Gary Neville has been accused of ‘gaslighting’ Arsenal fans after calling them ‘entitled’.
It came after Myles Lewis-Skelly’s rescinded red card, which sparked outrage from both the players on the pitch and fans online.
Following the shock decision against Wolves at the Molineux, criticism of referee Michael Oliver was widespread from Arsenal fans.
Beyond that, there has been general criticism of VAR failing to intervene, with Darren England in the role on the day.
The PGMOL were forced to release a statement condemning abuse and threats made towards Oliver in the aftermath of the decision.
Speaking on the Overlap podcast, Neville criticised the reaction of Arsenal fans on social media following the event, calling them ‘entitled’.
Neville believes that fans had been influenced by manager Mikel Arteta.
“They [Arsenal fans] use language like corruption, which means they think he’s getting paid and bought off, which is obviously not the case,” Neville said.
“We [at Manchester United] lived in a club which created a siege mentality about the referees.
“Arsenal are doing a bit of that as well – there’s no doubt that what Arsenal do is inflame the situation after the game rather than calm it down, they’ve done that for 12 months, but we can’t say that’s wrong having played in the dressing room that we did.”
He continued: “I’m not bothered because Arsenal fans are not great fans of me anyway, but I think they’ve become so entitled.
“They were playing against Wolves. Wolves have had more bad decisions against them in the last 15 months than any other club in the country it feels like. They had some shockers against them last season.
“I just feel like every time Arsenal have a decision against them and it was a bad decision, but I feel like the exaggeration in the response…
“Maybe it was the same with Manchester United back in the day and that’s why people didn’t like us and maybe that’s what Arsenal are creating now, that siege mentality and Mikel Arteta likes that.”
Talia Lazarus on talkSPORT’s Inside Gooners asked podcaster Clive Palmer whether he believed Arsenal fans are being gaslit.
Palmer responded: “We are and we have to accept it. No one cares about our feelings.
“What’s upset our north western media friends is the whole world was upset. Arsenal Football Club barely said a word.
“The player barely said a word, everything happened around them, but this is not on us, this is on everybody else and their reaction to it.
“We have this label that we are strange for how we look at refereeing decisions, I’m hopeful that Myles [Lewis-Skelly] doesn’t have a label and has to carry that red card with him.
“In the past we have been vociferous, but in this case we haven’t said a word as a club, so why are we wearing this?
“They made the mistake, the reaction has been global, not just an Arsenal reaction, and now we have this on us which I think is really unfair.”
With Lewis-Skelly’s ban being overturned, he’ll be available to face to Man City on Sunday afternoon.
A victory could see Arteta’s side close the gap on league leaders Liverpool if results went their way.