Untold Ref Review : Fulham 2 – Arsenal 1

Posted on by WalterBroeckx

Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal

By Ref Reviewer 04

Sit down and relax (if you can) for a long ref review. Ref Probert did the game Fulham-Arsenal.

Before you start reading a warning: this review is based on the images shown from the live screening. And as our regular readers now we only change the call of the ref when we are 100% sure. If any doubt we have to agree with the decision on the field. Read and shiver.

Min Type Foul from On C/NC Comment points weight
9 OTHER Sidwell Arteta NC Tackle from behind got ball and man, always a foul 0 0
10 OTHER Hangeland Ramsey NC Caught his leg under the nose of the ref, nothing signalled. Foul on defender, no advantage ref 0 0
11 OTHER Song Dembele C Tackle from behind got ball and man, always a foul 1 1
12 OTHER ? Song NC Song played the ball upfield where RVP had a bit of a run. Song was touched a bit, ref calls the ball back in the Arsenal half for a foul 0 0
13 PENALTY Senderos Gervinho NC Senderos catches the ankle of Gervinho who goes past him and would have a shot on goal from 4 meters out. Ref looked the other way 0 0
13 YELLOW Senderos NC One could argue for a red card as Gervinho would have been one on one with the keeper but there was another defender trying to close down 0 0
13 OTHER Song Ruiz C Little contact on the ankle foul given to Fulham 1 1
14 OTHER Coquelin ? C Touched him at the ankle, player was in front 1 1
16 OFFSIDE Arsenal C presumed correct 1 1
19 OTHER Song Dembele NC Dembele trips himself 0 0
19 OTHER Zamora Koscielny C Tackle from behind, assistant signals the foul 1 1
21 GOAL Arsenal C correct goal 1 3
24 OTHER Kelly Gervinho NC Kelly swings his hips and catches Gervinho when he goes past him. Ref signals again nothing 0 0
25 OTHER NC Ref gets in the way and blocks a pass from Hangeland to Riise. Poor positioning 0 0
25 OTHER Song Hangeland NC Ball bounces back to Hangeland who has some troubles to control it. Song kicks the ball to RVP who wants to start a dangerous Arsenal attack. Ref invents a foul to stop Arsenal 0 0
27 OTHER Fulham? Szczesny NC Fulham player backs in to the keeper but he manages to catch the cross 0 0
30 OTHER Fulham? Ramsey C No replay assistant who is close signalled the foul, ref followed his assistant 1 1
33 OTHER NC Song slides the ball for a corner, assistant gives it to Arsenal 0 0
36 OTHER Zamora Koscielny NC Push just before he wants to clear the ball not given 0 0
38 OTHER Riisse Walcott NC Jumped in his back leading with the arm not given. 0 0
39 OTHER Fulham? Walcott C Little pull advantage given 1 1
41 OTHER Riisse Djourou NC Riise goes down and sits on the ball and makes it unplayable and brings himself in danger, ref does nothing 0 0
41 OTHER Riisse Djourou NC Djourou gets the ball from under the body of Riise and goes past Riisse who makes a tackle from behind and clamps the leg of Djourou. Ref does nothing 0 0
41 OTHER Fulham? Djourou NC Djourou again gets up and plays the ball and is caught late by a Fulham player and again…Ref does nothing. Fulham creat a chance because of this 0 0
41 YELLOW Riisse NC Tackle from behind clamping the legs of the opponent is dangerous for injuries 0 0
44 OTHER Song Hangeland NC Little nudge not given. Hangeland lost control of the ball 0 0
45 OTHER Senderos Walcott NC Walcott has to jump to save his leg, ref does nothing 0 0
Half time 8 10
CORRECT 29,63% 30,30%
YELLOW 0 2 0,00
RED
PENALTY 0 1 0,00
GOAL 1 1 100,00
OTHER 0 6 0,00
Total 1 10 10,00
OFFSIDE 1 1 100,00
Second half
49 OFFSIDE Fulham C Presumed correct 1 1
51 OTHER Djourou Demspey C Push 1 1
53 OTHER Murphy Djourou C Trip 1 1
53 YELLOW Murphy NC Deliberate foul breaking up an attack, came late and took the man 0 0
58 PENALTY Senderos Van Persie C I had the impression that Senderos pushed RVP against Kelly who made no foul. But as I had no good replay I must stick to the ref his decision who gave nothing 1 3
59 OTHER Song ? C Trip 1 1
59 OTHER Song C Song gets a word from the ref. I think the ref told him he made to many imaginary fouls up to then 1 1
61 OTHER RVP Sidwell C Trip 1 1
61 OTHER Riisse Walcott NC Riisse pushes Walcott in the back with both hands and ref gives nothing 0 0
63 OTHER Djourou Dembele C Tackle from behind 1 1
63 YELLOW Djourou C Tackle from behind is a yellow card but where is the consistency ref? Riisse in the first half? 1 2
67 OTHER Dempsey Mertesacker NC Climbed in his neck and held him to the ground 0 0
68 OFFSIDE Arsenal C Presumed correct 1 1
67 OTHER Dempsey NC Dempsey handles the ball, assistant has seen it and signals the foul against Fulham. Ref points a foul against Arsenal??? 0 0
67 OTHER C I think the assistant said something in his ear and so he had to come back to his decision. 1 1
74 OTHER Rosicky Frei NC Rosicky touched him with his hand on the shoulder, ref gives a foul. It’s not illegal to touch someone and in this case he clearly didn’t push him. 0 0
76 OTHER Ruiz Koscielny C Push 1 1
78 OTHER Djourou Zamora C Zamora felt the defender and went down very easy. But as I have no conclusive evidence of the opposite I have to stick to the refs decision on the field. Compare to the not given push on Walcott in min 61 and it looks ridiculous 1 1
78 YELLOW Djourou C second yellow. If he gave the foul he was entitled to give a second yellow as it was a promising attack. 1 2
82 OTHER Fulham Song C Trip 1 1
82 OTHER Hangeland RVP NC Push not given 0 0
83 OFFSIDE Fulham C Presumed correct 1 1
85 GOAL Fulham C correct goal. An Arsenal player interfered the keeper 1 3
88 OFFSIDE Fulham C 1 1
89 OFFSIDE Fulham NC Not offside but Mertesacker had it covered 0 0
89 OTHER Sidwell RVP NC Kick from behind not given 0 0
89 OFFSIDE Arsenal C Came back 1 1
90 OTHER RVP Senderos C Pulled his shirt, could not see a foul from Senderos first because of the bad camera angle 1 1
92 GOAL Fulham C correct goal 1 3
93 OTHER NC Celebration takes 55 seconds of the 3 minutes added on. Ref clearly doesn’t tell the players to get on with it 0 0
94 OTHER NC Fulham player kicks the ball in the crowd who doesn’t give it back for 30 seconds. 0 0
94 OTHER NC Refs brings the game to an end and only allowes some 40 second when 1,5 min is lost and gives nothting for the time wasting of the crowd 0 0
TOTAL 21 29
% CORRECT 65,63% 70,73%
YELLOW 2 3 66,67
RED 1 1 100,00
PENALTY 1 1 100,00
GOAL 2 2 100,00
OTHER 3 5 60,00
Total 9 12 75,00
OFFSIDE 5 6 83,33
TOTAL SCORE
TOTAL 29 39
% CORRECT 49,15% 52,70%
YELLOW 2 5 40,00
RED 1 1 100,00
PENALTY 1 2 50,00
GOAL 3 3 100,00
OTHER 3 11 27,27
Total 10 22 45,45
OFFSIDE 6 7 85,71
Correct calls For Fulham 15 60,00%
For Arsenal 10 40,00%
Total correct calls 25
Wrong calls Favour Fulham 23 85,19%
Favour Arsenal 4 14,81%
Total 27
Total fouls made by Fulham 25 67,57%
Arsenal 12 32,43%
Total 37
Important W/C against Fulham 0 0,00%
Away 2 100,00%
2

