Ref Review: Everton – Arsenal, more of the terrible the same….

31 Replies to “Ref Review: Everton – Arsenal, more of the terrible the same….”

1. “What is the matter with PL referees this season? We have seen bad seasons but this one is turning out to be the worst ever”…..unless that is, you are a player or supporter of Leicester.
   We all know what is going on, Untold know, football is fixed knows, there is a title to fix. a certain group of referees seem to be taking it upon themselves to help one team and hinder those who threaten them, or at least some who threaten them.
   I just wish FIF would expose what he claims to know, if need be, to a european media outlet, or perhaps the Sunday Times
   We still have a chance, so it will be more of the same at West Ham next week. compare and contrast the refereeing we will receive with that of Leicester.
   Even some of the phone ins are hinting that Leicester may be getting a bit more than just the rub of the green

2. Chelseas new manager looks as if he may fit right in with the Premier League and its PGMOL enforcers

   http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/10230998/prosecutor-wants-suspended-sentence-for-antonio-conte

   This is a man who has actually served a ban over failing to report match fixing according to this article.

3. Mandy,

   Thanks for highlighting Conte’s murky past. Marvellous – just what the PL needs…

   My disillusionment continues to grow. Why am I continuing to spend good money watching a corrupt sport? Sky Sports sub has gone into the bin. BT Sport would go too except that it appears to be effectively free with my package.

   I should probably just mentally confine my Arsenal-supporting experience to enjoying good football and not worry too much about the results.

   Just so deeply depressing.

4. Clattenburg looked on his way to being a good ref when he came to the EPL but the unPGMO certainly made sure he got in line with the program. The AAA say we supporters are paranoid. I say they’re naive at best. If I’m not viewing the matches at my local Arsenal watering hole I watch at a neutral spot with my friends who support Liverpool and WHU. They see and acknowledge the ref bias we see. This season the talk is not only the anti-Arsenal bias it’s the pro-Leicester bias. Yes, this may be a small sample size statistically but is as valid as the ‘experts’ that tell us “Arsenal fans are sick of …..(fill in the blank)”. To quote another Bard; “You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows”.

5. The key to us winning in the PL is in the number of wrong Important decisions awarded against us. Two or fewer and we tend to win games, three or more and we are far more likely to drop points..

   The sad thing is that it isn’t just confined to the PL, I was at both our Ladies game and the U18 Cup semi-final and in both we were on the wrong end of some pretty terrible decisions, pushes, trips, off the ball blocks and wrong sending off decisions.

   In a way one could say that it is an important part of the learning process for our U18 players as they will have to cope with it in the senior team. I can’t for the life of me see why it has spread to the ladies as well though or are the PGMO responsible for their referees as well?

6. Yes Pete, it is all pretty dispiriting, especially in the manner in which the club, if not so much the manager seem to just accept it.
   But as you say, we can still take pleasure from watching Arsenal, and at their best , Caz, Ozil, Alexis, Monreal, Bellerin…and now…”The Wob”…..are a sight to behold

7. Andrew
   Maybe the media have got their anti Arsena/Arsenal message so subliminally entrenched in the referees psyche that whatever level of match involving Arsenal they officiate in triggers an involuntary anti Arsenal psychological bias from them.

8. Sorry typo…
   Arsene/Arsenal

9. Trying to be positive…. maybe the “Panama papers” might link to certain people not a million miles removed from PL officialdom? One can but hope. If even a single ref is implicated that will likely be the first domino…

   I just yearn for the innocent days pre-2009. When Arsenal could be good or cr*p – but at least we had reasonably unbiased match officials (although certainly not incompetent) and there was some vague approximation to evening out in the end.

   Hackett seemed to run a reasonably fair ship (major exception being red-nose induced favouritism at Old Toilet) but under the current regime it is just a complete farce.

   Perhaps the new level of bias associated with this season’s League leaders will strain credulity to breaking point?

   Think about it. One club is victimised – no one else much cares. 19 clubs are on the receiving end – nearly everyone cares. They might just have bitten off too much here.

10. Kouyate’s ban overturned. Was a near certainty given we’re up next.

11. Just seen that Kouyate has had his red card for West Ham rescinded.

    I imagine the hearing went something like this:

    FA Chairman of Panel: “Next up – Kouyate from West Ham. Appealing his red card against Crystal Palace. Hmm – looks an open and shut case to me. And Mr Clattenburg was the referee – one of our top officials… Perhaps we should consider increasing the ban for a spurious appeal?

    “What’s that you say? West Ham’s next match is against Arsenal? Why didn’t you mention earlier! In which case – appeal upheld! Costs waived as well – and not a stain on your character! And, Mr Kouyate, all the very best on Saturday… I will be watching on BT Sport, so tend to know how it might go, and with Mr Pawson as the referee I am sure due allowance will be made should your hurt feelings induce you to to, perhaps, repeat last week’s tackle. Perhaps a bit later/harder/higher this week eh? Good luck!”

12. @ Pete

    I hope you’re domino theory comes true……sooner rather than later. The bias did, however, used to be against 19 clubs in favour of Ferguson but, of course, the media had the heads wedged so firmly down the back of his underpants they didn’t care!

