RefWatch – Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers (02/04/2011 17:30)
By DogFace
- Referee: Phil Dowd
- Assistant 1: Dean Mohareb
- Assistant 2: Ceri Richards
- 4th Official: Anthony Taylor
Good morning stat-fans and welcome to another RefWatch!
I would like to say first that I try to approach these articles with an open mind, I research, I investigate and I report my findings as they are i.e. un-doctored numbers… I throw in some opinion, sure; if you don’t like it then just skip to the pictures and make up your own mind. I also, when possible, try to keep the format the same each week to ensure easy digestion for the regulars – but I am aware that we’ve had a few new ones so, for the uninitiated, here is the key to the graphics:
- EPL
o English Premier League
- Matches
o The ‘sample group’ or number of matches played in the specified Season under the specified Referee.
- Avg. FPB*
o The Average Fouls Per Booking played in the specified Season under the specified Referee.
- OPP Avg. FPB*
o The Average Fouls Per Booking for all Opposition sides played in the specified Season under the specified Referee.
- Avg. PPG
o The Average Points Per Game for the specified team, played in the specified Season under the specified Referee.
- Avg. AH Swing
o The Average Asian Handicap ‘swing’ played in the specified Season under the specified Referee (this is the deviation, be it positive or negative from the bookmaker assigned betting line or ‘handicap’).
*The FPB figures are based on what the referee defines as a foul during the course of a match – as we know from experience these figures do not reflect exactly what happened on the day but, given a wide enough sample group, we can hope (baring a conscious bias) that they roughly indicate the form for that season.
I know what a lot of you regulars are expecting from this article i.e. you expect me to rip fat Phil a new one but it’s not that simple… this path, that I and my colleagues here at Untold have taken, is not an easy one, we cannot stand by and ignore what is obvious and wrong to us. We have opened our eyes and our minds and we can read the game as it is, not as it should be, there is no going back to sleep for us. We do not trust the pundits or the ‘experts’, we know they lie and we realise that they are merely the public relations face of the brand and disseminators of disinformation for the insiders and bookmakers.
We, at untold, have no such agenda, we are not paid to bite our tongues and tell you that everything is ‘ok’; if someone serves us up a big bullshit sandwich and tells us it’s Atlantic prawns with thousand island dressing and a crisp lettuce leaf – we are not the kind of characters to ignore the smell, chow down and recommend it to you for its distinctive flavour. Much like the small boy who laughed at the naked Emperors arse in the face of the credulous masses, we do the same and more – for we realise that our fellow fans and consumers, want desperately to believe in the dreams they have been sold and will cling to them and defend them as they transcend the reality while the principle and the truth is left to the ravages neglect and corruption – although principle is noble; reality and truth, I’m afraid to say, are looking more ugly and unpalatable with each passing season. The image has phased at the top of English football, it is a business, a product and a gambling industry and we conceive what is being twisted, sold and lost to us, not just we Arsenal fans but for all lovers of the beautiful game; so we do more and search in the dark corners; to turn over long forgotten rocks and cast light on any fat slugs that may be lurking there…
With that in mind, let’s have a look at Referee:
- Full name: Phil ‘me pockets’ Dowd
- Date of birth: 26 January 1963 (1963-01-26) (age 48)
- Place of birth: Staffordshire, England
- EPL Referee Since: 2001/2002
- EPL Games to date: 199
When I was a child, I spoke like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
This week we have the dubious pleasure of Phil Dowd, you may remember him from about four matches back when he “blatantly fixed” the result of the Newcastle Vs Arsenal match… a sad day indeed. MOTD described this match as the most ‘exciting’ entertainment ever… Gary Lineker even let it slip that, while he and Alan Shearer were watching the match, Alan just laughed at half time and said with that they [Newcastle] would score 5 in the second half – one wonders where that confidence came from? The BBC, in their highlights, saw fit to interview Joey Barton to explain this unprecedented miracle of triumph over adversity – I bet they were laughing down their fucking sleeves!
