decision that went their way against Liverpool and how Rafael Benitez handled that.

Earlier, Mourniho had said “Sir Alex was really clever, if you can say that, at half-time by putting some pressure on the ref. In the second half, it was whistle and whistle, fault and fault and cheat and cheat.”

It is the use of the word “cheat” which may lead to action by the FA. A precedent was set earlier in the season when Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was fined £15,000 for branding Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy a “cheat”.