Its not often I agree with Sir Alex Ferguson. Especially his opinions regarding referees and injury time, which have become a regular feature of the League this year.

But, at last SAF has spoken some sense.

He has called for the Premier League to introduce a “winter” break. The idea is compelling. Pause the season for a few weeks in January, and use the whole of May to complete the League.

Why pause in January?

The most obvious reason is to avoid the chaos caused by bad weather we’ve seen in recent weeks. Sure, the snow and icy cold hasn’t plagued Britain to this extent for a number of decades, but why take the chance?

Even with minor snowfall and some poor weather in outlying regions, certain games are called off and rescheduled year after year.

Look at the past weekend. Out of ten scheduled games in the Premier League, only three were played: two on Saturday and one on Monday evening. The conditions were atrocious. The Arsenal-Everton game was played in light snowfall with very poor visibility. (Let’s not delve into the worse-affected lower divisions where every single game was called off.)

The chaos surrounding whether or not fixtures were still on, especially for travelling supporters, was mind-boggling.

The Premier League defended its decision to push ahead and try get as many games played as possible, but Arsene Wenger made a plausible case for the entire gameweek being rescheduled.

“If you play one team now who fights not to go down, and you play them again in May when they are already safe or already down, it is not the same game,” Wenger said. “That is where you can argue it is not fair sometimes for the competition.”

It’s a logical reason to postpone the entire gameweek and one that seems to be lost on the shortsighted Premier League management.

Not only is it difficult to get matches played, players aren’t always able to practice, unless the clubs have indoor facilities. Manchester United have opted to travel to Doha for training in warm weather this week. Whether or not that’s the wisest decision as they’ll have to return to icy England to play Burnley on Saturday, remains to be seen.

The second reason Ferguson offers for a January break is to allow players to rest.

“My experience tells me that when you get to December, it is draining for players to continuously play matches every Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday,” said Ferguson

“It is difficult to play football through heavier grounds in cold weather. By December, everybody needs a break.

“With a break in January you can repair the small injuries the players pick up. Even the coaches need a mental break.”

The idea is supported, Sir Alex says, by all managers in the League.

The January break is one used by European competitions (UEFA Champions League and Europa League) and will sort out the African Cup of Nations club vs country debacle that plagues English football every second year.

Let English clubs play through December, culminating in the traditional Boxing Day league and New Years’ cup fixtures. After that, take a break for three weeks.

It’ll be a pain for fans used to watching live English football every Saturday, but look what happened last weekend where we were forced to watch repeats of Liverpool games from the early nineties.