I can only reasonably deduce that, with regards to the 5th of Feburary 2011, at half time, Phil Dowd got a rocket fired up his arse and it was suggested to him that he get back on that pitch and do the job he was there to do? What else could possibly explain it… in-play markets maybe?
Phil was subsequently demoted from the EPL after that match (see ‘told to lie low’), but he was back a week later when the heat was off make a further mockery of this notion of a competitive ‘sport’ that we, the muggy masses, cherish… in fact – do they even call it a sport anymore? I have noticed certain Select Group referees refer to it as the ‘spectacle’ which is revealing in itself.
This week we have also seen the slithering emergence of Richard Scudamore, from whatever crevice he inhabits, to inform us that he is going to embark on a crackdown on “unacceptable” behaviour of players and managers towards referees. This will go hand in hand with the ‘Respect’ campaign to further censor any legitimate criticism of the EPL match officials. I quote:
“I think we do need to concentrate on the player and manager relationship with the referee this time, as every one of us knows that there have been elements of unacceptable behaviour.”
I would agree with that statement 100%… although probably in a different context to the one that it was intended – no doubt this will be forced down our throats along with tales of six year olds imitating Wayne Rooney and calling the referee “a cunt”. But wait – surely the referee already has powers to send off a player for this? And, indeed, what if the referee really WAS “a cunt” – surely that’s just a statement of fact? Does Peter Scudamore really care that much for the working class children in this country that he has to continually generate these campaigns to protect them – or is he simply trying to protect an innocence of a different kind; i.e. the innocence of the working class public who buy his product?
Phil Dowd has had 16 games for Arsenal consisting of 9 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses.
Arsenal are currently 3rd in Phil Dowd’s personal Points Per Game League, for matches in the EPL, with an average of 2.00 PPG.
In Phil Dowd’s personal Handicap Swing League, for matches in the EPL, Arsenal come 13th with an average positive swing of 0.08.
Arsenal are currently in 22nd in Phil Dowd’s personal Booking’s Per Match League, for matches in the EPL, with an overall average of 1.94 BPM.
In Phil Dowd’s personal Fouls Per Booking League, for matches in the EPL, Arsenal come 29th with an overall average of 6.06 FPB.
Those figures don’t seem terrible but if you consider the graph above you will see these numbers broken into the seasonal trend. Phil Dowd has been terrible for us this season – statistically our worst referee. We have an average handicap swing of -0.83 goals and a relegation form of 0.67 PPG.
Phil Dowd has had 19 games for Blackburn Rovers consisting of 11 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses
Blackburn Rovers are currently in 5th in Phil Dowd’s personal Points Per Game League, for matches in the EPL, with an average of 1.89 PPG.
In Phil Dowd’s personal Handicap Swing League, for matches in the EPL, Blackburn Rovers come 8th with an average positive swing of 0.40.
Blackburn Rovers are currently in 31st in Phil Dowd’s personal Booking’s Per Match League, for matches in the EPL, with an overall average of 2.26 BPM.
In Phil Dowd’s personal Fouls Per Booking League, for matches in the EPL, Blackburn Rovers come 21st with an overall average of 7.05 FPB.
From the overall numbers it seems that Blackburn do rather well out of Phil Dowd – but that is nothing when you compare that to this season’s form – they, like us, will be seeing their 4th match under Phil Dowd but unlike us Phil Dowd is by a very long way, their best referee with an average handicap swing of +1.08 goals and a EPL title winning 2.0 PPG.
<Phil Dowd Vs EPL (AHS).gif>
If we look now at Phil Dowd’s form against the EPL (selected teams) – we can see the crash, in recent seasons, of the bigger teams such as Manchester United (who it seems he’s always had it in for), Chelsea and Arsenal. On the rise in Phil Dowd’s form book are Manchester City and, for reasons best known to him and the club in question, Newcastle. We can also see the sharp rise of Blackburn Rovers over the last two seasons – although in the 2007/2008 to 2008/2009 seasons, where they did rather badly and crashed from the dizzy heights of circa +1.5, he only had them for 1 game per season… and, I believe, that in the 2008/2009 season that 1 game under Phil Dowd was against Arsenal and we did them 4-0, so there is hope!
