Manchester United assistant boss Carlos Queiroz claims his reported criticism of the club's fans as "stupid" was the result of a poor translation. He said: "The comments attributed to me in the media on Tuesday are not an accurate reflection of my view of the fans, or of what I said.
"We've the best fans in football. Their loyalty, passion, support and respect for the team are testament to this.
"I am only sorry that what I said was misinterpreted."
He added: "I regret the misunderstanding that has occurred from the inaccurate translation but also the way it has been taken out of context from the interview as a whole.
"I can only think that this misinterpretation is to try and create factions between the club and its supporters.
"The fans of Manchester United deserve more than this blatant attempt to divide the club. Their wonderful support at the Benfica game demonstrates that this won't work."
It was reported in Portuguese newspaper O'Jogo that during an interview with them Queiroz said: "That is why football is a game in which imagination and, many times, stupidity has no limits'."
His comments were supposedly in response to United's supporters chanting 4-4-2 during Saturday's defeat to Blackburn
The Portuguese's coach's remarks came in an interview with Portuguese paper 0'Jogo after United's 2-1 home defeat to Blackburn last weekend.
O'Jogo editor Manuel Tavares has since apologised to Queiroz.
"Only a bad translation service could have allowed the phrase that you used to describe the wide range of criticism that football can be subjected to - from stupidity to imagination - could have been transformed into a criticism of Manchester United fans," said Tavares.
"This serious misinterpretation of your words caused great perplexity as your current statements (and those in the past) have shown your position to always be one where managers should respect criticism from the fans."
MMIX
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