Ferguson woes mount as 'Leprechaun' looms

His team have got the jitters. His outstanding midfielder is in danger of suspension for brawling. His club is being stalked by an American nicknamed Leprechaun. And his future remains uncertain because of a horse. If the dog gets run over and the crops go bad, Sir Alex Ferguson will have a full Country and Western album.

While the Manchester United manager spent yesterday trying to digest Wednesday's 3-2 home defeat to Middlesbrough, a game in which Paul Scholes apparently pushed Boro's Doriva in the face, it was announced that Malcolm Glazer, the American sports magnate, had upped his shareholding in United to 16.31 per cent.

Glazer, nicknamed the Leprechaun by fans of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of his ginger beard and high-waisted trousers, made his move only a day after the Irish racing tycoons John Magnier and J P McManus had increased their stake to 28.89 per cent. Though McManus and Magnier, who is embroiled in a legal row with Ferguson over the racehorse Rock Of Gibraltar, are making conciliatory noises about their intentions, they remain a potential threat to the United manager.

Glazer's latest move, which has fuelled speculation that he plans a takeover, only muddies the waters. He was extremely unpopular with Buccaneers supporters in the early part of his reign, which involved wholesale changes, including to the management.

He reportedly sought advice about strategy for a United takeover but no one on either side of the Atlantic can confirm details. The Florida-based sporting division of his business empire was making no comment last night. But his role as stalking horse behind Magnier and McManus has been cemented with both parties aware they could effectively hand ownership of United to the other at any time.

Ferguson preferred to dwell on United's on-pitch misfortunes yesterday, admitting his team are suffering from Rio Ferdinand's suspension. "It's frustrating because he was well on the way to developing as effective a partnership with Mikaël Silvestre as we had with Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister," the United manager said.

"There has been some bad defending in recent matches and we have to do something about it. A bit of slackness seems to have crept into our defending at times." United have conceded eight goals in their last three Premiership games. "Our first priority is to defend. We are not doing that enough and that is not acceptable."

Ferguson admitted the loss to Boro had been a "damaging defeat". He added: "We have lost five [Premiership] games now and Arsenal haven't lost any. That's quite a gulf. They are five points ahead of us so we can't afford to lose another game, it's as simple as that."

Ferguson was still waiting last night to hear whether the Football Association will take any action against Scholes, whose alleged misdemeanour might now face investigation by the video advisory panel. The FA was waiting to hear whether the referee, Paul Durkin, who did not book Scholes, had witnessed the incident. If he did but deliberately took no action, Scholes will be in the clear. If he missed it the FA will almost certainly investigate, with a potential suspension only adding to Ferguson's worries.

The only good news for United - that an FA investigation into Tim Howard's summer move has reportedly found no evidence that the deal breached transfer regulations or implicated Ferguson's son, Jason, an agent - has yet to be officially confirmed. The FA refused to comment last night.

It seems the celebratory rendition of the classic "Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through the Goal Posts of Life" will have to wait.