So what can we expect from Phil Dowd this weekend? I’m in two minds, on the one hand it’s hard to even conceive the insensitivity of this statistically unlikely selection and fathom the reasons the PGMOL might have for this; but then I remember that this is the same organisation that chose Mike Dean and Peter Walton to officiate in two back to back games, this season, on the respective anniversaries of the two broken legs suffered by Aaron Ramsey and Eduardo for the Stoke and Birmingham games – these were the same officials (in reverse) who refereed the original fixtures.
Even with such a small pool of officials to choose from, there is a lot in the way of coincidence here.
One of the comments I saw on Untold this week struck a chord with me as the same thought was lurking at the back of my mind too – I think it was Marcus (sorry if I got it wrong) who said that as Phil Dowd’s profile was so high after the Newcastle match – it would be reckless, in regards of the chameleon image of the EPL brand [that Peter Scudamore strives to protect with his various ‘respect’ campaigns], to send him back again so soon to what would be an undoubtedly hostile crowd. On the contrary, Marcus suggested that something smelled rather odd about this appointment in that it could be the perfect opportunity to change cynical hearts and minds in that if Phil Dowd were to give us a lot or even, really shock us all like doing something utterly random like: have a good game, then it would serve to ground a lot of the static surrounding the situation.
Personally, I’m not sure that the EPL-Cartel are really that cunning and/or our campaign of concerned dissent is even pricking their ears… and even if it did – would they care?
I think not… but, whatever the day brings, I’ll still be there to support my team.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal
Untold Arsenal on Facebook here
——————————————————-
Arsenal take on Dowd. Blackburn will also be there
Arsenal v Some Northern Team or Other – the preview
Perect opportunity for Mr. Dowd to correct his mistakes, and make the EPL look a little less fixed.
HI Folk`s, not that the manager would have the foresight to do it but does anybody else think playing Song at C/B next to Kos would be a good move tomorrow as we have a full selection of C/Midfielders to chooose from and we could probbaly manage without him in C/Mid for the blackburn gameand i feelhe would offer us more stability and leadership than Squill ever could. Your thoughts?
After watching the WBA game late on the Saturday evening without knowing what the score was (I purposely stayed away from the scorelines so I could watch the game without knowing the result) I needed a couple of weeks off from football just to recover from the frustration of realising I wasn’t even surprised by the events that unfolded before my very eyes from the Hawthorns. Almunia is a damn poor keeper and Sebastien is a pretty ropey centre half but we knew that anyway so what was the surprise? The sad fact is the cock-ups that cost us yet another two points in this strange title race were of no surprise value whatsoever. These cock-ups have become so commonplace at our club these days that it is more of a surprise when they don’t happen than when they do.
Sure we rallied late and grabbed a point from a game that could have been lost but let’s be honest WBA were there for the taking from the first whistle not just for the last 20 minutes. We went into the game three points off the top with a game in hand so why is it then that we only seem to begin to care when the game looks lost? Why can’t we be raring to go from the first whistle and get the job done against inferior opposition? The only answer to this question can be one of mentality and let’s face facts – our mentality as a club stinks.
It is a fact that winners, when push comes to shove, go up a gear. They raise their game to a new level through heightened efforts and enthusiasm for the job at hand. If a club averaged two points a game all season and they had a winning mentality they would go up a notch in the final games of the season and average above two points a game in the title run-in. Here is where we fall well short as a club. We have averaged exactly two points a game as things stand from the start of the Premier League season to now. 29 games and 58 points amassed in those games. Who reckons come the end of the season we will finish with a total of above 76 points then? That would be the total we would end up on if we maintain our current levels of points taken per game played. If we show ourselves to have a winning mentality we should end up with more than 76 points. If we show more of a loser’s mentality over the coming nine matches we would end up with a total below 76 points and if we maintain our current levels we would end up with exactly 76 points.
