You’ve got to hand it to Fergie. The United boss is wilier than a sly old fox when it comes to timing his public proclamations and if he hadn’t been a football manager, he would be a shoe-in as chief propaganda officer in some far flung Communist state.

His latest, seemingly innocuous, quote is simply genius. According to the red-faced one, Liverpool’s not-so-secret talks with Jurgen Klinsmann have had, ahem, a negative impact at Liverpool. “What happened was a bad piece of business on Liverpool’s part, no doubt about that,” chimed Fergie yesterday. “You should let a manager get on with his job. At big clubs, it's absolutely paramount that the board show their class.”

On the surface, it sounds like the United boss is showing his support for Rafa. Managers are all in the same boat and all that. Brotherly solidarity comrade.

In reality, Fergie is dancing on the Spaniard’s grave. If you put his words into any reputable translation website and ask it to translate into English, it comes out something like this: “Ha, ha, ha! You got caught with your pants down. Rafa, you’re a dead man walking. Good riddance. United are a bigger club than Liverpool and you’ve much chance of winning the title as I have bedding Kelly Brook. It’s so funny, I’ve wet myself.”

Liverpool are in meltdown but Fergie just couldn’t resist poking the embers.

His comments serve two distinct purposes. Firstly, it ensures the story won’t go away, that Liverpool remain in the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons. There’s nothing worse for the Anfield mob than having your nemesis, your arch enemy, the devil incarnate, pouring out honeyed words of mock sympathy. It’s the football equivalent of your missus telling you, ‘it’s OK, it happens to all men and maybe you can try again tomorrow night’. Apparently.

Secondly, portraying Liverpool’s Yank overlords as specious little schemers with the morals of a particularly randy alley cat handily casts his own American bosses in rather a favourable light. Look! Those Anfield Yanks are bastards but don’t we all love the Glazers? They’re really cuddly and not at all like those cads Hicks and Gillett.

Fergie’s fire proof at Old Trafford but he knows how to grease the wheels. Keep the Glazers happy. Run a tight ship. And watch with a smug grin as Liverpool implodes.

Make no mistake – Fergie loathes Liverpool to his core. You only have to look at his body language whenever United beat the Reds to see what he thinks of them. He’s absolutely revelling in recent events at Anfield and couldn’t quite help himself when the media asked for his views.

I’m not a United fan. I’m not going to be sending Fergie a Christmas card anytime soon. But I can’t help admiring his sense of humour.