The unholy alliance between Sir Alex Ferguson and José Mourinho appears to be dissolving in the heat of the Barclays Premiership title race. For the first time in his three seasons as Chelsea manager, Mourinho felt the full force of Ferguson’s notorious “hairdryer” yesterday as the Manchester United manager declared that his rival and sometime friend’s Machiavellian instincts need to be brought under control.

“José seems to be on some sort of personal crusade about regulations and suspicions,” Ferguson said. “He abused Barcelona in the past, a Swedish referee [Anders Frisk], a German referee [Markus Merk] and the other night he insulted Liverpool, a club with great history, by suggesting their players were going to hunt down Didier Drogba to try to get him booked.

“Jesus Christ, he’s going on and on and on. It’s a rant all the time with him now. That’s very disappointing and I’m surprised no action has been taken against him because he’s saying our game is suspicious. That is wrong.”

There is an certain irony in Ferguson’s outrage, which stems from Mourinho’s tongue-in-cheek claim last weekend that “new regulations” prevented referees awarding penalties to Chelsea or against United. It is not so long since Ferguson was censured by the FA for claiming that there was something “sinister” behind referees’ unwillingness to award United penalties or, indeed, since he was fined by Uefa, European football’s governing body, for suggesting that the Champions League draw had been rigged in favour of Real Madrid.

Ferguson could be said to have written the book on such tirades, but having been supplanted as English football’s ultimate anti-establishment figure by a man with whom he exchanges text messages and enjoys a glass of wine after every United-Chelsea match, he expressed indignation yesterday at Mourinho’s recent behaviour, which extended to calling Cristiano Ronaldo a “liar” after the United winger dismissed his initial comments about a refereeing conspiracy.

“Everyone has an opinion,” Ferguson said. “Ronaldo has an opinion, Carlos Queiroz [the United assistant manager] has an opinion, but that doesn’t mean they’re liars. He [Mourinho] was on about changes to the regulations, but I’d like to know who’s changing the regulations? Is it us? Or the FA? Or the Premier League? Or is it the president of Porto [Mourinho’s former club, whom Ferguson has previously accused of having undue influence in Portugal]. Who is he saying is changing the regulations? I think the FA and the Premier League have let him off lightly with that.

“According to what I read the other day, he thumbed his nose at Uefa by hiding in a laundry bin to do a team talk [while banned from the touchline]. Is that breaking regulations? I don’t know. But the biggest fear for us now is what he has said about penalties places pressure on the referees. That, without doubt, was calculated by him. And I think that’s wrong.

“We’re not happy with the Premier League ourselves. If they’re changing regulations, he should point to the fact that Tottenham were forced to play two games in three days to allow Chelsea to rest before a European tie. Or us playing at lunchtime next Saturday [against Manchester City] after a European tie in Milan. We don’t think it’s fair, but we’re not going to start raising suspicion. It’s important to this club to do it the right way.”

Ferguson is more concerned with United’s form as they prepare for a critical match at Goodison Park this lunchtime, although he did have words for David Moyes, the Everton manager, who has issued a writ against Wayne Rooney over comments in the United and former Everton forward’s autobiography. “I wish it would be dropped,” Ferguson said. “It doesn’t do anyone any good.”

Rooney appears certain to face his former team and, four days before the Champions League semi-final, second leg away to AC Milan, the forward will be joined in the squad by Louis Saha, who has managed only 13 minutes of football since United’s last visit to Merseyside for a 1-0 victory over Liverpool on March 3. Ferguson is frustrated by Saha’s cautious approach to his rehabilitation from a thigh injury, with the striker’s representatives due to discuss his future with the club next week.

Ferguson hopes that either Rio Ferdinand or, less probably, Nemanja Vidic, could play on Wednesday after a groin injury and a broken collarbone respectively. Park Ji Sung, though, could miss the start of next season after knee surgery yesterday.

— Filippo Inzaghi could replace Alberto Gilardino in AC Milan’s attack for the Champions League semi-final, second leg against Manchester United at the San Siro on Wednesday after recovering from a thigh injury. “Inzaghi is well and he has recuperated from his physical problem, so he’s got a good chance of playing on Wednesday,” Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan coach, said.

Inzaghi has scored 56 goals in Europe during his career, while Gilardino has managed only one in 17 Champions League matches. “The fact that he’s only scored one goal in the Champions League is indicative,” Ancelotti said. “Champions League games are different from the league matches. There’s more pressure and Gilardino doesn’t have the experience yet to control that pressure.” Ronaldo keeps his eye on the ball during training yesterday as United prepared to face Everton