I have followed The Arsenal week in week out since I was six years old in 1987. That is 24 years of weekly Arsenal experience and I feel like I can see a winning team when I watch one. And this current bunch of players would leave me with one prediction for the rest of the season, one prediction that I am making with almost 100% confidence in what I am writing. They will not end the season with more than 76 points. In all probability a little bit less as the mentality at our club is not a winning one and hasn’t been for some time. We are happy to finish fourth every season and it shows in our play come April and May every season without fail.
I make a prediction that we finish a minimum of six points off the top come May and we also have to scrap it out with Chelsea for the runners up spot. We will finish above City and Spurs who will battle it out for the final Champions League place the same as what they did last season. If we had the same mentality as we did when AW first took charge I would be pretty damn confident right now about winning the title. We sit five points off the top with a game in hand but vitally we are the only team out of all competitions other than the Premier League that still has a chance of winning the title. That makes a massive difference as United will know that when they take on West Ham at Upton Park tomorrow lunchtime as they have a quarter final in the Champions League to worry about with Chelsea only four days later.
What is the bigger game to them? Playing Chelsea that close makes them more likely to drop points at West Ham whereas we do not have any such problems for the rest of the season. Does this make us favourites? No it does not as you have one very important factor to take into account. History. United are proven over the distance time and time again whereas we are an unknown, in actual fact we are worse than that. We have failed to stay the distance on more than one occasion which makes us someone to take on in my book every time. Whereas United will go up a gear right now or at a bare minimum maintain their points per game ratio from now until the end of the season, we will (and this has been proved in recent seasons) for want of a better phrase ‘go to pot’. Time and time again when push comes to shove we fall well below our usual points per game ratio and fall by the wayside as other competitors rush past us well before the winning line.
If you take into account the calibre of opponents we have to face you would give us a hope of success as I have at earlier stages of the season but as we look at recent results the wheels have already come off with alarming regularity. The fact is we would have beaten Sunderland if the game was played in January at a time when results seem to mean less. That as a statement sums up why our fixture list is of little importance when looking at what kind of chance we realistically have of winning the title. I predict that we fail to beat Spurs, United, Fulham, Stoke and Liverpool. I would be surprised if we amass more than five points from those five matches. I predict wins against Blackburn, Blackpool, Villa and Bolton, Which would give us a maximum of a further 17 points from our remaining nine matches. Who thinks we will gain more? Who would feel confident of that total being higher than 18? Not me from what I have seen over the past five seasons and also from what I have seen recently against WBA, Sunderland and Birmingham. The last time we won a league game comfortably was at home to Wolves and that was some time ago now, back when results seemed to mean less. Back in the comfort zone if you like. Back when players like Samir Nasri were banging goals in for fun. When was the last time he scored by the way? Player of the season? Or player of the part of the season that doesn’t count for much?
This is the players’ chance to prove me wrong, put in a good rally till the end of the season, amass more than two points a game over the last nine matches and then stand a great chance of title success. But based on my knowledge of the game and the mentality of teams that win things on a regular basis I don’t think that will happen and I don’t just see that as down to players like Almunia and Squillaci etc. I personally feel it is a club ethos kind of matter that has spread throughout the entire playing squad so that when it really matters, they go missing. And I would include our big name players in that. Cesc, Samir, Andrei – I would include them all as I don’t recall them going up a notch when it mattered most at anytime in the past or in recent history this season either.
Prove me wrong and I will gladly say ‘I was wrong’ and eat some humble pie. But I do have the strong feeling that come the end of May if you look up the final standings of the Premier League the number at the end of the column that starts with the word Arsenal will be lower than a 76.
arsenal need a ”japp stam” looking and ” paulo di canio” attitud typed player to handle some premiership REFS! they sometimes need to fear thier own misjudgements
I am going to email the FA before the game and show them the stats of Dowd and threaten them with a visit to the court of arbitration for sport if there is any obvious bias in the way this match is refereed. I hope it has some effect and in all honesty the only solution is for Arsenal to score and score and score till the final whistle.
Dowd will try to stamp his bias on the game but if the supporters start to get angry, he will cause a riot. That is Scudamore’s worst nightmare and his respect will be rammed up his rear.
Interesting stuff Dog.
