Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
I dont really buy that at all. I am not saying that Riley was on the payroll. I am saying that United knew full well before the game that they could seriously take the piss and he wouldn't lift a finger. Either through indirect influence, sheer pressure or just because they knew Riley was hopelessly weak. You can see this in how they pressure him after every awful challenge. Neville goes up and screams in his face after hacking Reyes to the floor or the third time. What on earth is he complaining about? How can he possibly be angry about something?

This was not the usual example of a ref being a 'homer'... it was the clearest possible example of a referee being simply unwilling to give any kind of decision against one side and that side being very, very confident that that was the case.

I think the premier league should be eternally ashamed of the fact that the longest unbeaten run in its history was brought to an end in this fashion.

The media chose to focus on the pizza incident afterwards instead- hard to believe but somehow we came out of this game as the bad guys!
I think lots of factors came into play. Ferguson certainly told them to target our players and probably said Riley 'lets the game flow' at OT, so you'll probably get away with it. I agree it was the worst example of bias and incompetence I've ever seen in a top English game, I'm just saying I don't think its bentness was planned or orchestrated.

As I say, the media reaction was the most extraordinary thing. Normally, TV can't stop poring over bad refereeing, but here it was simply glossed over. It was genuinely weird and ensured that I'll never believe there isn't an anti-Arsenal bias in the media.