Uncovering the Web of Corruption in the Premier League

It was once said by Freud there is no such thing as coincidence and almost on a weekly or monthly basis football fans are left scratching their heads at the levels of inconsistency when it comes to Manchester United and the rest of the league. I could sit here all day and list examples but I'll start off with a few.

1) Blackpool and Wolves fined for fielding "weakened squads"

Blackpool (2011) and Wolves (2010) were each fined £25,000 for fielding what the FA deemed as a "weakened squad". Man Utd had previously fielded what was virtually a reserve team against West Ham ahead of an FA Cup final with Chelsea, this had direct permutations for the rest of the league. Sheffield United were relegated and West Ham survived. Wolves would most likely have lost at Old Trafford anyway even with their "full strength" side, Blackpool lost narrowly to Villa due to an injury time winner. What we can say for sure is that Man Utd with a full strength side, would most likely have won and therefore left West Ham relegated and Sheffield United in the Premier League. Had West Ham got relegated that season they'd have slid into the financial abyss, now they are mid-table in the Premier League beating the likes of Chelsea whilst the highlight of Sheffield United's season is beating the likes of Scunthorpe in League One. The direct implications that Man Utd had on the fortunes of both clubs is beyond fathomable. They were at home and therefore expected to win, instead who do the Man Utd biased media focus on? Rafa Benitez and Liverpool. Whilst it could be argued Liverpool did no differently to what United did they were away from home, Fulham had also beaten them the previous season at Craven Cottage and Liverpool had not performed in the league all season, in contrast to United who were league winners. Ask yourself if the FA would have dared to undermine Alex Ferguson's team selection as they did with Ian Holloway and Mick McCarthy? I think we all know the answer to that.

2) David Gill sitting on the board of the FA and the media cover up

I have little or no time for Rafael Benitez but he was spot on when challenging Ferguson/Man Utd's relationship with the FA hierachy. Biased means to be "one sided" or have one particular point of view. This very article itself is biased. David Gill sitting on the board of the FA means he cannot be impartial. The FA now are doing everything in their power to push for Gill to be elected to the UEFA board. My bet is that Ferguson's retirement is imminent and they want Gill in the most powerful position possible both at the FA and UEFA. There has been little or no mention of the press, I can't imagine a situation whereby a Chelsea affiliate could do any of the aforementioned without eyebrows raised. Remember the anti-Russian agenda in our press still exists today and is evident in the media scrutinisation and character assassination of Roman Abramovich. This is not just something common with United, at the time I echoed the sentiments of Jose Mourinho who claimed David Dein had to step down. Similarly with Gill, I thought Dein's relationship with the FA couldn't possibly make him impartial. Even I had sympathy for Spurs when on the last day with 10 senior players suffering from food poisoning, they were told they had to play, in not just any game but a London derby. When that decision was made can anybody honestly picture Dein saying or even thinking "Yes, we should postpone the game to give Tottenham a fair chance, it may harm Arsenal's chances of finishing 4th and there will be huge financial ramifications but so be it."? Of course not. I also felt at the time the punishment we had for "tapping up" Ashley Cole was too extreme. A suspended 3 point deduction was harsh and way over the top but fed off the media frenzy and jealousy surrounding our change in fortunes. My point is that there is no way an Arsenal employee could act impartially involving anyone but least all of Tottenham and Chelsea.

3) Conduct of Man Utd players and the cover ups

Wayne Rooney elbows James McCarthy? No ban, little media acknowledgement of the incident. Yet Sky almost single handedly launch a campaign to get Ivanovic banned for an incident that few acknowledged during time of play. The same has happened with Van Persie and there are numerous incidents involving Man Utd players but none bar Gary Neville have faced any retrospective action. Jonny Evans karate kicks Didier Drogba in what was one of the most disgusting acts I have ever witnessed in my time going football and what are Sky talking about? A 50/50 decision that went our way. Not even a mention of Evans. 

That very same season in the reverse fixture a Man Utd player blatantly cheats to punch the ball in the net in Maradona-esque style and the next day Sky focus on an offside goal claiming it has "won" Chelsea the title. Had Drogba cheated to score and United scored an offside goal we all know the press would be focusing on Drogba's goal claiming he is a cheat and the anti-Drogba stuff they've come out with since he joined the club. Sky in particular are clever with their cover ups, as they are Man Utd's biggest cheerleaders, we witnessed the most farcical officiating of any game in Premier League history at Stamford Bridge on the 28th October and there wasn't any acknowledgement, instead we heard all about how Torres should have been sent off anyway, the same people that villified referee Anthony Taylor for sending off Carlton Cole and Darron Gibson in Everton's 2-1 win over West Ham. There really is no end people won't go to in order to defend Man Utd. It has got to the stage where people will go beyond logic, rationale and their own principles to defend them. The FA appealing to UEFA to reduce Rooney's ban after violent conduct towards a Macedonian player is a perfect illustration of their hypocrisy.