Two statistics have recently caught my attention:
1) Man U are 3 times bigger than Arsenal in terms of how much money they generate as a Corporation
2) Man U are the most hated brand in Britain…..!
I think the word BRAND says it all.
Judging by the way Man U have played this season, I would say they are barely top 4. Imagine if they played like a mid-table team….I still think we would see Enron, I mean the FA, inflating their assets.
but I do think Dowd had a headrush at Newcastle, I guess coming from Stoke like Robbie Williams, and being similarly stocky and corpulent, the only thing missing was the Kiss Make-up…….
“Let me …entertain you
Forget about right and wrong
Forget about who should win
etc
Hell is gone and heaven’s here
There’s nothing left for you to fear
Shake your arse come over here
Now scream
I’m a burning effigy
Of everything I used to be
You’re my rock of empathy, my dear
So come on let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
Life’s too short for you to die
So grab yourself an alibi
Heaven knows your mother lied
Mon cher
Separate your right from wrongs
Come and sing a different song
The kettle’s on so don’t be long
Mon cher
So come on let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
Look me up in the yellow pages
I will be your rock of ages
Your see through fads and your crazy phrases yeah
Little Bo Peep has lost his sheep
He popped a pill and fell asleep
The dew is wet but the grass is sweet, my dear
Your mind gets burned with the habits you’ve learned
But we’re the generation that’s got to be heard
You’re tired of your teachers and your school’s a drag
You’re not going to end up like your mum and dad
So come on let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
He may be good he may be outta sight
But he can’t be here so come around tonight
Here is the place where the feeling grows
You gotta get high before you taste the lows
So come on
Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
So come on let me entertain me
Let me entertain you
Come on come on come on come on
Sing it for Phat Phil
half-time…anyone for a line?
“Arsenal are good
They should be out of sight
But when there’s Fat Phil
he’s gonna give you a fright
Leading 4-0
and the game is done
but here come fat Phil
and he’s gonna have some fun
Utd have been very poor away from home all season long, and I can see them dropping 2 points at West Ham.
Let’s take it all one game at a time.
C’mon Gunners!
dowd is a no 1 wanker – fact
com’on you hammers!!
11′ – ManU down by a goal!
Miracles may happen… if you believe.
Hammers hammering the Scum United!
2-0. Two penalties!
This is turning from good to great!
I was wondering whether we are going to send the final stats to Arsenal for them to review. It’s possible they aren’t aware of them, only having suspicion of what the stats suggest.
How is Vidic still on the pitch?
@wrenny,
if he was sent off then he would have to serve a two match ban which might unsettle united’s title ambitions and piss sir right off!
Vidic is till on the pitch because the EPL is fixed.
Maybe Mason was thinking about the injuries to Rio, O’Shea and Rafael and Evans’ suspension and how Utd can’t afford to lose Vidic. It was very kind of him to take such matters into consideration when making his decisions.
Just another top article here! Classic line here… “And, indeed, what if the referee really WAS “a cunt” – surely that’s just a statement of fact?” I hope this isn’t foresight on today’s game, with the PL’s top hollywood ref, fat Dowd. It was also a treat to watch Rooney foul-mouthing directly into the camera twice after scoring, thanks to Mason’s give and go. And the gormless commentator then apologised. Disgusting, but all part of the rigging.
hello steven,
haven’t seen you around for days, but i see you haven’t changed your tune. you are entitled to any opinion but the Mystic Meg business is just weird. Some of our best players are returning to fitness and might see out the season, it is unlikely that we are going downhill rather than up.
And this whole mentality is what you only get with experience, which you can buy or nurture it- we know all the reasons for and against both methods, you have chosen to go politically against your club and you have every right to that view, but it remains just that, a point of view. i have long accepted that the longer term view of our club is just what the doctor ordered, i am not going to disagree with a policy which means that into my old age i can continue to follow the fortunes of a competitive and financially stable club, the fact that this can be achieved on not a lot of money and a bit of brain is the cherry on top. so lets agree to disagree, but that said i always like reading your posts.
up the arsenal.
@All,
Benik afobe scored a goal for huddersfield town! he had a hand in all three goals last week and missed some chances himself. today he started on the left of a front three.