Where to start? The ref was totally shocking in treating both teams in a different way. This was shown in some strange decisions at times. If I manage to load the videos without overloading the server I will try to show some examples in another article. For now I will try to describe a few of the key incidents in which the ref showed his one sided view on things.

The penalty. Contact was made and it took the standing leg of Gervinho away. I had the impression Gervinho knew he wouldn’t get a penalty and tried to stay on his feet too much in fact. I’ve lost count but from the back of my head this is the 5th not given penalty for Arsenal in the last 4 games I think. So we are getting used to this and let us move to the next bizarre event.

Min 25: The ref gets in the way when Hangeland tries to pass the ball to Riise. The ball bounces back to Hangeland who cannot control it. Song nicks the ball away to RVP who had only Senderos in front of him and the upcoming Walcott to his right. A simple pass and Walcott would be in on goal. The ref then invents a foul on Hangeland and stops play. He then stands there in a pose showing: “I can do what I want to stop you”. Even my match commentator at the time said something in the style that this was pure compensation from the ref because he had been in the way of the Fulham players. But as a ref this is bad luck you are not allowed to stop play when you stood in the way. But after seeing the whole game nothing surprises you of this ref. A goal scoring opportunity taken away from Arsenal by the incompetence of the ref. But there was more in that first half. Move on.


The ref stopping an Arsenal attack after he touched the ball and inventing a foul from Song.

Min 41: I have never seen (not that I can remember anyway) make 3 fouls on one player in the space of 6 seconds and nothing been given. Riise broke the laws twice and another Fulham player made the third foul on Djourou and still nothing was given. And it was 3 clear infringements. The second foul Riise made on Djourou was a tackle from behind clamping his legs and should have resulted in a yellow card. The third tackle was a late challenge and again could have been a booking. In fact come to think of it, it should have been one. And yet this ref who was standing a few meters away managed to pretend nothing was wrong at all.


The consecutive fouls on Djourou in the first half.

