By Walter Broeckx
Thanks to a good wind we have the end of season report from the PGMO over the season 2011-2012. A season Untold Arsenal also covered in their ref review history for a big part.
In the first article we looked at the way the PGMO rates their referees and who it would be translated to this seasons performances.
In the third article we looked at how the PGMO is trying to spin things to make them look good.
Now today we are going to compare their numbers with the numbers we found in our reviews.
So we looked at our data and again compared this with their rating system. The PGMO rating system that looks like this:
A score of +83% is considered to be a TOP CLASS PERFORMANCE.
A score between 76 % and 83% is considered a GOOD PERFORMANCE
A score between 70% and 76% is considered STANDARD PERFORMANCE
A score between 60% and 70% is considered to have KEY ERRORS in the match
A score under 60% is considered a POOR PERFORMANCE.
As pointed out in our previous article according to the PGMO there have never been standard performances or poor performances in the whole season. Only 9 % had key error type performances and the other 91% were good to top class performances. Hallelujah! Praise Lord Riley! All Hail to Mike!
That is if you believe in their strange numbers of course. And I think it is clear by now, we don’t believe them because we cannot judge them. They don’t give any detail on where they got them from. I wouldn’t be surprised if a certain Hans Christian Andersen wrote them down.
But now let us see what we have found. And of course I can tell you first and for all that we did found “standard” performances. And yes we did found poor performances.
In the table we will show you you can see in the first column the number of matches we found in each PGMO grade. Then you can find the grade. And then you can find the % of each grade. Under Untold you can see our numbers. Under PGMO you can see the “dream numbers” and then there is another column in which you can see the difference.
ALL MATCHES
First another reminder that our numbers are not on the whole 380 matches as the PGMO numbers should be. Some have whispered that is no longer the case since a while but that will just be a rumour from one of my sources.
Anyway a first surprise! Untold Arsenal has given more PGMO referees the grade of giving a top class performance. We gave this grade in almost 15% of our reviews. The PGMO found only 10%.
But then a big difference. In the good performances the PGMO found 81% of the matches. We only could give this grade in 21.53% of the matches. So a difference of almost 60%! That is rather a big difference.
Of course this might have something to do with the fact that the PGMO didn’t found any standard performances while we found 18% of the reviews to be standard acceptable.
If we look at the key errors we see again a very big difference. The PGMO said that 9% of the matches had key errors in it. We found that in almost 32% of the matches had key errors performances written all over them.
And than again we look at the poor performances. There have been no poor performances from the referees in that season in the PGMO. Yet one ref was send back in that season but no, there were no poor referee performances in the PL declares the PGMO. I think they should hire comical Ali or whatever was his name. You might remember the one saying on TV: there are no American tanks in Bagdad, while they were visible in the images.
That is the type of PGMO we deal with I’m afraid.
Now you could say: yeah, but your numbers include Arsenal matches and you are biased so we don’t believe Untold.
Fair enough. Let us remove the Arsenal matches and do it all over. So here we give you another table this time with all kinds of matches but no Arsenal matches in the numbers. And then we get this:
NON ARSENAL MATCHES
And then again we see that the Untold reviews gave more referees a top class grading compared to the PGMO numbers. I think this should also dispel any myth that our reviewers were out there to give bad ratings to referees. No, in fact we gave the refs more top class scores than the PGMO did. But the difference between with or without Arsenal matches for the top class performances is very small.
If we look at the good performances we again see little difference between our score with and without Arsenal matches. But the PGMO finding 81% good performances is completely out of line with our findings. By some 60%!
As said before according to the PGMO there are no standard performances in the PL and it still is ridiculous to say this.
If we look at the key errors again we see just a small difference between matches with and without Arsenal. But a big difference between the Untold Reviews and the PGMO dream land numbers.
And to finish we note that the poor performances also existed when Arsenal was not around. But for the PGMO this didn’t happen.
So for those saying that our bias had something to do with the differences we just have shown that this is not the case.
The more I look at that report from the PGMO the more I have the impression that this is just something to make themselves feel good. A report that they use to pat themselves on the back and make them able to say what a jolly good organisation they are and how well they are doing.
But if you look at their numbers and use your brain you can only come to the conclusion that their is something completely weird and unbelievable in their report.
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The books
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
I haven’t looked at anything football for some time. I’m about to start catching up on articles going back to “Barcelona: breaking the labour laws and being poor at transfers”.
