The words Rafael Benitez and press conferences have never been uttered in the same sentence with much pleasure by Liverpool supporters - until this afternoon that is.
The Reds' manager has been featured on the back pages for the wrong reasons on several occasions - most notably in October 2007 when he vented his frustrations at the battle he was fighting with owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks to relinquish funds for future transfers. To say the least, this was an awkward moment for not only for Benitez but for the supporters who could see that the boss was in an imposssible position.
He hit the headlines again for similar reasons in August last year, on the morning of Liverpool's opening game of the season, where he aired his grievances over the lack of movement on the possible capture of Aston Villa's Gareth Barry and told reporters that any questions on transfer dealings should be redirected to chief executive Rick Parry.
Ahead of the visit to Stoke City, Benitez was asked about comments made by Sir Alex Ferguson that his side would choke under the pressure of keeping their lead in the title race and drop out early on - this despite Liverpool sitting top of the Barclays Premiership at Christmas.
The Spaniard's trademark smile did not drop as he responded and attacked the Manchester United manager for attempting to drag him into mind games at such an early stage of the season.
Benitez did not shy away from the comments made by his Old Trafford counterpart, instead he proceeded to list flaws in Ferguson's argument. He also listed incidents that showed up the United manager to be above the law when it came to disciplinary proceedings in relation to making comments about referees.
"During the Respect campaign - and this is a fact - Mr Ferguson was charged by the FA for improper conduct after comments made about Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett," said Benitez.
"He was not punished. He is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things."
The Liverpool manager remained composed as he continued to tear strips off the Scot and refused to accept the excuse made by the United boss that their fixture list was far too congested following their return from the FIFA Club World Cup. .
"Then he was talking about the fixtures," he continued.
"Two years ago we were playing a lot of early kick-offs away on Saturdays when United were playing on Sundays. And we didn't say anything.
"Now he is complaining about everything, that everybody is against United. But the second half of the season will see them playing at home against all the teams at the top of the table, it is a fantastic advantage.
"But at Christmas, United played on the 29th and the rest of the teams played on the 28th. We were away against Newcastle two days after playing Bolton. They were playing about 40 hours later, they were not complaining then.
"And about his behaviour with referees. The Southampton manager he knows how Mr Ferguson works and how he works, he was very clear. I am not playing mind games, just facts.
"If he wants to talk about fixtures, and have a level playing field as you say in England. There are two options if we don't want more problems with fixtures.
"One is the same as in Spain, the draw for the first part of the league is known, everyone knows which weekend. In the second half everyone plays the opposite, so you all know.
"Sky and Setanta have the right to choose their games and it will be the same for everyone. So Mr Ferguson will not be complaining about fixtures and a campaign against United.
"Or there is another option. That Mr Ferguson organises the fixtures in his office and sends it to us and everyone will know and cannot complain. That is simple.
"We know what happens every time we go to Old Trafford and the United staff. They are always going man to man with the referees, especially at half-time when they walk close to the referees and they are talking and talking.
"All managers need to know is that only Mr Ferguson can talk about the fixtures, can talk about referees and nothing happens.
"We need to know that I am taking about facts, not my impression. There are things that everyone can see every single week.
"Are they under pressure? Maybe they were not thinking that we would be at the top of the table in January. But we are at the top of the table and they are nervous."
The final ace up the tactician's sleeve was to state that Ferguson was 'killing' the FA's Respect campaign as well as undermining the authority of the referees involved in it
"To hear someone talking when he has problems with referees every single week, and now complaining about the fixtures and complaining about everything, I think that is not fair.
"You can see every single week how they put referees under pressure, we know this. We have seen it before. We have seen players sent off at Old Trafford and we do not see our opponents sent off.
"It is part of the game. But to complain and to always have an advantage is not fair.
"We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees, killing Mr Atkinson, killing Mr Hackett.
"But he is not punished. How can you talk about the respect campaign and criticise the referee every single week?
"You can analyse the facts and come to your own decision and ideas"
No doubt Sir Alex was sitting uncomfortably as he watched the interview in the canteen of United's Carrington training ground as the managerial stalwart was knocked off his f***** perch by the manager of his most hated rivals.