4) Preferential treatment of Sir Alex Ferguson over other managers

Labour and the BBC in particular were his biggest campaigners for knighthood, so it's not just synonymous with football but also politics. You would think Bob Paisley or Brian Clough would have been afforded similar accolades for their services to football but I guess not. Anyway, back to the football:

29th August 2009 - Arsene Wenger sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle by Mike Dean

19th October 2012 - Roberto Martinez fined for "suggestions" of Old Trafford bias. Despite praising the referee in other parts of the interview the FA seemed afraid of his comments and decided to punish him. £8,000 fine and a warning over future conduct was enough to silence him. What if Martinez had made "suggestions" of Stamford Bridge bias or Anfield bias? We all know nothing would have happened. The likelihood is Gill took umbrage with those comments and decided he would find a way to punish and silence Martinez.

22nd November 2011 - Andre Villas-Boas fined for suggestions of a conspiracy against Chelsea after numerous costly decisions were given against us in our title charge. One of the games he referred to was a game against none other than Man Utd. A game in which almost all footballing neutrals acknowledged Chelsea completely outplayed Man Utd but were undone by 2 offside goals and a penalty which was highly controversial and in my opinion was never a penalty in this planet or the next. His suggestions that Manchester United are favoured by the FA/referees were duly punished by Gill and his cronies at the FA. Little did Villas-Boas know that this game would be the better refereed of the two games he'd face United in that season.

Alex Ferguson has called referees "Fat", "Unfit" and even went as far as to call Martin Atkinson a "robber" after his side were virtually cost another treble by a controversial penalty decision that didn't go their way. He has and continues to berate and abuse referees left, right and centre with no punishment meanwhile we've seen the aforementioned punished for far less. The decision not to give Antonio Valencia a 2nd yellow card v Newcastle was a clear result of that. In what world can challenge a player from behind, go through the man without playing the ball and not get a yellow. Not to mention the clear handball by Evans in the first half which would also have seen him sent off. Dean simply came under too much pressure and in all honesty I don't blame him for not mentioning the abuse in his report, he'd have almost certainly never refereed another Man Utd game again if he had. Referees like footballers, want to be at the top, they want the big games. Like Foy, Dean will at least be able to ref a United game in 12/13 months, his career as a top referee is at least now salvageable unlike Andy D'urso who is nowhere to be seen on this stage.

Sky and the FA will continue colluding with one another to bump off the normal football fan and covering up the blatant corruption that exists, but there are many in others that have had the courage to face the problems that exist in their own countries. In this country we'll just sit and wait until the inevitable happens with Ferguson as we did with Jimmy Savile. It takes a brave man/journalist to stand up to corruption and irregularities in the game and we don't have any. We continue to place our faith in our politicians, bankers, mortgage lenders etc but to no avail. Much like the FA it's all about money over service, something synonymous with New Right and Tory policy. Man Utd have the most "fans" hence most viewers, Sky need them to keep winning and remain at the top. Liverpool have pretty much collapsed, Arsenal soon will too, if Man Utd went the same way it would be the last remaining of Sky's big 3 and viewing figures would collapse. It's a complete conflict of interests and against Murdoch's wishes for anybody but United to win the league. So when City are being made to play away from home down south on a Monday Night or Chelsea have fixture congestion over a busy period don't at all be surprised.

Against Modern Football & Sky

With Leeds away round the corner it got me thinking why there hasn't been more hype around this fixture. It's just been dubbed as any old Quarter Final. It's Leeds v Chelsea - near enough a sell out, Leeds fans have temporarily halted the boycott for this, it's a genuine football rivalry that stretches back decades. My real gripe with Sky (and to a lesser extent the BBC) is their uncanny ability to influence the thoughts and views of the public, there is this modern day notion whereby if something is said by the likes of Alan Hansen or Mark Lawrenson on Match of the Day, that makes it right. Football fans these days tend not to live the experience of going to games and leaving, breathing football so don't have the ability to stimulate their own views. Sky have genuinely managed to convince the public that the "Manchester Derby" is now the biggest game/rivalry in football, not so long ago it was Chelsea v United, then before that it was Arsenal v United, then before that Liverpool v United. Sky's affiliation with United is well known so I needn't go into that but Sky's attempt to create new rivalries whilst ignoring long standing and genuine rivalries is ridiculous.