So I haven’t read this article yet but Off Topic, and courtesy of a comment I came across, here’s a video of our good friend Dan Smith – kicking a player in the head – and actually getting sent off (unlike when he ruined Diaby’s career). of course, down in Oz there’s no Dermot Gallaher, or PGMO.
Watch from 3:30 mins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-
FZCMMZB-E#t=210
Smith stays on the ground as if he’s been hurt, which remionds me of Ashley Williams, who smashed Carzola’s shin, which should’ve been a red card. Williams also stayed down, and all the “respect” I’d given him for kicking the ball at van Pussy’s head has morphed into the realisation that he’s merely another big-time cheating hacker.
Pardon me, another OT
Joel Campbell explains his happiness at Arsenal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5mbmQs5_ek
For someone that’s never taken part in any referee assessment even at an amateur level, it’s the words that are far more distrusting then the numbers. Although the numbers by themselves are damning,and no words are needed! Not forgetting the startlingly few numbers of officials, the bizarre skewer on where they are from in England which is indeed a little bit strange when considering demographics and the spread of population in the uk etc. there are so many bizarre numbers around the. PGMOB.
Ignoring all this strange stuff, of which there is quite some stockpile, it’s their words that stood out for me: do these words from the previous articles therefore mean that the PGMOB think they are supervising some kind of consumer product that has a different set of rules to the laws to those of Association Football, which are more or less the same as they were 150 years ago? Certainly that would explain the partisan allowance of “hacking” by one team only witnessed from game 50 onwards.
How else can we interpret these words? A product which they are facilitating, something that has more relation to WWF then to an athletic sport? Where the mood of the PGMOB official is more relevant then the rules/laws? I don’t think anyone else needs to add anything else to their own words that have been shown. They damn themselves.
e.g.: Officals “who do not look for confrontation” or something like that. Eh? What kind of good sporting offical does not command the respect and indeed occasionally fear of their charges? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the PGMOB, they ‘ain’t no Dickie Birds 😉
Collina?
Etc.
The contrast is there for all to see.
disturbing > distrusting
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More people watched a quiz show called “Pointless” then the broadcast of the England game on the weekend.
The PGMOB certainly know how help encourage the conditions for the best football, or their interpretation of football (Rugger?) in Blighty. Or, maybe not…
…didn’t help that to the sweet FA’s billion pound purpose built football stadium looked a shambles.
The poison within.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131020/spectrum/life.htm
WARNING –
http://meetville.com/images/quotes/Quotation-Lili-St-Crow-long-sad-Meetville-Quotes-9243.jpg
Walter,
PGMO finding 81% good performances is NOT out of line with your findings by some 60%. It is
out of line with your findings by some 385%, nearly 4 times your findings!! Namely, approx. 21% compared to 81%. Yes, the DIFFERENCE in per cents of total is approx. 60% as you correctly wrote. But the per cent compared to your numbers is as above. Even more shocking!! Keep your excellent work up at Untold. With my best regards.
Walter bis,
In the same line:
Your finding of 9.43% poor performances in NON AFC matches, drastically increases to 13.90% when matches of AFC are included. The difference in per cents of total is approx. 4.47%, but the per cent compared between them is the +47.40%, i.e. nearly one half MORE when AFC numbers are included (9.43% vs 13.90%). Shocking again, but only confirms what we all see for last 10 years on the pitches all around the country. Thank you biased and corrupt PGMOL and Mike ‘F**king’ Riley.
Keep your excellent work up at Untold. With my best regards.
The problem with the PGMO is the same one that blights the FA and FIFA. Arrogance and a total lack of accountability.
Look everybody makes mistakes. Managers, players, referees etc and you have to allow for that. Mistakes happen, innocently and without any malice. You hope these are one off’s but if they aren’t happen regularly, action must be taken. Welcome to the real world.
However, what we are seeing from our referees lately are not mistakes; You cannot tell me the referees assistant or the referee did not see the Boyd outstretched arm in the penalty area from a corner. There is no way that was not seen. Now what possible reason can there be for that not being given as a penalty and a card. It cannot be accidental. Okay, lets say the referee was looking at some potential contact in the area but his assistant is looking in line with the flight of the ball, the most perfect position on the pitch to see that. Boyd had just been booked. Penalty and a red card virtually ends the game. Yep, I am suspicious.
The tug back on Flamini for the first Hull goal was another where teh referee and linesman were4 in perfect positions to see that. Mistake?