Then we enter the second half and before I come to the main talking points I want to draw your attention to another example of how he treated both teams totally different. Min 61 and min 74. Walcott tries to shield the ball out. Riise comes in from behind and pushes him with both hands in his back. Walcott ends up almost in the 7th row in the stands and the ref does nothing. Actually he was rather good in doing nothing at all during the 90 minutes. But when Rosicky later on for a split second put his hand on the shoulder of Frei he gave a foul. There was no push, no pull. Rosicky might have thought about making a foul but he clearly did all he could to not make a foul in fact. And as far as I know you can touch another player. You may not push or pull him but just making contact is not a foul. The only difference once again between the two incidents was the team that gained advantage from both incidents. Both time Fulham was that team but I think this is not a surprise anymore.


Riise pushing Walcott in to the stands with both hands on his back.

Min 67. Dempsey handles the ball and this bounces on to the shoulder of Djourou. Probert does… Yeah nothing. The assistant takes his responsibility and signals the foul and points in the direction of the Fulham goal to indicate the direction to whom the free kick should be given. But Probert in his eagerness to help Fulham immediately gives a free kick to Fulham. This incident once again showed that he was a man with a mission and that mission was to help Fulham in any possible way. He then had to revert his decision because I think the linesman told him in his ear peace what an idiot he was. Well I would tell this to my ref if he would act like that when I was the assistant. This ref clearly gave a foul on the buzzer (the assistant has a buzzer in his flag that activates a buzzer around the arm of the ref) and didn’t even bother to look at the linesman. If there was a foul it should be given against Arsenal.

Let us move on to Djourou. And the fact that we have to stick with the ruling on the field unless we can prove something else. There was contact between Djourou and Zamora. Zamora went down knowing he had Djourou just behind him and by now he knew how the ref was doing his “Italian Job”. But as I cannot exclude a foul I had to give the ref the benefit of the doubt in his points. After seeing the whole game and seeing how he operated I can say that I think he had been waiting for a chance to send Djourou off. The way he handled Djourou in the first half was amazing and somehow I could feel that he would take Djourou out when he could. Zamora played for it and got what he wanted. But again I cannot but give him the benefit of the doubt. But what would have been his call if it would have been Gervinho and Senderos running like that? Yeah, I think you can predict the outcome: he would have done….nothing.

About the wrestling contest between RVP and Senderos-Hangeland I had to stay away from this. Because no replays where shown so I could not be 100% sure of what exactly happened but I had the impression that Senderos and Hangeland had a free ride in doing what they wanted to do. So again the short comings of not being able to have control of the camera was evident on this.


A blatant foul on Gervinho not given in the first half where he was sandwhiced and completely taken out by Senderos.

For those who are interested in what his result would have been if I could have proven that Djourou made no foul his second half score would have dropped from 75% to 50% on the important decisions in the second half. And his overall score would have been a shamefully 31% over all the game.


Rosicky “touching” a Fulham player.

And just take a look at the number of wrong calls made… shocking once again this ref made more wrong decisions than correct decisions and is it any surprise that the big majority was against Arsenal?

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134 Replies to “Untold Ref Review : Fulham 2 – Arsenal 1”

  1. You can look on arsenalist for some clips of the big moments, including the penalty shouts

  2. we always watch Arsenal games because of the football they play, otherwise we know winning premier league is about refs. if it was not for that, west ham would not have been relegated to enable man u get the 19th title or Lampard wouldnt have had a red card against man u the season before which led to chelsea not beating man u to the title.epl is approaching the previous italian league, but there is always a price to pay for manipulation.

  3. Good job!
    The the UA AAA weight of evidence is now overwhelming and serious questions now need to be asked very openly, publicly and not shyed away, from regardless of the consequences, by Arsenal FC of the footballing authorities. This is the only way that the game of football will be cleaned up for the future. It’s disgraceful and pathetic and it all just reflects the state of our modern society! The minority elite treating the vast majority of normal people like they are stupid! If all people who love the game want to save it, all of this has to stop now and be properly challenged. The righteous many cannot continue to be treated with contempt by the arrogant, amoral and deplorable few!

  4. And it is only a matter of time before the truth fully comes out and when it does, it will be devastating and catastrophic for all of English football!

  5. Practically what can be done to expose this for what it is? I saw the game last night and as an Englishman I found it embarrassing. That got televised all over the world as a representation of my nation and the highest form of our national sport and Lee Probert shamed us all and our country. That’s basically how I feel about it.

    It’s clear to me that the people who should do something about this are content to just point and giggle. So OK, we take it upon ourselves but what practically can be done to combat this??! I think about Arsenal as a club and wonder: they must have had their suspicions for a long while now but how do they air them in an organisation which is just a collection of their rivals?

    And just for balance, of course we should have taken our chances and buried that game. Gervihno needs to sort his head out and start ‘effing shooting and Squillaci needs to have a good long look at himself for one of the most shocking defensive headers I ever seen but if anybody watched that game and honestly thought that’s why we lost, they’re delusional.

    Last night Lee Probert made a fool of us, our Club, every Englishman who loves their national sport and himself. It’s a total disgrace and I’m ashamed. But what can we do?

    p.s. That’s not a rhetorical question, I’m actually asking!!!!

