Former Newcastle striker turned pundit Shearer suggested in a newspaper column a week ago that Martin O’Neill might be sacked if he didn’t win the forthcoming game against Reading.
Shearer also dug up the past saying that previous manager Steve Bruce’s Geordie background cost him his job, saying that O’Neill would have been sacked by now had he been a Tynesider.
O’Neill called into question Shearer’s own management credentials, and Ferguson was even more scathing of the Match of the Day opinion.
There is also a past history here too, because Shearer snubbed the chance to sign for Ferguson's Manchester United TWICE when he was a player!
Sir Alex Ferguson: “Our visitors got a midweek 3-0 win over Reading to improve on a dismal run.
“It was a spell that had Martin O’Neill under pressure, with even Alan Shearer suggesting before the Reading match that defeat would bring the sack.
“Perhaps there was a touch of the old Newcastle-Sunderland rivalry behind such a bitter remark.
“I was appalled when I heard an interview with the questioner asking if Martin O’Neill still had belief in himself.
“What a question to put to a man who took Celtic to a UEFA Cup final and won three titles with the Scottish club, and that’s apart from his wide experience in English football.
“It was insulting to him and I felt for him.
“You have to recognise that Sunderland have had to sell a few players and have had injuries to make what is always a difficult job even more testing.
“I am sure the majority of Sunderland fans know they have an excellent manager quite capable of guiding their club through troubled waters.”