Congratulations Scum to #19

[Assassin]

Congrats for what?

They've won **** all at the moment.

They could end up with nothing this year

[bradsdad]

god i would luv that luv it

They could end up with nothing this year

[Gibbo]

Come again?

May have jumped the gun a bit there, as I never thought the bottlers would beat them, balls in Chelsea's court now, and I would love to be proved wrong by them winning nothing and Barca giving them a royal spanking in the CL final

[cannotmakeit]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...y-2278089.html

a pen and red card for Chelsea then.

Webb entrusted to ensure vital game is free of controversy

World Cup final referee to take charge at Old Trafford as league hopes for quiet tie

By Sam Wallace, Football Correspondent


Tuesday, 3 May 2011

World Cup final referee Howard Webb is set to be put in charge of Manchester United's pivotal game with Chelsea


The World Cup final referee Howard Webb is set to be announced today as the man in charge of Manchester United's pivotal Premier League game against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday with the league and referees' bodies desperate for a solid performance from the officials.


The appointment of Webb, 39, is expected to be confirmed by Mike Riley, the general manager of the referees' organisation, this afternoon after a bad weekend for Premier League officials in which several wrong decisions – most notably Frank Lampard's "ghost goal" against Tottenham – have put them under scrutiny like never before.

Sir Alex Ferguson has also cranked up the pressure following his team's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal by suggesting that Chelsea had been the beneficiary of some "great decisions" in their controversial 2-1 win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, which puts them within three points of United.


The appointment to Sunday's game of Webb – heavily criticised by Liverpool for his performance in their FA Cup third-round defeat to United in January – will not be without controversy. However, the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) body, which administers and selects referees, is aware that the game needs to pass off without a major talking point around the referee and has chosen the man regarded as the best in the English game.

Having managed to steer clear of controversy through the large part of his domestic career, Webb found himself in the thick of it in January after United's 1-0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup at Old Trafford when he gave United a penalty early in the game for Daniel Agger's challenge on Dimitar Berbatov and later dismissed Steven Gerrard.

In the subsequent criticism from Liverpool, Ryan Babel was fined £10,000 by the Football Association for posting a photoshopped picture of Webb in a United shirt on his Twitter page. Webb also found himself the target of anger from Liverpool supporters in the days after the game. The PGMOL especially needs a solid performance from Webb on Sunday after referee Andre Marriner and his assistant Mike Cairns failed to spot that Lampard's goal for Chelsea against Spurs was not over the line and that Salomon Kalou's winner was offside.

There was more bad news on Sunday when Ferguson was critical of referee Chris Foy for his failure to give United a penalty in the defeat to Arsenal when Gaël Clichy fouled Michael Owen with three minutes left to play.

The official also missed Nemanja Vidic's handball in his own area in the first half. It is not anticipated that Ferguson will be charged by the FA for his comments.

In charge of Manchester City's 2-1 win over West Ham on Sunday, Webb has taken charge of Chelsea twice already in the league this season. He refereed in their defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in November and their home victory over Wigan last month.

Martin Atkinson, who will be the FA Cup final referee later this month, was regarded as unsuitable for Sunday's game after Ferguson's outspoken attack on him following United's 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 1 March.

Ferguson was subsequently banned from the touchline for five games for questioning Atkinson's integrity.

[Mr Darko]

Can't say I'm surprised he's refereeing the game. Howard Webb was the Ref at Old Trafford for our last three games against United and on every occassion he's made a completely biased result-changing decision. I don't understand how he's allowed to referee games for them with the blatent bias he shows. Surely the whole world can see it?!?

I'm sure you've all seen it before or know about the incidents but here's the controversial decisions in Webb's last 10 games at Old Trafford.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,1...648615,00.html

[dom9]

Ah FFS.

[RichC]

Howard Webb - United's 12th man!

Utter joke!

[Vermilion]

Just give em the title now ffs.

[Tee]

If ever there was a time I want Torres to score for Chelsea, this would be it.

[Shaggy]

Absolute ****ing joke.

[RichC]

It would be a good time for Torres to score for Chelsea true but if they do overturn United you can see him coming out and vindicating his move to them.

Horrible little ****er that he's become!

[Chris]

That is astonishing, not only has he got form for favouring Man Utd in one of the biggest clubs games in the world (v us), he's also got form for helping them out when they desperately need it to win the league (v Spurs).

[Imy]

The Utd fans i know love Webb

[Rudo]

Referee Howard Webb awarded MBE for services to Manchester United

World Cup Final referee Howard Webb has been recognised by Queen Elizabeth II in the New Year Honours list for his selfless and dedicated work to Manchester United.

The police sergeant from Rotherham has been known to do everything in his power for the England’s biggest club, including sending opposing players off for unknown reasons, and most famously for giving them an inexplicable penalty when two goals down against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford two years ago.

“He’s done so much for us,” admitted Sir Bobby Charlton. “That penalty against Spurs turned the game for us and undoubtedly won us the league that year. It’s his almost magical ability to conjure a United goal out of nothing that really sets him apart from other referees.”

“He’s been our twelfth man on so many occasions so he really deserves his MBE.”

“I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than our Howard. There’s no doubt that he’ll go down as an Old Trafford legend along with like Sir Matt and Sir Alex.”


Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for Webb, and said he fully deserved his place on the New Year Honours list.

“He’s one of the best players we’ve had in recent years. Cristiano Ronaldo may have been our top scorer that year but no one was more valuable to the side than Webby. He was worth at least twenty points for us.”

“A lot of people thought that we’d miss Cristiano when he left for Madrid at the end of that year but people seem to somehow forget that we always had the referee on our side, so it made bugger all difference.”

Now that Mr Webb has been recognised by the Queen, Manchester United fans have called for their club to do the same, perhaps having him a testimonial in his name.

“I’m not against the idea, myself,” said a fans representative, “but I think we could so much more for such a faithful servant. Some people think that we should rename the Stretford End after Webby but I still don’t think it’s enough.”

“I think we should erect a statue for him and maybe put it beside the one of Sir Matt, though personally I think it’d be best alongside the one of Bestie, Law and Charlton. That’s where he belongs.”

[Lee]

****ing Webb FFS.

United are 2-0 up before the match kicks off then.