  6. This is terrible Walter. I thought it was bad when I saw it with my own eyes but after analysis, if this is the score; it is just shameful. And if AW says something it’ll just be Arsene the ‘moaner’ who whinges all the time. Can we officially complain against Lee Probert’s performance? Not that anything good will come out of it though.. it’ll just be ignored. What a high handed bunch of nuts .. yuck.

  7. i cannot contonue to watch the EPL.I love Arsenal but this is not on at all!Only sn idiot wouldnt see that the EPL matches are fixed.

  8. Nice article Walter. What i despise though is how the fans who pay for the tickets and watch the game are made a complete fool by one guy who is corrupt to the core. Walter, is there any way to find out the kickbacks the corrupt referee’s receive before or after the match, considering the betting is done in millions i guess he should receive at least few percentage of those. If we are to compile a report of matches in which the corrupt refereeing has cost us points and present it before HM Court of Justice will they accept it and take it as a case provided we have the evidence.
    Or is there any way i could meet corrupt and filthy referee’s who spoil the already spoiled standard of english premier league in person 🙂

  9. Look, guys, the match is over and we lost. In the second half we played tired, dispirited football for whatever reason.
    Our back division has been virtually decimated, what with injuries and now a suspension.
    Wenger simply has to act during the current transfer Window.
    IF he doesn’t and we fail to reach the top 4 places in the EPL at the end of the season, then (and I thought I would never have to say this) his position as Manager will become untenable and he must be replaced. A new leader with new ideas and new direction would be the only answer.

  10. @Arvind That’s what I was thinking actually. Like a strongly worded letter to the FA, Parliament and Premier League stating the case, with evidence and ramming home the point that it makes everything look bent, even if it’s not (nudge, nudge). There’s also the point that if there’s even a chance then football is open to massive compensation claims.

    Not trying to make more work for the guys behind the scenes here but there must be enough data by now to make some kind of statistical case that can be proven or disproven for the randomness of errors in ref decision making i.e. “it is statistically impossible that this number of significant errors affecting points lost by one team can be made without some external factor affecting the referee”, or something. I don’t know, maybe that’s a bad example…any ideas guys and gals?

  11. @nicky so the dice is obviously loaded against us and you think the answer is to sack the manager??!! What? What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense. If all things being equal we would have won that game, then how can the ideas of the manager be at fault?? That’s at least four penalties in four consecutive games and you want to sack the manager!! Mate, this is when we need to stick by him more than ever!! He and us are being persecuted! If someone bullies you, I suppose you back down? Well I don’t! And if the Club does now then everything we’ve built will have been for nothing!!

  12. @nicky mate you need to stop smoking the s**t you are smoking now. I feel either you completely lost it or you are a paid AAA supporter to comment. If all that doesn’t fit you must be corrupt and filthy lee probert himself 🙂

  13. The AAA will have a field day of course. I haven’t visited any because there will be around 1% sense there. I strongly advise all of you to ignore everything the AAA says; they’re just out to gloat.

  14. @jon,
    Public accusations of bias, discrimination and xenophobia, in the current climate with Suarez-gate, are very sensitive to all in the UK and Europe! With all of the video support accumulated for their case, and with competent legal representation, Arsenal’s position would be equivalent to an employment or discrimination tribunal and would need to be addressed formally by the relevant authorities. Whether this would be labelled as Arsenal crying-wolf or “moaning” is irrelevant as the evidence still has to be addressed formally and officially in due process. What’s more, even if no case is judged as needing to be answered by the FA, the highlighting of it in such a public and international manner would only draw widespread attention to our treatment more objectively from third parties outside of English football.
    Although UEFA and FIFA are also corrupt, one wonderful thing about them, is that they despise the English FA as much as we do. They in a rather strange way could become our judges and jury in this disgusting situation!

  15. @nicky,
    Your view on this is far too simplistic. Try to see the bigger picture as it has a significance for all of English football and its clubs; whether you are a supporter of Arsenal or not!

  16. @DC Hmmmmm, agreed. However, I’d much rather trust the legal system in the UK than any pot noodle justice that the UEFA and Swiss racists would hand out. Let’s not forget that it’s not as if we’re loved in Europe. Last time I checked, refs love to screw us over in the Champions League as well. And lets not forget that for the most important games of the Champs League for Wenger was on the sidelines. At least if we got the case listened to in the UK, something would have to be done about it. The last thing politicians in the UK want is more high level corruption, no matter what it is.

    The question I have is if the case is so possible, why haven’t Arsenal done it? There was a case for such a thing last year even. Why does the club remain silent? If they could make a case, then it would also be another nail in the coffin of those phone-hacking press scumbags as well. A lot of good could come out of such an action…am I wrong?

