Mark Clattenburg revealed he instructed Rio Ferdinand to relay an expletive-filled message to Sir Alex Ferguson after taking note of the Manchester United icon's refereeing tactics. The former official spent 13 years in the Premier League before stepping away in 2017. The 50-year-old has since reffed in China, Greece and Egypt before returning to England to take a role as a refereeing consultant for Nottingham Forest in February 2024. He resigned from the position just months later after calling refereeing decisions in a defeat to Everton a "joke" in his Mail on Sunday column. On top of his short stint with Forest, Clattenburg opened up about his career during an appearance on The Overlap's Fan Debate . Hosted by Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes, the former official delved into the latter's former boss, revealing the lengths Ferguson would go to gain an edge when it came to being on the right side of refereeing decisions. Having taken note of the Scotsman's strategies during a match, Clattenburg admitted to ordering Ferdinand to pass on an explosive outburst in response to attempts to pile the pressure on him. "I remember Manchester United , and how they used to do it," he explained. "Fergie, I'm convinced, used to send one player at a time because he knew if you kept sending the same player, eventually he's going to get cautioned. "I remember saying to Rio once: 'Go and tell your f***ing manager to f*** off!' And you know what, he turned around, he said: 'I'm not telling him!' "Because you knew what they were doing. It was one after another. It wasn't the decision, they didn't care because they couldn't change that decision. "It was the next one, they wanted that next decision, so there were those mind games." As is the nature of being a referee, Clattenburg found himself on the receiving end of similar words he had in store for Ferguson, most notably at the hands of Adam Lallana. During the episode, he claimed he received "dog's abuse" from the ex-Liverpool star during his time at Southampton . The Saints were taking on Everton in 2014 when the incident occurred. "I remember I had a fight with Adam Lallana," he said. "I was going back to Everton after so many years, and Adam gave us dog's abuse. "I think he was frustrated at the end of the game. I used to take into account a bit if they got beat, a bit of frustration, it was Christmas so he probably had too much turkey and stuff like that. He was a bit upset. "There were some choice words said and I said to him: 'Look, you've changed since you've played for England'. I wanted to defuse the situation. 'You've f***ing changed since you've played for England'. And he looked at us and walked off." Southampton subsequently filed complaints with both the Premier League and the Football Association, which were ultimately dismissed. When Lallana insisted he wasn't behind those following his move to Liverpool , Clattenburg told him: "You f***ing were you little scruff." Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.