13. Hope you are right Pete.
    Have a feeling Leicester are going to need all the help they will be given, they look like a team running out of steam to me….but we shall see.
    Pawson at West Ham? Great. So we get yet another ref on the FIF list of Leicester protectors. Predictable if nothing else.

14. @Pete

    This was second Kouyate’s red card appeal this season. The first one was after he had been sent off in the FA Cup match in February.

    Also, his next match after a defeat against Arsenal is an away victory over Man U in FA Cup Replay before they go to Leicester to win us the league.

15. Whenever we drop points and we have such a ref review those who want to keep their eyes shut tell us that we are soar losers and just moan because we dropped points.

    This reviews proves however for the umpteenth time that win, lose or draw we will review the ref and tell it as we found it. If we drop points but the ref was good, we will say so. If we win but the ref was bad, we will also say so.
    Whatever the outcome of the match we just will open our eyes and have a close look at the ref and report as he did at the day on the field.

16. BTW, no less an august authority and full time Arsenal basher than the Telegraph says in a Telegraph Online piece today that Leicester “are riding their luck with the referees”. Arsenal’s most virulent media scourge say Leicester is getting the calls. So to everyone in the aaa – piss off.

17. About the Football is Fixed blog… I hope he is wrong but… well… he has said some really interesting things in the past.

    But for me the most important thing is that this guy is not an Arsenal supporter.

18. Not an Arsenal supporter at all, in fact, he can be quite critical, saying the board and manager are myopic to the corruption in this league.
    This is one area where I disagree with him, I suspect Wenger knows far more than most, and certainly far more than he lets on
    Yet, he comes up with very similar names, and conclusions to many on Untold….and he is really going for Leicester at the moment.

19. Tony…..what are the existing mechanisms in the UK, if any, that allow citizens to officially demand a review of a sporting body like the PIGMOB and the FA?
    Ithe is clear to most of us that ABC will not intervene or undertake any complaints on their own but perhaps the various supporters’ groups might unite and petition or present a formal complaint to whatever authority pretends to be monitoring these institutions?

20. Maudit autocorrector!!!! ABC should read AFC!

21. Another excellent review.

    Clattenburg used to be a very promising referee – but he has really hit the depths of PGMO generated incompetence, especially this season – looks like he has succumbed to whatever pressure Riley & co have applied.

    Everton have been a fairly diry team in recent years and this match was no exception, they seemed to know from the off they could get away with thuggery.

    Riley and his incompetent clones are not fit for purpose! Strange that Clattenburg could send off Kouyate – but couldn’t send off the much more deserving Mori – or even calm down the rest of Everton with some well deserved yellows!

22. Here’s the link to Telegraph Online article re Leicester I referenced earlier if anyone is interested.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/04/05/will-leicester-choke-why-tottenham-and-arsenal-still-have-hope/

23. Maybe Clattenbury also has a bet that was put on for Leicester to win this league. We all know what is going on yet they think that they are untouchable which begs the question of who they are hiding behind. This will come out sooner rather than later as more and more supporters of other clubs are now asking the same questions that has been on Untold for along time. Arsenal did not lose the PL title the powers that be done that for them right from the get go, no even playing field here but we knew that already which really says it all.

24. Not to sure how to leave a media clip here, but anyone with access to podcasts should listen To Mark Chapman on radio five live daily. From 40 mins on they talk about bias of referees and whether they are influenced. Not only that but that the media are also influenced by ‘the story’ They decide they are.
    Even then as much to say that if Arsenal were seven points clear, much as Leceister are, and Montreal were to hand the ball similar to Simpson the media would report it completely differently.
    I think that untold are completely absolved in there accersions.

25. Clattenberg…..along with…erm…Atkinson will be the English refs at this summers Euros.
    Seems there is a price to pay to obtain such accolades

26. Mandy – they must all wear Panama hats. 😉

27. Can you just imagine….if there were refs, joining the head of FIFA and a member of the FIFA ether ifs committee on these files?
    In all seriousness, I would not rule it out.
    Would love to know who is behind this Panama thing….but there will be others very worried…Caymen Islands, Virgin Islands , Channel Islands…..and others.

28. Walter

    Any chance you could check who the fourth officials were on, say, the top five entries on the wall of shame.

    I notice it was Moss for this game and know Dean will be on there at least once (for Stoke away), and would be interested to know if all the worst ref performances conform to the pattern of one of the big hitters being fourth official for that day.

    I still have absolutely no idea whether or not the fourth officials regularly speak to the refs and offer their wisdom during the game or if they just listen in to the other officials.

    I find Calttenburg’s wretched performance for the game marginally more explainable, though not less wrong, if he had a little voice in his ear flagging things up. Not much,though.

29. Rich, I know we have been stitched up by Pawson when Dean was 4th Official when previously he had been better than average. I was thinking this yesterday that the ‘Big Four or Five’ Refs are like driving instructors with dual controls on the side lines.

30. Seems the Football is fixed bloke is very much ‘NOT’ an Arsenal fan as he is implying that many many Arsenal Players re doping and even names Theo Walcott.

31. Very awful situation! Why is AFC not complaining?so many unbelievable wrong decisions ,some obvious nd glaring dat even trainee refs won’t make mistake about are too commonplace regularly in EPL matches; I tink resident FANs of d clubs shuld come togeda nd fight dis apparent injustice these refs blow at match venues on shameless consistency in d EPL!