  17. Just watched Arsene Wenger’s press conference. I think he is saying to our players, we can still win games, it still depends on you. That is important because I have a feeling that last season our young team lost hope; it was as if the bias against Arsenal was insurmountable. So our team needs to feel they can still win; and their amazing come-back this season shows they can.
    But I think he is saying to the press, the FA and the fans, what referees are doing to Arsenal is unacceptable. And Walter’s analysis of the match as well as the other ref reviews we have had shows this to be true.
    Untold Arsenal is doing a unique job in this respect.
    Arsenal against all the odds!

  18. @jon,
    Agreed, however no formal crime under UK law has been highlighted as yet and the burden of proof for any such accusation rests solely on Arsenal FC. That is why the normal legal channels cannot be used against refereeing decisions no matter how disgraceful! After all, football is still considered a game and entertainment! However, the highlighting of it is a start to everything and once pubic opinion and pressure builds, the politicians will be forced to involve themselves. The climate right now is very sensitive to all of this.
    Wrt Europe and the CL, our treatment there is not because we are Arsenal but because we are an English club! Consequently, we are occasionally, and wrongly, perceived as being similar to the others in their arrogant attitude towards Europe. We are probably the most respected English club on the continent because of Arsene!

  19. Probert deserves a bronze statue outside fulham for his amazing and inspiring performance to compete with the best ever performance by a ref against arsenal (dowd with newcastle).
    Well, he deserves it atleast more than MJ does.

  20. I watched the Wolves-Chelsea game 1st, and came away with the impression that the ref was calling the game to give Chelsea a chance (which they of course took). I’ve thought a number of the PL games this past calendar year (not involving Arsenal) were likely fixed, and the game against Fulham was just a bit more obvious than most. Bet Declan Hill is on some kind of watch list for British immigration! (pardon the pun)

  21. And as Pat has said, discrimination can take many forms and unexplainable favouritism is the most painful for this young Arsenal side to have to regularly experience without any justification for it ever being stated or addressed. It, unfortunately, breaks you down eventually and you just give up; which is the objective attempting to be achieved here by the AAA. However, the more you show resistance and “fight”, as Arsene always states, then you will eventually triumph! A finish in the top 4 this season will win a major battle towards this triumph but winning the war will only come once Arsenal win the EPL again! Once that day happens, the English game we all love will have returned! How long that will take, depends on when Arsenal finally choose to voice their injustices publicly and that I now feel is beginning in earnest! The fear before was not to rock the boat with accusatiobs as the club was financially insecure, however now, they have a position of strength and fear no one!

  22. @DC I would disagree slight;y on one point: surely referees have a duty to ensure the safety of the players and over the last five years or so, the number of avoidable injuries (in particular disgusting leg-breaks) we’ve had can almost certainly be traced back to incompetent refereeing. As the League and FA are responsible for the referees (even if they don’t seem to be accountable), and player injuries, rehabilitation and players leaving the club has a direct impact on finances, you can draw an (admittedly rather simplistic) legal line between the organisations and culpability, citing the club being defrauded by being cheated out of a higher position in the league.

    Of course, I’m not a legal expert, so it’s quite possible I’m talking bubkus but it surprises me that Arsenal don’t seem to make more of the referees responsibility for the safety of the players and how they’re obviously failing with regard to us in this respect and (to put it quite, quite bluntly), it’s costing us blood and treasure.

    The only conclusion I can draw is that, somehow, referees aren’t responsible for player safety. Bizarrely enough. Becuase I would have definitely had them all in court over Eduardo. Definitely. Obviously Ramsey was unspeakably bad also but we won that game. The Birmingham game, the refereeing performance was ridiculous all through and even after Eduardo got stretchered of, the ref gifted them two points. If that’s not the basis for legal action, I don’t know what is.

  23. Just read about some comments from Platini :”Football is famous due to the wrong decisions .There is no need for video replay as it will lead to absolutely no discussions in the bar”.
    That’s the head of the UEFA.
    I couldn’t believe why those f***** up people at ESPN spoke in favour of him.

  24. @Arun: Posted this on an earlier thread…
    ——————————
    Arvind
    January 2, 2012 at 4:38 am

    On corruption and Platini…you guys might have seen this:

    http://web.orange.co.uk/article/sports/platini_not_keen_on_tv_replays

    —SNIP
    “Video is not for football. Human (adjudication) is better,” he said.

    “Football became popular thanks to its human values. If that becomes a commercial value, it will lose all its popularity.”

    “Football has also based its popularity on injustices,” Platini continued.

    “You can remember them and talk about them in the bars.

    “You can talk about 1982, France-Germany, it was an injustice like the hand of Maradona or that of Henry. The notoriety also comes from negative things in football.”
    —-SNIP

    There you have it then. UEFA is an altruistic organization which believes clubs getting screwed due to incompetence increases popularity. Hey .. I should write for “The Sun” now 😉

  25. last night i sort of gave probert the benefit of the doubt prior to the match-how foolish & naive was i?stand up son & take a bow ,you can be added to the current hall of fame of notorious arsenal hating refs in the prem-i make that about 8/9 now,over half their panel-what f***ng chance do we have of a level playing field when we’re going to have one of these jokers evry other match….ferguson would be screaming to the fa & media.these refs would never get their matches again-but not arsene & arsenal..stiff upper lip old boy crap!

