Don't mess with Fergie
After six days of seeing Manchester United's name dragged through the gutter, Ferguson knew he had to act.
To show Wayne Rooney - and everyone else at Old Trafford - he would no longer put up with stories of his players off the leash, on the lash and up to no good.
Nor did Fergie want it construed he might have lost control of any of his players.
It was also to show that no one is bigger than the club.
That even in this celebrity-fixated era where the footballer is king that some sort of standards have to be adhered to.
And, just as important, to send out the message: We can survive without you.
Ferguson might have claimed he left Rooney out of his side at Goodison Park on Saturday to spare his troubled striker 90 minutes of personal abuse.
But that was a smokescreen. Instead, he chose to strike a blow for every manager who feels undermined by star players, their agents and advisers and all the rest who whisper sweet nothings in their ear.
Not that there isn't a vaguely amusing side to it.
How best to punish Rooney? Take away his ball and send him home to face the music. And his missus.
As 'a close friend' said of Saturday afternoon's meeting between the pair at their Cheshire home: "It was mostly a case of Coleen shouting and Rooney grunting."
Ferguson himself was left screaming the house down after his defence conceded two added-time goals to toss victory away at Goodison.
Until then, every decision he made was spot on.
Now, there is the understandable claim the United boss blundered, not by omitting Rooney but by failing to restore Rio Ferdinand to a defence that imploded under two high balls.
Yet no one could have imagined that scenario.
On the Rooney decision, though, Ferguson was absolutely right.
A stand had to be made.
Ferguson had to get through to the most feted footballer in the country - a player, remember, who has not offered up even a semblance of an apology - that his behaviour would not be tolerated.
To do this, Rooney's security blanket had to be removed.
There had to be no hiding place.
We had seen earlier in the week in Basel that the way out for Rooney was by playing.
Even Steven Gerrard conceded that, like Paul Gascoigne, the pitch was an escape.
No wonder Rooney wanted to play at Goodison. But by taking this away, he would have to confront his domestic issues.
Yes, Ferguson claimed otherwise - that his decision to leave Rooney out of the team was to protect him.
Yet the player was more than prepared to run the gauntlet.
Yes, there would be some choice chants. But nothing a man with the hide of an armadillo couldn't handle.
He might even have afforded himself a wry smile when Everton fans launched a blow-up doll on to the pitch.
Taking players out of the firing line to spare them from fans is not a Ferguson tactic, either. It didn't happen to Eric Cantona. Nor David Beckham when faced with a trip to Upton Park after his red card at France 98. Nor Paul Ince at the same stadium.
Nor Cristiano Ronaldo after the winking episode with Rooney himself at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The way Ronaldo responded earned grudging respect from even his most acerbic critics.
And has Gary Neville ever approached entering the hornets' nest of Anfield in any other way than full-on - chest out proud and with the United badge in full view.
Ferguson views all that as character-building. He loves players who go out and take it on the chin.
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That's how he was as a player. It's how he is as a manager. It's what has kept United at the top for so long. So, no, I don't go along with the idea he was protecting Rooney.
Instead, it was a timely reminder to a headstrong individual he is not above censure. That, despite appearances to the contrary, there is some code of conduct within football.
For this, Ferguson must be applauded.
There should also be some sympathy for him as well.
For so long at Goodison on Saturday, United seemed to have produced the perfect response for their manager.
Dimitar Berbatov, out of Rooney's shadow, was playing like a dream. So was Paul Scholes, the man Fergie always cites as how professional footballers should live their lives. Even when they wasted chances it seemed they were too far ahead to be caught.
And then the roof fell in... with Ferguson just three minutes away from one of the most satisfying afternoons of his long career.
So what now? There are suggestions he should tread warily lest Rooney take his toys off to Madrid and that nice Mr Mourinho.
And with only 21 months left on his contract, United would be lucky to make £30million.
But few can imagine a boy of Rooney's background and limited off-field ambition moving abroad.
He should take his rap across the knuckles and admit that Ferguson just might know what he's doing.
At the same time, United will want to get his new contract sorted out ASAP. Just in case.