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Man in the middle for Newcastle v Man City hands Fergie the advantage?

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Howard Webb in Man United shirtManchester United will have more than one eye on this afternoon’s clash between Newcastle and Man City at St James’ Park and the fact that referee Howard Webb is in charge of the crucial clash might just bring a smile to Sir Alex Ferguson and the Red Devils’ faces.

Howard Webb is arguably the best football referee in England. Webb has been FIFA listed since 2005 and has refereed at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, even officiating the final in South Africa between Spain and The Netherlands.

However, over the years Webb has managed to get a reputation amongst fans of other Premier League clubs that he favours Manchester United. This is of course ridiculous for such a highly regarded referee, but that hasn’t stopped Man City fans being angry that he’s been given the whistle this afternoon.

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The secretary of the City supporters club, Kevin Parker, told the Daily Mail that: “History tells us he has generally favoured United. City fans do feel that. We’ll just have to hope that isn’t reflected on Sunday as it’s such a huge day for Manchester City.”

So why does Webb have this reputation? Back in 2009 Webb awarded Man United a debatable spot kick against Tottenham, and then this season again gave them two penalties, one of which was pretty generous, against Chelsea.

However, the picture above represents his most infamous moment. This image was posted by ex-Liverpool winger Ryan Babel on Twitter, after Webb awarded a penalty against Liverpool and sent off Steven Gerrard during FA Cup tie in 2011.

This is of course all banter between football fans and there’s only one reason why Howard Webb has been given the task of officiating Newcastle United v Manchester City this afternoon – because he’s the best referee in this country.

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Click on Le Tissier below to see the Newcastle duo in his Team of the Year

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