  26. Regarding the MANC game,on ESPN india during their 1 hour long highlight show they deleted the RVP goal while showing the complete second half from starting to silva’s goal and then switched to 71st minute.
    During their ‘Monday Night Verdict’ show (discusses and reviews the weekend action) they sloughtered Foy for his performance during s*** spuds and stoke but didn’t discuss the referee for Arsenal-manc game.
    Also during the same weekend on their preview show, one pundit claimed that s*** spuds has been the better team in north london for some years now and is the best london team this year.
    Didn’t watch their review last night and hopefully won’t watch any review and preview show ever again.

  28. @Arun

    LOL – what if all the discussions in the bar are about how fixed and corrupt the modern game has become?

    Would it then be infamous rather than famous?

    Still – just as long as all those bookies in Asia are making their fat profits eh – it’s all good, fuck the fans – those mugs can just whinge about it over their overpriced watery beers post match – find a way to internalise the issue and blame the team/manager (as that’s what real men do) then come back for more.

    Well done Platini… well done – bravo!

  29. @DC to clarify my last point: the refereeing performance, allowing fouls of greater and greater seriousness without punishment, leads directly to players going over the top and getting involved in more and more desperate challenges. This then leads to leg breaking challenges. I seriously think when a player gets the their leg broken in a game, the ref should be immediately culpable and after that should be suspended and incident publicly examined. That’s what would happen in any other work environment in the country. Somehow because Ramsey works on a “football pitch” and not an “office”, Peter Walton doesn’t even get questioned. Nonsensical.

    @Pat Thank heavens for you mate! Nice one reading between the lines. That’s the kind of positivity we need right now. Never give up, never surrender: Arsenal vs the World!!

  30. I think the biggest loser due to all this is the national team.
    Their performance at top competitions suggest it all.Were humiliated by germany in WC 2010 and the same is likely to happen with spain, holland or germany again in june.

  31. One more thing, were these ESPN pundits not in favour of video goal technology when lampard’s goal was disallowed against germany.
    Quite strangely they changed their views when it came to EPL.

  32. This one is from a BBC pundit (they should change their name to piece of s***):”Never be afraid of making a prediction because people will forget it if you got it wrong.”

  33. Where we watched the match yesterday, all of us present concluded that the referee was hopelessly biased against AFC. So, I agree with Walter.

  34. As I couldn’t upload the videos to our website I give you this link with a few amazing decisions from the ref

    http://s1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/walterbroeckx/Arsenal%20-%20fulham/

    1. A blatant foul on Gervinho not given in the first half where he was sandwhiced and completely taken out by Senderos.

    2. The ref stopping an Arsenal attack after he touched the ball and inventing a foul from Song

    3. the consecutive fouls on Djourou in the first half

    4. Riise pushing Walcott in to the stands with both hands on his back

    5. Rosicky “touching” a Fulham player

  35. And the sad part about all this is… we will all come on to Untold and say all this and it’ll all be the same again tomorrow when we threaten again. And again..

    I watch every game on mute now except when we score a goal sometimes. Been that way for 2 or 3 years now i think and I’m happier and I don’t have to listen to morons telling me about how Theo walcott is the dumbest person to have been born 10 times in 3 minutes.

  37. Be my guest Dogface. I tried to load one but my connection here is soooooo slooooooow it kept on waiting for ages.

  38. no need to load it – outsource it to photobucket and embed it as a link… it’s best not to store video on the server anyway as will cause a huge load spike it could be seen as an infringement of copyright.

    See – I have done this above.

    I also tidied up your table 😉

  39. Do you want to put them in the right place in the artice and some text? Edit as HTML – it should be fairly obvious otherwise I can assist.

  40. If there is someone with legal knowledge, could you please put some light on my question. If a gooner goes to police station and reports that he believe that Arsenal v Fulham match was fixed, would the police be obliged under the English/European/FIFA/UEFA law, to investigate the matter to its conclusion.

  41. What would we do without you ? 😉 Thanks

    In my country our match commentator at times was expressing his amazament about the non calls of the ref. In all the incidents in the video clips I compiled, he expressed his total non believe at how the ref reacted.

    With the Djourou incident he said 3 times: “foul on Djourou, foul on Djourou, no he let play continue, another foul on Djourou, surely now…no he gives nothing” Not word by word as it was not in English but something like that.

    How many times he said: “foul on…” and then needing to add: “but the ref gives nothing…” could not be counted. Well I didn’t bother to count as we count those things in the ref reviews.

  42. Dogface, to be honest I am glad that I can manage to get the reviews somehow readable online.

  43. After screwing us at Wigan last season he got his Fifa badge and since then he knows what he has to do to keep it, I think…

  44. I always believed 3 EPL games inside 6 days would provide a tough test for Arsenal to overcome, the physical and mental impact on the players was there for all to see during the second half against Fulham. We looked fatigued, our level dropped and the team struggled to retain possession of the ball.

