BUT SERIOUSLY IS HOWARD WEBB A MAN UTD FAN?

Down here in my country Nigeria it has become a popular saying that Howard webb is a Manchester united fan if not a player. To the extent that fans of other premiership clubs and beyond have failed to acknowledge the effort of the Manchester United players but attributes the team performance to the presence of the man in the centre of the park "Howard Webb".

He is known by many as Fergie's star signing for Manchester United below are some common quotes.
"And the man of the match for the game between NUFC and MUFC is "Howard Web" His calls were instrumental in securing MUFC win, and once again he has proven to be a great signing for the team"
"Howard webb is manchester united Legend"
"Howard webb is manchester united supporter"

Talk about last minute drama, talk about heroes who inspire their teams in desperate times, talk about the phrase “Cometh the hour Cometh the man” all leads to one leader for Manchester United. Howard Webb, the saviour, the legend, the 12th man.

Webb has officiated or to be more precise played 16 games for the devils and has successfully lead his side to victory on no less than 13 occasions, that’s 82% win rate. Perhaps that’s the most prolific record no other United player holds. He hopes to maintain that level of performance for years despite being the oldest member of the squad.

    Although Webb is famous for his shiny head but he can’t head the ball in for united, never mind he lets his whistle do the talking to provide United with plenty of penalty kicks in crucial circumstances. Howard Webb has issued 10 of his 54 penalties to Man Utd. More than 18% and remarkably 10 penalties in 16 games. Ferguson showered praise on his star player and claimed:

"He's just too important for us, his ratio of games played to penalties given is almost one per match, which are amazing stats. We hope he stays fit."

In January 2011, Webb played iconic role in defeating rivals Liverpool in FA Cup. The man in black gave away first minute penalty to United for Berbatov dive in the box. Replays indicate that Berbatov falls to the ground in an exaggerated fashion and show that Webb linesman did not signal that any foul took place. Above that he made sure that there are no last minute screamers coming in from Steven Gerrard to steal the show so Webb showed him the door to settle the match there and then.

Babel was fined by the FA for posting a picture of Webb wearing United shirt, but that’s not the only incident about United-Webb love affair. December 2010 vs Arsenal , a nonexistent hand ball by Gael Clichy, and web rubber stamped his assistant call to award United penalty. March 2010 vs Liverpool, replays clearly indicated that Javier Macherano tackled Valencia outside the box but the eagle eyes of Webb saw it was inside. United then equalised and eventually won 2-1.

This and many others are what most people who are of the opinion that Howard Webb is a united fan point to.

But in truth who is Howard webb?

Howard Melton Webb, MBE, (born 14 July 1971)is an English professional football referee who officiates primarily in the Premier League and has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2005.

Webb is counted amongst the top referees of all time by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), and has refereed a number of notable matches including the FA Cup Final, the FA Community Shield and the final of the Football League Cup, as well as the final of both the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup, being the first person to referee both matches in the same year.

Webb has drawn praise for his authoritative and respected approach to refereeing from football bodies, pundits, colleagues, players, and managers

And who does he really support?

Rotherham

Many rumours have done the rounds about what club emblem adorns “Mr England’s” tea mug and slippers, but most of these have stemmed from Ryan Babel’s twitter account. Some say he’s followed his local team Rotherham to over 80 separate league grounds. Some say he’s a life long Sheffield United supporter and has a tattoo of crossed scimitars on his leg and ’1892′ on his toes. Everyone else just thinks he loves Man United.

And with comment / jokes such as this ;

Howard Webb is proud of his performances for United. Asked about why he has not scored a goal yet. Webb replied:

"At times I think about taking the penalty myself, but then I let one of the other lads take the glory for a change. It's a team sport after all, and I get embarrassed when people tell me I single-handedly win all the games I get picked to play in."

With just 16 appearances for the devils, Howard Webb has turned into a super star. The legendary Giggs is close to retirement but the United faithful need not worry as Webb has no plans of retiring until his name is written in the United’s folklore forever



it still remains unclear if seriously "Howard webb" is a Manchester United supporter.

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