Time is Right

As a prelude, let's remind ourselves of what Graham Poll had to say yesterday:

I struggled to see where the additional, additional time came from which enabled United to score the winner. Alan Wiley, the fourth official showed the time allowed - as decided by Atkinson - as four minutes, which I felt was reasonable given the substitutions and number of goals.

There was one further substitution in the time allowed, Carrick for Anderson, for which 30 seconds is usually allowed. I therefore expected the final whistle at 94.30, as did Mark Hughes.

The Owen winning goal was timed at 95.28 and so I could fully understand the City boss’s frustration. When you’ve worked so hard to come back three times and feel that you’ve earned a point in a key match it must be galling to concede such a goal.

And let's have a look at what he says today:

Having watched a complete re-run of Sunday's Manchester derby, I have to conclude that Martin Atkinson was absolutely correct and highly credible in his time-keeping. ...

Then, in stoppage time, there was another goal and a substitution, meaning that at least one more minute had to be added, with a fan running on to the pitch taking up further seconds.

So, well done Martin Atkinson for attention to detail and to Manchester United for playing right to the final whistle.

I'm not altogether sure why he had to watch the whole game again. I didn't see any complaints about the first 4 minutes of injury time. He spends most of the article going on about that. Surely he should have spent some time apologising for being so wrong yesterday. Instead he ignores the fact that he was wrong yesterday. I'm assuming he's writing this today only after numerous people pointed out what an idiot he is/how wrong he was. At least have the decency to face up to your error, rather than trying to get out of it in such a weasely way - "Well done referee, I slagged you off in print yesterday, said you were wrong, today I'm rewriting history to give you credit for your wonderful refereeing.
On a similar subject, The Guardian has an article which illustrates just how stats can be used to justify existing prejudice:

After the controversy over Michael Owen's winning goal in Sunday's Manchester derby, the Guardian has looked at all of United's league matches at Old Trafford since the start of the 2006-07 season and discovered that, on average, there has been over a minute extra added by referees when United do not have the lead after 90 minutes, compared to when they are in front. In 48 games when United were ahead, the average amount of stoppage time was 191.35 seconds. In 12 matches when United were drawing or losing there was an average of 257.17sec.

First off, ignoring everything but the numbers, how 12 games is a large enough sample to create meaningful statistics is beyond me, even the 48 games on the other side should be considered too small to be statistically significant. Secondly, isn't this just easily explained by the fact that it being an unusual situation for an away team to be leading/drawing at Old Trafford going into injury time that they will be time-wasting, and thus the additional time is completely understandable? Plus, as everyone seems to be in agreement (except City fans) that the time in the City game was right, why does it even matter except to have a go at us? The most interesting statistics come in the next paragraph:

The average stoppage time added at Old Trafford in the period in question is below that given at Anfield, the Emirates Stadium and Stamford Bridge. United's is 205 seconds, compared to Liverpool's 210sec, Arsenal's 224sec and Chelsea's 229sec.

Maybe those clubs should have an analysis of their matches in a similar vein...
Even Keith Hackett agrees with the time-keeping:

"Our laws state that the referee is solely responsible for timekeeping," he said. "When the board goes up, that is the minimum amount of added time that needs to be played.

"If there are any stoppages during that period, then the referee has the right to add on any additional time.

"We have analysed the stats on Pro Zone and looked at the DVDs and the referee's timekeeping was correct.

"Where there's a point of conflict, we will look at the information we have got and that's shown us that the referee was correct."

Not going to spend any time on the controversies to come from the game. The words of the Man United fan who ran onto the pitch can be found here. Man City whine about Alan Wiley. Gary Neville could be in trouble for his goal celebration.

Neville, an unused substitute, reacted to Michael Owen's winning goal by running from the dugout along the side of the pitch to the corner of Old Trafford where the away fans sit. Several City supporters have contacted the FA to complain that he mouthed obscenities in their direction.

Neville has previous when it comes to this kind of behaviour. He was fined £5,000 in 2006 for taunting Liverpool fans as well as receiving an official warning about his future conduct, something that has compelled the FA to investigate his latest alleged transgression.

Which seems like nonsense, but knowing the FA I fear the worst.
Article on the feelings of Mark Hughes for Sir Alex:

there is history. Ned Kelly, once United's head of security, remembers bumping into Hughes in a nightclub one evening in 1995, shortly after the player had left Old Trafford to join Chelsea.

"Whether it was the lateness of the hour, the strength of the alcohol, or something he had read ... Sparky wanted to talk only about his former manager," Kelly recalls. "'Fergie never really rated me as a player,' he complained. 'I was only brought back from Barcelona to keep the fans happy.'"

Kelly remembers telling him "that's bollocks", but being unable to cheer him up. "Mark refused to listen. He was more interested in berating Fergie. It was sad that someone who had given such sterling service to the club had spent all those years believing his manager had thought so little of him."

It is an anecdote that might partly explain why, 14 years on, Hughes is quite happy to snipe at Ferguson. In the run‑up to Sunday's derby he even admitted being "amused" by the thought of Ferguson being asked so many questions about what is going on at the City of Manchester Stadium – which Ferguson once called the "Temple of Doom" – these days.

Some comments from Evra:

"It would have been very difficult to go inside the dressing room if we had drawn," Evra told MUTV. "I think the manager would have given the hairdryer to everybody.

"But to score like that, in the last second of the game, was just amazing.

"The players on the bench were coming on the pitch, the fans, the atmosphere - this is why I say thanks to God I play in the Premier League and for United."

The Telegraph report that we will "escape punishment over Michele Fornasier" Which means that we haven't done anything wrong, we haven't escaped it at all:

It is understood that Fornasier was not tied to a binding contract at Fiorentina and Fifa has now confirmed that, barring further correspondence from the Serie A club, it has found no grounds on which to base an investigation.

A Fifa spokesman said: "We can confirm that we were contacted by Fiorentina with regard to the potential transfer of the player, Michele Fornasier, to Manchester United.

"However, no formal investigation has been opened since the documentation currently in our possession, from a purely formal point of view, is not apt to sustain such action."

Finally, here's the complete transcript of Sir Alex's words at the Bobby Robson memorial:

'He was a product of this area he was brought up in. Mining stock, the loyalty, the unity, people stand shoulder to shoulder with each other, have their doors open. His father, the people of this area, who go down to the bowels of this earth to earn their living.

'He never forgot that. He always knew his roots. Fantastic to do that, to never forget your roots. It’s a great skill not to change your entire life. It’s a great talent now, not to change, to always be the same person.

'Bobby took that, that was his background, that was the foundation of Bobby. It fortified him, in his later years, as a footballer and, particularly, as a manager. It’s such a precarious job that you go through all the emotions, but he rose above it. He fought his disease with incredible courage and resilience and showed you what his background was.