Growing up with a lot of Arsenal fans I still remember the days when they weren't the laughing stock of today and had a reputable side. Back then every Arsenal fan I know identified their biggest rivals as Man Utd and dismissed Tottenham as a team of somewhat irrelevance, I still remember my cousins telling me they "didn't mind" Tottenham yet hated Chelsea. How messed up is that? Seems now that Arsenal have declined and sold their best player to United is sinking in that they never were and never have been their rivals in the first place. Not in the same sense that Leeds, Liverpool and Man City are to them anyway. It's a fallacy of a rivalry, which in the eyes of real fans never existed. The attempt to create Fulham/QPR vs Chelsea into a major "rivalry" is another growing annoyance I have with Sky, since the promotion of both clubs to the Premier League this has been an ongoing thing, "The West London Derby" it is dubbed, without the acknowledgement of the fact the only two clubs that play in West London are QPR and Brentford. Fundamentally "West" sounds cooler than "South West". The Terry/Cole-Ferdinand saga has only fuelled Sky's desire to turn Chelsea v QPR into a big fixture when in reality it never has been, not for Chelsea fans anyway, same with Chelsea v Fulham. This is not just synonymous of Chelsea and Arsenal (both of whom have undoubtedly benefitted from Sky in terms of revenue and overseas fanbase), same can be said of United whose fans have undoubtedly bought into these rivalries as well (the ones that aren't from Manchester anyway).

So yeah, Leeds play Chelsea on Wednesday and nobody apart from fans of those clubs even realises what a rivalry it is yet we're told the Manchester Derby is the biggest and best football fixture out there. When the Old First Division died, a lot of football history went with it, Now we're just stuck with a cash cow - The Premier League - of which the sole aim is to make money and gain viewing figures, armchair/first generation football fans. Don't be surprised if within the next 10 years, Man City v Liverpool or Arsenal v Everton are "major rivals" because that's certainly the way football is heading..

Rio Ferdinand - Is he really the victim?

Anybody that opens a tabloid paper tomorrow will undoubtedly read condemnation of City fans following an 'eventful' Manchester Derby, but to those that don't subscribe to the United bias printed in the media there was a lot more going on than just a solitary coin being thrown at any United player. The Daily Mail have already begun their character assassination of City fans by printing the headline "Rio Ferdinand cut, City fans cheered". 

In no way do I condone the behaviour of the City fans that threw the coin at Ferdinand and ran on the pitch respectively but I do believe there are mitigating circumstances. United had scored a last minute winner at the home of their biggest rivals, at which point Rio Ferdinand felt the need to celebrate provocatively in front of the City fans, this is the same Rio Ferdiand who took huge exception to Mario Balotelli celebrating in front of HIS OWN fans at Wembley. Too often, the emotion of the game isn't taken into consideration, that may be used in defence for Ferdinand but did that City fan walk through the turnstiles and plan to run on the pitch and attack a United player? Highly unlikely. Did Rio Ferdinand plan to celebrate a goal/win in front of the City fans? Likely given his previous it was the exact same at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea fans already feeling aggrieved at being down to 9 men in a game they had dominated bar the opening 20 minutes. Do people like Ollie Holt genuinely expect the Chelsea fans to just politely applaud? It's this kind of liberalism which has got this country nowhere. I'll bet people like Ollie Holt would have probably wanted Neville Chamberlain to hand Hitler the keys to 10 Downing Street as well and roll open the red carpet after the London bombings.

Journalists like  Oliver Holt of the Mirror are now going a step further and as much as defending the behaviour of Rio Ferdinand and Phil Jones (who allegedly made provocative hand gestures towards the City fans). To them I ask this:

What would their reaction be if the roles were reversed and Mario Balotelli had celebrated provocatively in front of the Stretford End at Old Trafford? As a Chelsea fan I understand I'm not in much of a position to criticise the character of certain players given Ashley Cole and John Terry play for us but I'm close to certain that if John Terry or Ashley Cole had acted as Ferdinand did the media would be up in arms with journalists incandescent with rage calling for reprisal. Adebayor was castigated by the press for celebrating in front of the Arsenal fans at City a few years ago which most people bar Arsenal fans found slightly humorous but at the same time recognising that he was out of line and deserved the punishment he faced.