    During such hectic scheduling of the fixture list injuries and fatigue have a huge impact on teams and the gap between the top sides and the lesser teams can close dramatically. Sunderland v Man City & Man Utd v Blackburn are two recent examples of this.

    Therefore the decisions from the officials can and will have a greater influence on the outcome of matches during in this period. Lee Probert’s failure to award Gervinho an obvious penalty early in this game gave a clear indication of his intentions. Once Probert decided to dismiss Djourou and Arsenal were reduced to 10 men, his contribution was complete.

    Although it is possible to overcome such bias in individual matches, Lee Mason in the Everton home game last season is one such case, collectively, over a whole season its imposable for any team to overcome.

  45. This is the final straw no more Live EPL for me. I will only watch repeats of matches to save my impotent anger. Wondering does n’t FA really have no review mechanism

  46. Don’t know about corrupt, but maybe; certainly incompetent.

    The standard of officiating in the EPL is truly appalling, in EVERY game there are wrong decisions which directly affect the result.

    As an Arsenal fan I feel the manager and players are extremely badly treated by the officials, but am not biased enough to believe that we are the only club to constantly suffer in this way at the hands of what can only be described as complete morons.

  47. What will probably happen is that something cracks somewhere. It normally does. Mark Clattenburg had to take a month out, presumably he was suffering the strain of trying to do his job properly. (I like to think there are a few honest people out there).

    I think its really a matter of sitting tight and letting things run their course. And I am sure people like Mr Usmanov and Kroenke have legal teams who advise them on how to prosecute people who are destroying their brand.

  48. Interesting

    You should clean this up, send it to the FA and see what they have to say and what excuses they come up with.
    You should then forward that reply to national newspapers.

    There is a conspiracy against us but until we take proactive action on the matter it will keep happening.

    arsenal will never win any trophies, even if the team was capable because the biased refs / pundits just won’t allow it to happen.

  49. Usmanov would be my prime suspect as he has a tendril into the FA through Dein – who is, incidentally, trying to wangle a seat on the Arsenal board and has a very large axe to grind.

  50. wow what a disgrace…this review shows just how utterly bent and corrupt this pathetic league is..clearly probert was sent on a mission and oh did he get it accomplished…

    i just dont know what needs to happen before we can finally get these corrupt bureaucrats convicted in court of law….there is so much blatant bias to be a coincidence anymore and please the old cliche about decisions evening out through the course of the season is nothing but a big fat lie invented by these bent people and promoted by their media puppets to justify the incompetence/bias of their official..

    i just dont know why these refs are treated like saints and superhuman in the sense that they are unquestionable and dont need to explain their actions…im really hoping the club is finally going to take action against these corrupted twats as it has gone beyond ridiculous

  51. Interesting comments on the match fixing!!

    There was a programme on sky sports news all about it.
    The determined that it all stems from the Hong Kong area and is gangland related but strecthes across all leagues at all levels.

    They then traced a guy, believed to be an underling to the main fixer boss. This underling had already done time for Match fixing a few years back. Where’s he living now?….

    The answer is – Wembley, literally a 5 min walk from the FA headquarters.

    Food for thought!

  52. @jon,
    I agree with the physical harm argument as being a possible recourse for investigation, unfortunately football, as in all contact sports, does contain an element of this unfortunate event occuring as “it’s part of the game” as many people have come out if the woodwork to defend whenever it occurs. The only way to challenge anyone in such cases, is to prove malice intent. That is “did the player intend to harm his opponent” or “did the referee neglect his responsibility to protect the player”. These obviously are hard to prove and it will always come down to physical evidence. Once emotion is removed from the equation and the facts of the cases are critically appraised with expert witnesses, video, etc, then only then can you begin to hold the parties responsible. Sadly this will never be allowed with Arsenal as the so-called gurus of football punditry (usually ex-English footballers nick-named “chopper”, “psycho”, “hardman, etc) will defend that thuggery to the hilt and say that it’s just “because of the way Arsenal play” and that the “Arsenal players are physically small and can’t take challenges”. Rubbish arguments both of them! Only once the leg of one if their golden boys (I.e. Rooney, Terry, Gerrard, etc) is badly fractured during such a game will they start questioning things. Right now, the loss of a player for Arsenal is usually appended by “Wenger needs to strengthen his squad to cope with usual injuries they have every year”. It’s strange how in recent weeks, an injury to RVP is always being highlighted as to how devastating it would be for us and Arsene needs to buy a suitable back-up! Are they wishing that something does happen to him?! I wouldn’t be surprised if they are! The other unfortunate thing that makes it difficult for Arsenal to challenge is that they have accumulated numerous red card contraventions under Arsene which makes credibility very difficult. Even if the leg-break incidences are challenged, all our red cards are officially on record and this will always be used as a stick to beat-up the club regardless of how more severe.
    @Sam, wrt match-fixing, one would need to have some real hard evidence of the alleged incident if anything is to be possible! Evra achieved his verdict as he recollected the incidences fully and was able to have them supported with comprehensive video evidence from the match. It also didn’t do him any harm that Suarez and Liverpool were somewhat naive and inept in how they saw the case and their initial submissions damaged their credibility!