Just thought i’d share.
Well, song is on a yellow and he is running his bloody mouth off at dowd. If i was a ref and a player was running his mouth, id yellow him for dissent on the first chance i get. Cant blame dowd for doing that. And his 2 legged lunge on the bb player deserved a card.
all over and against a team with no clean sheet this year – FUCK ARSENAL FUCK WENGER FUCK U aswell.
Arsenal have one thing to concentrate on and all these fucking muppets coming on here saying we have an easy run – OH FUCK OFF.
The season is now over…
Unless, we win every game from now till end of season, and ManU lose to Arsenal, Chelski and some other team.
Two draws in a row… Not looking good.
If you don’t score, you cannot win. We tried, worked hard but you need a bit of luck sometimes and it just didn’t happen today.
The only thing I’ve seen from this team come feb/march and its all over, why oh why do we have such a shit fucking team? Financial bullshit money saved what for?
WBA,Blackburun rovers and 2 draws – Man u will beat us here atleast 3-0.
The whistle has just blown at the end of the Blackburn match…and there lies our season well and truly over again…ET QUEL ER SUPRISE no trophy. Id like to see Martin O’Neill take over for next season. Too many in comfortable positions under Wenger including his own. I respect Wenger and will not abuse him indeed Id like to thank him for the memories pre-2006. Since then though failure…nish…nothing so its just time to leave AW. The King is dead…Long live the King! UTA!
is it a draw i saw? disappointed game lately..
luck or not good enough? i think it is not good enough..
look at the carling cup final arsenal’s own doing and birmingham won, CL barcelona thrashed arsenal however if Bendtner does what anyone could do then we are through. FA cup against Man u a fucking joke 7 defenders beat us, WBA 2-2 draw and everone come out claiming a point gained rather than 2 dropped, today 3 strikers and such a lackluster performance against a team without a clean sheet this year and the worst away record, and some pro-wenger arse kisser will come out with stats but the fact is Arsenal just aren’t good enough. Man u ealier today 2nil down and went on to win 4-2 could this team do that???????
Time to call it a day and look at next season, and if anyone really cares about arsenal next season ticket holders should refuse to renew and lets hurt these money grabbers.
There you go, my friends. This season has been as good as it was ever going to be. Has anyone at the club got the balls to tell Wenger that he ain’t as good as he thinks he is! We have a mid table at best back 5 and this is not acceptable. Bring on a summer of change, even if that does take a season or 2 to bed in.
I didn’t catch most of the match today, but I did watch the last 20 mins properly. There wasn’t a lack of effort for sure. Though I’m sure it would have been frustrating with a certain lack of urgency earlier in the match. (even though we started well)..
What to make of this match? I don’t know. It could have been a penalty for us in the first half, and we did have chances.. Overall I suppose, a draw was a fair result here.
Our season is not over, though the title is out of our hands. But people not believing we can win the title might actually help us for once. We can forget that burden and just play.. Anyway, the doubts will surface, along with the doubters, but I’m not going to give up on the season till it’s actually over.
@Bexxy
What was wrong with the back 5 today? We couldn’t score a goal. I thought that was the problem..??
Well observed. I was reflecting on the season
I am sooo frustrated,words cant describe how I feel, something needs to change, we have to win every game now and hope UTD drop points juggling 3 competitions, there is no room for error, arsenal have stopped scoring, why have arsenal been so poor at home this season, our season not quite over but it is going to take something special when you include the likes of stoke, spurs and UTD in our fixture list
@bexxy
As I said, I didn’t catch the game, or rather much of the game today, so I didn’t know whether we had shaky moments at the back.. So it wasn’t well observed, it wasn’t observed at all.. As for reflecting on the season, the time for that is when the season is over. Of course, I’m sure you will contend it is over now.
Shard- you’re putting up a poor defense. It was a rather poor performance and after todays match, i dont think arsenal deserve to win the title this year. And most fans will agree with me on this point.
All this stuff about the refs on this site is getting a bit boring. So they’re bent rascists who would rather see a Scot than a frenchmam win the league.