This isn't the first or last time an incident like this has occurred involving United and their players, just a few weeks ago Chelsea fans were condemned for throwing coins at Javier Hernandez as he celebrated wildly in front of the Matthew Harding Lower end of the ground (the most partisan area of Chelsea's home support). Gary Neville has previous for doing this as Liverpool fans would vouch for. Ronaldo and Rooney also doing the exact same thing in front of the North Bank at Highbury in a 4-2 win, Rooney again at Goodison Park upon his return. This kind of behaviour typifies United as a club:

1) Schadenfreude - As emphasised by the "Viva John Terry" and "Benitez is cracking up" chants. I don't know about most football fans but when we win something the first thing that comes to my mind isn't rubbing it in Arsenal/West Ham/Tottenham's faces, I'm just pleased for myself, friends and the club in general. The fact United fans took more pleasure in seeing Terry miss than they did Van Der Sar saving Anelka's kick thus winning them the Champions League sums them up. This drips down from top to bottom, a late winner against their rivals and the first thing that comes to mind is goading City fans. United fans are the type that won't even know who they are playing on a match day but never cease to remind fans of the local team that their side has lost be it Chelsea, Norwich, Wolves, Aston Villa or Southampton, it's a culture that is deeply ingrained in the club but I can't quite put my finger on where it began. Possibly due to Liverpool's success in the 70s and 80s and that feeling of always being inferior to them. Mystery to me anyway.

2) Untouchable Status - Which has been facilitated by the media and FA for the last 20 years or so. It has got to the stage where United fans and players alike believe that as long as they don that red shirt and club crest they can do what they like without reproach. Rooney was allowed to deliberately elbow James McCarthy and go unpunished, he had his 3 match ban reduced on FA appeal after assaulting another player. Rio Ferdinand could have been looking at a jail sentence or at least FA punishment for his tweets during the Terry court case. Evra falsely accused a Chelsea steward of racism and United didn't receive any criticism at all. To this day Roy Keane is still revered as a hero for ending Alfe Inge Haaland's career and likewise with Cantona for assaulting a fan. NO other club receives such little indignation from the press and that only makes matters worse and perpetuates their behaviour on and off the field. Any fan of Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool or Manchester City (not to mention a handful of others) will be able to confirm the kind of abhorrent chants United's away support continually aim at the deceased but there isn't any kind of acknowledgement from the club itself or the press which allows them to do as they please. Alex Ferguson the only manager that can attack a referee or organisation within football without any kind of reprisal from the FA. Behaviour is learnt based on reward/punishment premise, it's no wonder how they continue to get away with it.

The problem is 95% of football journalists aren't fans of the game before they become journalists, they have no idea about fandom and what the game is about so when a small minority of football fans do misbehave they jump on the bandwagon and sensationalise it to suit their agenda. Football fans always have and always will be character assassinated by the press because fundamentally it is a working class sport which is attended by mostly working class fans or "common folk", the complete opposite of the silver spoon Oxford grad lifestyle of which many of these "journalists" have come from. It's fine for a spectator to shout out during a match point of a grand slam final at Wimbledon but god forbid a football fan invades the pitch (which is just as disruptive) they are classed as "scum". There will come a time where people realise that football is no different to religion for the match going fan in particular. Try telling somebody that has invested 1/3 of their annual salary in their football club that "It's only a game". 

To use Newton's third law of motion "for every action, there is a reaction". Football in general (in particular a derby game) is partisan, if I had walked into the Bill Nicholson pub after Chelsea beat Spurs 4-2 and celebrated wildly in front of Spurs fans I'd consider myself lucky to come out with just a cut below the eye. On the other hand if I jumped on a train to Fulham Broadway or pretty much anywhere South of the River which is Chelsea stronghold I'd probably get a free pint. In my eyes that is no different some would argue that isn't right but it's the reality, in any walk of life there are boundaries you respect and simply do not cross, and if you do you live with the consequences. Rio Ferdinand isn't the victim, he's an odious and obnoxious man that believes he is above the law. The real victims here are the City fans who undoubtedly got carried away with the emotion of the game and went too far, but prevention is better than cure. Had Rio Ferdinand celebrated in front of his own fans as opposed to City's is he getting a coin thrown at him or a fan coming on the pitch trying to attack him? I don't think so. Without wanting to completely shift blame from the City fans I'd argue it's a form of entrapment. When deliberately provoked and surrounded by thousands of fans in a partisan atmosphere I'd argue it's very hard to keep your cool. Unlike some I won't be a hypocrite. I said the same thing when Junior Stanislas celebrated in front of the Millwall fans in that famous cup tie 3 years ago. Keep kicking a dog and eventually it will bite you.