Howard spins Webb of United hypocrisy
Manchester United have decided ‘…not to take any further action…’ over that goal scored against them more than 72 hours ago – how magnanimous of them!
Quite what action United might have had in mind is intriguing – do Omar Berrada and the Glazers have a secret Trump card up their sleeves?
What possible leverage did they think they had over the Premier League? Would Pro Ref become even more Pro Red? Would match referee Michael Oliver experience a delayed epiphany, declaring City’s 1-0 Manchester derby win null and void?
Meanwhile United and the mass media continue protesting and singing from the same song sheet, but all Manchester City are hearing is:
Whingy, whingy, Man United,
Whingy, whingy, Man United,
Whingy, whingy, Man United,
As the Reds go whinging on, on, on!
That controversial triumph at Old Trafford wasn’t so much a story for the ages, but unquestionably it was a story of the adages.
‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’ and ‘karma is a bitch’, immediately spring to mind in the wake of 10-man City overcoming adversity, injustice, cheating and United bleating, courtesy of Erling Haaland’s 60th minute winner at The Theatre of Screams.
The subsequent Pro Ref (Professional Game Referees) apology to the Swamp dwellers and public pandering to United is more than unseemly or embarrassing, it’s downright pathetic.
Pro Ref’s Chief Refereeing Officer, Howard Webb is said to be ‘mortified’ by the VAR decision to allow Haaland’s goal to stand, whilst the VAR team in question – Matt Donohue and Blake Antrobus – will not officiate any United games for the foreseeable future.
In a truly ‘pass the sick bag'’ statement Webb said: “I was really disappointed with this outcome…we have reached out to Manchester United and acknowledged the error, as we do when these things happen, and they do not happen often.”
Obviously, it’s not the done thing to upset a red!
Webb is clearly putting a lot of effort into justifying why he’s so reviled by City fans. They have no recollection of Webb ‘reaching out’ to City in January 2023.
This week’s gut-churning, arse-licking of the Trafford Troglodytes, is in stark contrast to the treatment of United’s infamous equalizer against City on January 14th, 2023,
Marcus Rashford was deemed not to be offside or interfering with play – he blatantly was – when Bruno Fernandes scored, before United snatched a late win in front of the Stretford End.
Webb defended the decision calling it ‘subjective’, there was no saying sorry to City, no media outcry and no reprimand for referee, Stuart Attwell.
The outcome was one of smug satisfaction – a footballing ‘crime’ committed in plain sight, completely without sanction.
The hue and cry as to whether Enzo Fernandez was offside before Haaland executed a perfect finish has been extraordinarily well documented since Sunday evening, but what goes around comes around, and it came City’s way 45 months after that fateful January day.
The revenge dish was chilled and sweetened to perfection, followed by a double portion of Portuguese Pudding of Petulance.
As a ‘karma dessert’, it washed away any lingering bitter aftertaste from the putrid Fernandes.
The United captain shouldn’t even have been on the pitch after escaping unpunished from his encounter with Phil Foden in the 23rd minute.
Neither player emerged with any credit from the ‘handbags’ scuffle, but referee Michael Oliver’s disproportionate punishment – the undue haste with which he brandished the red card at Foden – was both puzzling and perplexing.
Fernandes had instigated the ‘violent conduct’ by kicking a prone Foden. City’s Stockport Iniesta retaliated with minimal force, barely touching the United skipper.
A booking apiece would’ve sufficed but Oliver was, well, just being Michael Oliver!
Fernandes has just won the PFA Player of the Year Award 2025/26 – arguably the highest individual accolade in English football – with part of the vote focusing on ‘sporting attitude’.
Square that circle if you can.
On this showing, surely a BAFTA and an Oscar are only a matter of time after his pantomime villain play acting.
But enough of all the red whining. It’s City enjoying the fine dining at the top of the table, with so many encouraging takeaways from the start of Enzo Maresca’s reign.
Five wins – admittedly not always in fully convincing fashion – mean maximum points in both the Premier League and Champions League, but Sunday’s victory was on a different level.
Reduced to 10-men for more than 70 minutes, City didn’t just dig in at 0-0, they were by far the better team, despite United twice hitting the post and Donnarumma producing a superb late save from Mbeumo.
It was a performance which screamed togetherness, grit, determination, gutsy, energetic, defiance, character a real Band of Brothers affair – and this from a team that is still acclimatizing to a new manager, new patterns of play and new signings.
Maresca is the continuity candidate – he’s familiar with the culture of the Club, the structure, the hierarchy, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Guardiola as his assistant when winning the Treble, he led the Academy kids to title winning success – he was the guy City wanted above all others.
