- Why the payday for Wigan from the Arsenal game, can’t come soon enough
- Arsenal v Wigan in the FA Cup – how big a threat might Wigan be?
By Tony Attwood
I’ve never been trained as a writer or a journalist, but I do recall some advice I was given by a good friend in the earliest days of having the odd little piece published, which was, the one thing you can’t be in the world of writing is dull.
No matter how boring the issue you are writing about, you, the writer, have to make it stand out in some way. And with a whole range of matches in the FA Cup today, that can be a little hard.
Although looking at the previews of today’s game, I rather suspect some of today’s journalists never got the advice that I listened to and noted in my younger days. I mean, whoever wrote the headline “Dismal Burnley knocked out of FA Cup by League One Mansfield” wasn’t even trying to impress his editor, let alone draw in any readers who by chance had stumbled onto the page.
And some, one feels, might well have just about given up totally. as with “Sutton’s FA Cup fourth-round predictions v Daffy Duck & Porky Pig”
Indeed, others have more than given up, as with the BBC’s headline (FA Cup – Scores & Fixtures – Football) at the moment I write this, which leads to a page which has fixtures but absolutely no results from yesterday, when many of the FA Cup games were played. Still, keeping up, can be tough going.
So I guess it is up to Untold to find a story – although you probably already know by now that it all starts again at midday GMT with what doesn’t appear to be an advert for gorgeous inventative creative football in Birmingham City versus Leeds United. But I could be wrong. And we do have “Arsenal versus Wigan Athletic kick off 16:30,” as the paper tells us.
Of course, some of the headlines really are a bit bonkers, and it actually took me a moment to disentangle “Chelsea three wins from FA Cup final” as meaning that if Chelsea win three specific matches (the round of 16, the quarter final and the semi-final) they will be in the final. As indeed will Arslenal. As indeed will any of the 16 clubs who are in the, well, what shall we call it, “round of 16”. I mean, that is a bit of a daft headline, really.
Yet there are moments of Arsenal in the gibberish of course, such as “Eberechi Eze needs to learn from Jack Grealish to revive Arsenal career,” headlines which are little more than excuses to write rambling negativities about Arsenal. But these days, that is how it goes, having previously dished out “Lucky Arsenal stumble in title race – and Brentford could have made it worse”
Of course, the gambling people have to have their say as with “Arsenal to win and over 4.5 goals @ 6/4”, and I have long pondered the implication of things like “4.5 goals”. Does it mean that if the ball goes six-tenths of the way over the goalline, it is a goal, even if the ref says it isn’t because the ball hasn’t crossed the line?
But there are occasionally comments of interest, particularly about the regular use of Martinelli as a substitute who can completely disrupt a tiring defence with his speed and control. And yes, he might be brought on again in that way today, but I rather fear that in such a case some of the “tackles” on him could harm his chances of doing the same in the next matches (which I think are against Bournemouth in the League and Manc in the League Cup) might be disrupted.
And here’s a thought: Martinelli has scored ten goals in a dozen games in the FA Cup and the Champions League (which is, after all, still a cup). No bad for someone who many commentators told us was not good enough. Here’s what Arsenal Insider said about him last summer as with “Martinelli was urged to step it up over the 2024/25 campaign, enduring two below-par seasons after showcasing inspired form over the 2022/23 calendar… with Arsenal fans seriously concerned about his lack of progression.”
As ever, the word that is missing is “Some” as in “Some Arsenal fans”. As in some Arsenal fans are still finding the doings in the Lane to be rather amusing.
But let us be fair. According to Transfermarkt, Wigan have the lowest number of yellow cards this season in their league (38) but the highest number of red cards (6). Now that is something I have not seen before.
Up next, the team suggestions….
Last season Arsenal were third bottom for yellow cards (64) yet were shown the most reds. Meanwhile Leicester were third highest for yellows (87) but didn’t receive one red.
In 2020/21 Arsenal committed the fewest fouls in the Premier League but still received five reds, second only to Brighton who received six. Also in that same season, Man U commit the third highest number of fouls and recived the third highest number of yellows but only one red.
As you well know Tony, when referees are involved there seems to be no logic for how and when a particular team will be shown a card and little or no consistency.
There are, however, numerous examples of such inconsitencies but it takes a hell of a lot of time to analyse the data. Perhaps why we never hear about it in the media!! My cursory research into this subject, however, does actually show some geographical correlation in favour of clubs from the north west of England and to the detriment of London clubs. Can someone please remind of the geographical spread of EPL refs………..