‘It is not often that Manchester United supporters look sheepish over their team's good fortune. After all the years of manager Alex Ferguson instilling a belief in the Reds' divine right to win matches, trophies and refereeing decisions, there is little humility left. There is little honesty remaining, either. For all the acres of coverage about Spurs' goal-from-the-halfway- line-that-wasn't, there has been precious little about the person at the heart of the incident: the goalkeeper.
‘Roy Carroll cheated when he dropped the ball over the line, scooped it back and then said nothing when the referee waved play on. Yet his actions have not been deemed worthy of comment by fans, pundits or officials. That's because they know that, had he spoken up at the key moment, there is little doubt that his manager would have dropped him from the team, possibly for ever, such is today's blinkered obsession with winning at all costs. This attitude is now all-consuming in the shiny football world of the Premiership. No one even thought it a possibility that Carroll would own up.
‘And yet for the millions of us who play for free, it is possible to find another way. Games are played without linesmen, and sometimes without referees. Sure, there is whingeing, fouling and swearing, but the game manages to get played. And if the ball goes beyond the goal-line, the moral pressure applied by fellow players will ensure that a goal is given.
‘It would be nice to think that cheats don't prosper. Or that these things even themselves out. What worries me is that in the long run people won't be able to play a friendly game of football without a referee, technology or a police presence, because youngsters won't know that there was ever any other way of playing the game.
‘And if it is accepted in football, and that professional football is a business and a part of everyday life, then are we on our way to being a thoroughly dishonest society, from the games that we play to the jobs that we do?'