Why is refereeing in England so different from rest of Europe?

By Tony Attwood Recently I read the story that a junior referee was “badly let down” by FA officials after he reported being verbally abused by adult coaches. In this report (one of many of the type) a campaigner for better refereeing reported that Max Ormesher, a 15 year old brave enough to take on refereeing, …

Milan v Arsenal. What it is like under new management?

By Bulldog Drummond Milan have had a resurgence of late and after an unbeaten run lie seventh, just outside next season’s Europa positions… # Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts 1 Napoli 27 22 3 2 62 19 43 69 2 Juventus 26 22 2 2 63 15 48 68 3 Roma …

Who exactly controls law and order in world football? We might be about to find out.

 By Tony Attwood It has taken one hell of a time to reach a decision, but it looks like a decision is almost there.  And it is a decision of importance, because it will tell us whether The City Group – the conglomeration of clubs across the world that includes Manchester City, New York City, …

Referees across the Continent: just how different is the PGMO from everyone else?

By Andrew Crawshaw I thought it was time I had a look at refereeing in the other major leagues in Europe to try and determine categorically what the differences are between the way the PGMO operate compared with elsewhere. Germany – Bundesliga Number of teams 18 Number of referees – 23. 22 men and one …

How to invent history: blog uses disgraceful tactics to undermine Arsenal

By Tony Attwood Just how low do you need to go, how many tall tales do you need to tell, how many downright lies do you need to publish, in order to knock Arsenal? These are not the questions most people interested in the club are asking, but even so they are indeed questions that …

The ten men crazy enough to take over at Arsenal… plus six new purchases the club are making.

By Sir Hardly Anyone I’m certainly not going to turn Untold into a political forum, but if you can spare me one minute I’d like to show you what to me is an interesting parallel.  So if you don’t have a minute to spare, and can’t bare to read anything other than football for the …

Can Wenger fit two world-class strikers into one effective first eleven?

By Jerry Jones The Gunners have spent £105m this season on two centre-forwards of real world-class quality. Alexandre Lacazette finally secured his move abroad after leaving Lyon in the summer, before being joined by Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January. The only issue now is how to get the best from both players at the same …

That annoying little thing called Video Assisted Refereeing; where has it all gone so wrong?

By Tony Attwood Watching the newspapers and UK media outlets discuss VAR while I am in Australia has been illuminating to say the least. Two days go the BBC announced that the Premier League clubs were not expected to announce that VAR is being introduced next season. The next day the Daily Express announced that …

Arsenal’s decline offers a real chance to see what’s going on

  By Tony Attwood My headline above is not meant to suggest that I think there is a conspiracy of some kind – I certainly don’t think that people are plotting in dark corners how to attack Arsenal, how to undermine the club, how to do damage to its manager or anything like that.   …

Brighton – Arsenal : 2-1

No Ramsey in the team and Bellerin not at right back, that were the most noticable changes before kickoff. Wilshere came in the team for Ramsey and Chambers playing at right back. Arsenal XI: Cech, Chambers, Mustafi, Koscielny, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Wilshere, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Iwobi, Aubameyang Bench: Ospina, Bellerin, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Welbeck, Nketiah Iwobi with …

Brighton v Arsenal: the games gone by and the team today

By Bulldog Drummond Arsenal have played Brighton just 16 times across the centuries, so for once I can give the complete run down. Date Match Result Score Competition 12 Jan 1935 Brighton and Hove v Arsenal W 0-2 FA Cup 18 Aug 1979 Brighton and Hove v Arsenal W 0-4 Division One 30 Oct 1979 …

Brighton and Hove Albion v Arsenal Sunday 4 March – The Match Officials

by Andrew Crawshaw Well, I’m afraid I didn’t get the award of a penalty call correct for the City game (I said we wouldn’t get one)- I’ve given the crystal ball an extra polish for this preview. Arsenal are on 14 different referees this season and we are in Matchweek 29 so only nine games …

Who believes he could outsmart the media and become the next Arsenal manager?

By Sir Hardly Anyone The media always knows when it is on to a winner, and that is certainly the mood at the moment with the feeling that with enough pressure Arsenal can be laid to waste in such a bad state that it will take a decade for the club to recover.   This is …

Why in terms of Arsenal, the transfer rumour has become a thing of the past.

By Sir Hardly Anyone We’ve had one clear piece of proof of the imaginary nature of transfers for quite some time, after discovering that if all the transfer rumours of the summer are added together then it turns out that only three in every 100 rumours actually manifests itself in a transfer.  A figure that …

Sometimes the world can take you by surprise.  As long as you are not looking the wrong way

  By Tony Attwood When the media en mass ignores a particular point of view (such as the one that asks why our refereeing system is so secretive, and is organised in a way that is different from most of the rest of Europe) I am on safe ground.  I know where I stand.  For …

Arsenal in confusion. No money and the canon has come loose.

By Sir Hardly Anyone. These are indeed tough days for the media as they desperately try to find more and more problems that are inherent in Arsenal.  Take for example 1: The huge problem that scuppers everything or doesn’t depending on forgetting what you said last time around. The Star tells us that Arsenal want THREE …

Arsenal v Money City 1 March 2018 – The Match Officials

by Andrew Crawshaw As I am writing this at lunchtime the London Weather forecast for the Emirates is for light snow to continue until about 18:00.  After that it should be overcast but dry.  Temperatures between -1C and Zero and easterly winds of about 17mph.  So if you are going wrap up well.  Also check …

Arsenal v Man City: the comparison of results and the teams

Into by Tony Attwood I left England as the Beast from the East was a few scattered snow showers, the motorways were clear and there was no disruption to air traffic.  I’ve read there might be a threat of disruption to this game – you’ll know better than I since I’m about as far from …