Sir Alex Ferguson described Old Trafford as having the atmosphere of a "funeral" when he spoke after Manchester United's 1-0 win over Birmingham City. Carlos Tevez's goal means the champions have won 10 league games in a row on their own ground but Ferguson was distinctly unimpressed with United's supporters, accusing them of letting down the team.

"The crowd were dead," he complained. "That was the quietest I have heard the crowd and it's disappointing because we needed the crowd today. We have come through a difficult period of game after game and in moments like these we need a lift. But it was like a funeral out there."

This is not the first time Ferguson has felt aggrieved about the lack of noise at Old Trafford and his complaints will bring back memories of Roy Keane's notorious rant about the club's supporters. Keane had questioned whether some United fans "can spell football never mind understand it" and suggested that they were more interested in eating prawn sandwiches than watching the game. Ferguson was more diplomatic but the United manager was clearly angered, drawing a direct link between the poor atmosphere and a laboured performance from his team.

"It was so quiet," he complained. "I don't think that helped us. The players need the crowd sometimes but the atmosphere inside the ground wasn't good. It's all right saying the players have to make the crowd respond but there are some situations, like today, when we need them to get behind us and give us a lift. The players need the crowd to respond and vice versa. But it was dead."

Ferguson has complained in the past about foreign supporters on day trips harming the atmosphere at Old Trafford, saying his team had more backing in away games. "There have been periods like this before," he continued. "It's not just today, it happened a few years ago as well when we were the dominant team in the league. The crowd come to be entertained but sometimes we need them to help us get the right kind of performance."

Ferguson's anger extended to the referee Peter Walton's "bad" decision-making and, in particular, the number of fouls on Tevez. The Argentinian was eventually substituted after 71 minutes, nursing a badly bruised ankle inflicted by a first-half challenge from the visiting captain, Liam Ridgewell.

"We had to take him off because the longer the game went on the worse it got," Ferguson explained. "We will have to assess it in the morning and see what the damage is but he's obviously a doubt for Saturday [when United play Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round]."

Tevez celebrated his goal by producing a baby's dummy from inside his shorts but Ferguson was more concerned about the sight of his player being carried down the tunnel at the final whistle. "Carlos has real tenacity," the United manager continued. "He's as brave as a lion, he doesn't roll around and he wouldn't normally come off, so that gives you an idea about what kind of tackle it was. It was a sore one."

The victory kept United two points behind Arsenal but Ferguson was disappointed that his players had not won more handsomely. "We were careless and we really can't do these things," he said. "I was concerned towards the end because it takes only a second to score a goal and they [Birmingham] had a lot of possession in the last third, abetted by some of the referee's decisions and linesman's decisions."

· Sean Ingle's verdict on Ferguson's rant