We should be able to win in spite of the all of this which I am perfectly prepared to believe is true.
But with the shite back line we’ve got, no defencive mid cover and a total lack of ideas unless Fabregas is on his game we are just ordinary. And now we are pinning our hoped on a 19 year old.
I think its hilarious how people are still deluding themselves we could have beaten Barca. Not even close, get real!
Almunia, nice chap apparently but 4 years!!!! Four f*ckin’ years! Do me a favour.
Times Up!
How many more games will this loser of a manager be allowed to manage before we blow our season? Again we show we have no plan B. Bloody UTD have three competitions and they can come back and win it by two goals whilst our bastardly over piad fuckers just walk around like headless chickens. Thers no way in the world I see these gutless mercenaries picking up title. That’s long gone. And still ppl on here making stupid excuses. Tide is turning against the muppet wenger
@ tone. Thats all we do on here. Just look at the refs and finace situations of other clubs and talk abt potential bla bla bla. Bullshit which has been fed to us in past 6 yrs
@ tone. Thats all we do on here. Just look at the refs and finace situations of other clubs and talk abt potential bla bla bla. Bullshit which has been fed to us in past 6 yrs
harrish,
if you don’t like it here don’t come around I would say. No one forces you I think.
On this site we take a different aproach on Arsenal and football. As is well explained if you take a look around.
And yes I am dissapointed but there are still 8 games to go and we still are in second place. So still a lot to play for.
And I think for using the words you use about our players and managers there are better suited sites on the internet. Most of us over here don’t feel the need for such language about our own players.
It is those same players that won against BArcelona you know… sometimes it goes for you and sometimes not. That’s football, that’s life.
Well just been out celebrating india’s WC win, drinking,dancing having a jolly old time something alot of us have forgotten following our beloved Arsenal recently. Hell Wenger may have forgotten as well, also went out and shook the Utd fans by hand on great 19th PL triumph.
Poor management decisions all season long, splattered with a few successes. Not good enough
@shard
you may recall me predicting a draw @ WBA, remember??
My prediction for next season expect the same because no one really cares anymore its just getting boring year after year the same outcome, Fergie may have spent big on some players but they turn it on when it matters, Wenger on the other hand doesn’t and at best these players never get going when they need to and we the fans have nothing to talk about but the money our club’s made but never see a penny spent anyway so why care anymore!
Walter, wake up and smell the coffee mate. I am full of admiration for what Wenger has done having been to virtually all of the home games at highbury and the emirates since the early 80s.
We need to install a winning mentality. Only arshavin and jack showed bite, why take arshavin off he showed way more effort than the rest ?
It’s about time arsenal fans realised that as much as wenger has been financially hamstrung, and though I don’t want him to spend stupid money he needs to swliw his pride and Spenser some Monet on experienced winners.
Today’s apathetic performance reminded me when we lost at home to Blackburn at highbury. The crowd chanted ‘do you want to win the league?’
Adams had a team meeting the next day and read the riot act, we won the next 10 or so games and won the league.
Do you have faith that Fabregas will grasp players by the throat and demand more effort? I was ashamed today because the players simply didn’t care, they had a chance to win the league and I think they have blown it.
Stop looking at ref decisions and financial spread sheets and start talking about the real issues.
iPhone predictive text can be mental, but I think you get the gist of what I said.
Yeh great win by india. Pity idiot arsenal players can’t put in commitment to the cause
Be careful keith. U may get banned for saying things like that on here
ill have got to agree with keith here..most of our players dont give a flying shit about the shirt they are playing for its all about the $$$ for them..rather pathetic really…thats what really differentiates this team of spoiled brats to the invicibles..no commitment and certainly no passion whatsoever…the likes of henry,bergkamp,pires and vieira among others actually gave a damn about the shirt.you see it mattered to them if we won or lost..now apart from jack i dont see anyone who i can say cares for ARSENAL and not their big fat paycheques..maybe rvp and definitely vermaelen(see how we miss him?) but thats just that…we need adams back in some kind of a coaching role…he needs to tell these bunch of spoiled brats what it means to play for arsenal
I dont think it was a lack of effort or commitment that results in such a jaded display-it was tired players, a core coming back from injuries-no proper preparation before the game. Arsenal are not some kind of lazy carthorse that you can just kick up the arse to get moving. No team can produce a great dynamic performance in every game-but when you don’t play well you want to be able to produce a rabbit out of the hat-and no one had any real spark today. In games like today, one player could have made a difference-just as one player won the game for Man U.