He’d be expected to hit the ground running but – and it’s a sizeable but – there’s a discernible lack of continuity in his squad. The likes of Anderson, Fernandez, Bouaddi, Ndiaye and Allan will need time to blend with more established City regulars.
Anderson is already producing man of the match displays which fully justify his £116m transfer fee. He’s already making those who queried it look as Muppet-like as those who scoffed at Kevin De Bruyne’s £52m switch to City from Wolfsburg, back in 2015.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Enzo Fernandez asked for City’s number 17 shirt – previously worn by KDB – a demonstration of the Argentinian’s supreme self-confidence.
The combative Argentine isn’t everybody’s cup of tea after all the nationalistic Argy bargy at the World Cup, but he does bring much needed tempo, edge and – dare I say – nastiness to City’s midfield. He’s a feisty tw@t, but he’s City’s feisty tw@t!
He’s the player opposition fans will love to hate, in a similar fashion they loathed Bernardo and disliked Fernandinho. If he can emulate his predecessors, he’ll be in exalted company.
Rayan Cherki has already won a place in many a sky-blue heart. His brace of goals at Crystal Palace showcased his magical footwork, but there’s a time and place for such brilliance and a backs-against-the-wall battle at United were neither.
The introduction of Iliman Ndiaye for the second half was a clever move. His superior work rate, tenacious tracking back and ability to carry the ball deep into enemy territory were integral to the win.
Youngster Ayyoub Bouaddi’s derby day was limited to soaking up the atmosphere from the sub’s bench, but his 75 minutes in the 2-0 Champions League success over Porto showed his huge potential.
It wouldn’t have been a tactical surprise if he had been the one to replace Cherki at United, but Maresca went for the more aggressive, attacking option in Ndiaye, and was proven right.
So much has been said about City’s transfer splash of £390m on Anderson, Fernandez, Bouaddi and Ndiaye, and yet so little about how the Club has recouped £370m in summer sales – often turning a profit on players – quelle surprise.
It’s too early to judge, but there’s every indication that Hugo Viana has delivered City’s best transfer window in recent times. Coupled with the £64m spent on Antoine Semenyo and £20m bargain buy of Marc Guehi in January, it’s not a stretch to say Hugo has pretty much bossed the market.
Maresca’s team selection against Norwich should see some serious squad rotation with back up goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and Brazilian winger, Allan, making their debuts. The likes of Lewis, Reis, Ait Nouri, Kovacic and youngsters, McAidoo, Braithwaite and Samba should all be in contention.
The League Cup will be fourth on Maresca’s list of priorities, but Guardiola always respected the competition and – as Cup holders – Enzo won’t want to relinquish City’s grip on the trophy.
That said, pragmatism is required in the post Pep era. It’s worth remembering the Catalan genius won nothing in his first season at City.
There’s no expectation of Maresca coming up empty handed by June 2027, but were it to happen, there’s little chance of his job being on the line.
Dedication…
As City venture into the future with new signings, so too do a wonderful family of Blues with their own latest recruit. Read But Never Red send all our love, best wishes and congratulations to Pip and Shaun Stirrup and their beautiful baby boy Roman – we’re all over the Blue Moon for you xxx
by David Walker
‘X’ @ReadButNeverRed @djwskyblu
Bluesky @djwskyblu.bsky.social
Thanks for another great read .... great response 💙
Excellent response to the rag media and their putrid fan base! This should go viral. Sums up the whole day. Great read!
Top article as ever, David. I thought the fact we did the treble after the Rashford/ Fernandes debacle was a form of revenge - but I forgot that revenge is a dish best served at below room temperature, and there were positively icicles forming by the time VAR awarded Haaland his goal! A lot has been made of Maresca not reacting with a substitution after the red card, but this was a matter of him learning from past mistakes - as Chelsea manager at the swamp he lost his goalkeeper to a red card after 3 or 4 minutes and immediately made two defensive substitutions and they lost the game. It's still very early in the season but so fa…
What exactly were they going to do take points off us make us play behind closed doors 1 pt instead of 3 😡. All the whinging and whining from the reds has taken away how good City's performance was with 10 men for 70 75 mins we barely got a mention from the media. As for Mr Webb his groveling to the reds is beyond sickening 😡. If only he had cared as much when it happened to us but know we aren't in the cartel so we don't count. Foden was a silly boy but never a red should have been a yellow for both. Or maybe a yellow for Phil and a red for rat boy 🤣
Brilliant…
Fantastic writing David. The media has been unbearable this week.