What about Fabregas diving full length, arms above his head in the penalty area blocking the ball with his arms. Again, the referee is right there. I accept the yellow card for that Cahill tackle was a genuine mistake and hope the referees interpretation of the rules will remain consistent. Howeve, I question the 4th official who was right there.
But the lack of accountability is the issue. They don’t ever have to explain how they get things so wrong. Nothing.
Even when the referee makes a howler, we cannot have it reviewed if the referee claims he saw the incident – he himself has to agree to the review.
Until games get assessed independently and a pattern is identified, I am convinced we will continue to get the biased/incompetent refereeing that we see. But as the most biased refereeing performance I have witnessed was that of Mike Riley in the 50th game at Old Trafford, I do not hold any hopes of getting the transparency the game needs.
I used to think this was just an excuse but as you start analysing some of the ‘mistakes’, you realise something is not right – because they aren’t ‘mistakes’.
My friends I have just read that we have been appointed Mike Dean on Saturday against Man U. Last time we had this “GOOD PERFORMANCE” referee according to PGMOL at home we were denied 2 more points against Chelsea.
So lets just pray for Arsenal to play good and win, and for the referee to be unbiased to both teams.
An example of what the PGMO describe as “game management”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM747L9Wf8M#t=62
The laws of the game don’t seem to apply where Grand Master Riley is concerned.
I didn’t see the Boyd handball mentioned above as I was sat in the North Bank, the opposite side of the ground. But I did manage to see the Vidic handball which was even more blatant two/three seasons ago, also from the opposite of the ground. The ref missed that one too. This record, not an opinion, nut a record, it is beyond the point of absurdity: Welcome to Riley’s World.
It has been mentioned before, that there is more than one club called Arsenal. In looking at the news over the last hour, I seen an article about a current university student in California being named player of the month. And in the blurb, it says he had played for Arsenal FC. We haven’t had that many goalkeepers move to other clubs, but I didn’t recollect a “Jeff Salt” as being one of them. At the university biography of him, there is:
> … Born in Loma Linda, Calif…parents are Brian and Kim Salt…has three sisters, Jenny, Lindsey and Brittney…major is mathematics with the goal of playing professional soccer or becoming a civil engineer…played seven years of club soccer for both Arsenal FC and L.A.F.C. Chelsea in Glendora, Calif
I think Glendora is a suburb of Los Angeles, which would explain the LAFC Chelsea thing.
In any event, congratulations to Jeff, even if he has never played for Arsenal. 🙂
The International Business Times has a nice article about Arsene Wenger.
> Arsenal Fans Should Respect Arsene Wenger, the Godfather of Modern British Football
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/arsenal-fans-should-respect-arsene-wenger-godfather-modern-british-football-1475266
I don’t see any mention of the Anti-Arsenal Arsenal in the article. And surely this word (zenophobia) is really xenophobia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia)?
The article has a blurb at the end about the author (John Henson)
> John Henson edits and writes for long-form football blog Proven Quality and runs a network of football news aggregation sites, including Arsenal News.
The Arsenal News site doesn’t know about the AAA? Strange.
But the article is a good one, read it and enjoy.
“And then again we see that the Untold reviews gave more referees a top class grading compared to the PGMO numbers.”
I am totally stunned.
LOL Tony, they can be good you know. Well some…:)
Kev, the pgmol are using very similar tactics to FIFA. The latter ignored things going on with the quatar and Russia bids, including the loss of data servers, yet went for England over silly, but relatively significant offences. Heard this described as something like a traffic cop arriving at a multiple fatality car crash, ignoring the carnage around him, and choosing to dish out parking tickets.
The pgmol are similar , for all the horrendous bias and incompetence this season alone, for all Riley’s lack of leadership, the only top level ref to be stood down ….not for failing to punish leg breakers, not for letting the likes of cahill away with various offences game in game out, not for bad calls on pens and cards, but this ref was stood down for going straight to a concert after the game…..either that, or as Walter has suggested, Utd lose to Leicester.
I fear for us with Dean this weekend, this is a ref with history against us, and history helping certain teams, a history in not upsetting the establishment…..and sadly, his boss supports our next opponents.
The thing is that between them; the FA and PGMOB (as finsbury calls them), have put AFC in a ‘manageable’ position now – we depend on so many variables and in affect other teams ahead of us dropping truck loads of points, before we can be in a challenging situation.
Our games from now on will be no different in the way we are officiated and by the looks of things (the current media attention starting to look at decisions), we may even be at the receiving end!!!
Lets go for the ‘zebras’ today, and pick 3 points in our home game!!!
COYG!