Those who argue that we should never buy anyone with special skill because they are expensive should remember games like this-you still have to win games when the collective does not function fully.
The players need a rest and proper preparation before the next game. If being out of Europe is to be of any use to us- from now on we will find out.
Watching the cricket WC yesterday made me think India needed a big performance and their captain Doni dug in, he didn’t have a great tournament to start with but when it counted he dug in and took the game. Arsenal on the other hand could never do that the mentalilty flowing through the team is so brital all of us witnessed them shatter, from top to bottom arsenal are there for the taking and this is no quick fix. I Believe (as Wenger puts it) bringing new players into this squad will only harm them and whereas Man u bring in players not just on technical ability but also on mental strengths. RVP is considered one of the top 4 strikers in the world should he played for Man u everyone would of seen him score goals for joke no injury worries either. Arsenal create chances but fail to take them, Manu dont create as much and they dont need to one shot one goal. Next weekend we’ll be 10 point adrift and for all the chelsea bashing we are only 5 point ahead, so we are closer to chelsea than we are to Man u SEASON DONE!
I don’t know about the team… but some of the fans are looking pretty ‘pathetic’ this morning.
Is “spend money” all you’ve got, if we had got behind the team instead of allowing the gobby few to shout abuse at them for 90 minutes then maybe they could have broken through the Blue&White wall… maybe not – who knows? It was a frustrating match.
I was near the corner and this… hmm “spoiled brat” – yes, that seems perfect, actually started screeching “useless cunt” at RvP every time he wound up to take a corner!??! Obviously, I had a word but – I mean WTF? We are doing he oppositions fans job for them!
Some people need to look in the mirror and ask themselves why exactly they support a football team and what they want/expect to get out of it.
I feel very down after watching yesterday’s game. This morning I came to Untold to find some consolation. Instead I find invective.
I have two nephews who read Myles Palmer and want Wenger to resign. I make a great effort to try to modify their views, but they and I have a different moral base. They both work in the UK financial sector and have “modern views” on how to behave. I read in today’s Observer how an American bank had facilitated money laundering by Mexican drug cartels, and after having been prosecuted, struck a deal in which they paid a fine and admitted liability and promised not to do it again for a year. The fine was 110 million; the laundering in the period under review was 374 billion. No one went to jail. No wonder younger people have a different set of values; the world has changed.
I suggest that people who do not share the values that I see reflected by you Tony, by Walter and by many other regular commentators on Untold, are moderated off of Untold. There are many other places for them to express their views or for us to read them. I would like to log on to Untold and hear from like minded people who share my values. Principally that is a total rejection of financial doping. Additionally, I have no interest in hearing that Mr A thinks AW made a mistake in his selection or substitutions. AW has so much more information on the condition of the players and the form of the players as to make all such comments irrelevant.
I am an AKB, not because I think his judgement is better than mine (I am probably in a minority of one here) but because his information is so vastly superior that I have an insufficient basis for criticism.
Capegooner,
I don’t think it’s a matter of moral values, I just think your nephews aren’t very bright.
I am young (if 21 is young) but I don’t ascribe to any such ‘modern views.’
There’s a quote from John Steinbeck from Cannery Row that is very relevant here.
“It has always seemed strange to me…The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.”
I must apologise for a bit of a gaffe in the above text – I made a bit of a slip when I said “Peter Scudamore” instead of “Richard Scudamore”. Peter is, of course the famous jockey, pundit and, incidentally, Richard’s second cousin… hang on a minute – horse racing is a gambling ‘sport’ and they have ‘handicapping’ too (the better horses have to carry extra weight).
Hmmmm… I wonder if that’s where he got the idea from?