  53. Walter I have added the text and placed the video throughout the article – you should re-visit this and update any text you think you should.

  54. With all the fury we feel and all that has been said, let keep fighting off the pitch as the boys and Arsene are on it as we still have much that we can still achieve this season; even in the face of such bias. As some other commentators have mentioned, the truth will always come out and justice will prevail. Strength and honour one and all and keep up the battle against corruption and xenophobia in our beloved game!

  56. the videos just make me sick..how did probert not see those while he was directly watching?

  57. A couple of draws for the Mancs or a couple of loses and the title will still be up for grabs. Let’s hope the refereeing incompetence continues with unabated consistency. Thankfully old red-nose’s side is playing away and I can see Liverpool getting something from Citeh with their golden talisman back!

  58. Stop whining, you are shit deal with it.

    We faced a similar second half against fulham, only we won… only to be ‘cheated’ against stoke.

    Suck it up…

  59. NLIO (on the move to wherever your chairman wants to take you to),

    Thanks for joining in and if you would take a look at another whining article

    http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/17663

    just read and wonder about what we are doing apart from whining.

    You had every right to complain about the Stoke-Tottenham game and the ref in charge. Oh, you did, didn’t you. You even stalked innocent people while whining and complaining.

    We today have every right to complain about the Fulham game. I just hope that there is not another Lee Probert somewhere around who gets abuse from not that smart Arsenal fans.

  60. i really do wonder why a spuds fan with a low IQ to think that north london is theirs doing on an arsenal blog?

  61. Hey spud fools….tott***** is a shite club no history

    10 Championships to 2

    3 Premiership Titles to zero

    In total, 13 Titles to 2 INCLUDING TWO won at shite hart lane

    We have won more FA Cups than you
    We have a bigger fan base than you
    We do not dream of a bigger, state of the art stadium
    We HAVE the Emirates

    Henry, Bergkamp. Viera, Pires etc are players you will never ever have in your team EVER

    We are the Invincible Champions of 2004 at your dump – google it if you do not believe it

    Undefeated 49 Unbeaten run – what is yours?

    GET OVER IT

    we have the most history in London

    1961 and never again

    Just a reminder

  62. Good job Walter. Article is awful (NOT because of you but BECAUSE SUBJECT). It was really shocking behavior from ref.
    I watched Wengers press conference and I want to say I PROUD OF HIM. but to be honest I was bit disappointed when he sat down again and answered fefw more questions. If FA even thing of charging him they prove who corrupt and bias they are.

    I’m also still wondering which had more infuence on Djourou’s 2nd yellow color of his shirt or skin?

  64. I’m a bit guilty on this maybe because I let his comment pass in the first place.

    But I just wanted to show him that today it is Arsenal, a few weeks ago it was Tottenham. And despite us not being the best of friends I only as a ref want one thing and that is that all games are reffed in the best possible way and that refs who for one reason or the other do not know how to do it in a decent way get thrown out of the PL.

    In a way I felt sorry for decent people who support Tottenham after what happened at Stoke. I think no team should deserve to win/lose a game after such a horrific ref performance. Not us and not even Tottenham.

    And make no mistake Tottenham fans. Once you are a real threat to the real masters of the EPL you will undergo the same threatment like you suffered against Stoke for many more games.

    And unless people who love football react to such shambolic performances you will suffer as we suffer. Make no mistake about it. What once started as an Arsenal review of the refs is far more now as we do review all the top teams on a regular basis this season.

    (Oh hell, I think I am just wasting my time… 😉 )

  65. I fully understand Walter – it was the perfect response to all this “be a man” crap… if being a man bending over and taking it without complaint then, well, I guess I’ll just have to opt out.

  66. I am a bit naive at times thinking there are intelligent fans from some teams.
    But we have had intelligent visitors from Portsmouth lately so I got carried away a bit by that I think.
    Even the Everton fans that came by a few weeks ago showed some class and intelligence and understood what we were doing about the refs.

  68. Kampala we have to options I think. One is that they send in one of the usual suspects but this time to give us a few things in the FA cup. As if to show that it just an accident.
    The other option is that they are going on full course and try to get us out of the FA cup.
    But with already one of the Manchester clubs out it might be that they go for the first option. Because the world is not waiting for a next round game between Leeds and Shrewsbury (if you know what I mean) and so it would be better for the world wide figures to have as many big teams in it as possible.

    But with the FA you just never know. Maybe they just flip a coin to decide what they are up to?

  69. Well, not much of a surprise for me that we got screwed again. It was evident from the ref reviews that the refs were beginning to gather steam in their annual campaign to keep us out of the top 4 spots. While everyone was having a man sh!tty / manure / tiny tott wankfest, we got too close, too quickly to the top 4 spots. Before they even knew it, we were IN the top 4. And now they’re frantically trying to “resolve” this “issue”.
    Enter Mr. Probert. Tasked with taking over from the legendary Phil “%#%@” Dowd, Mr. Probert did not disappoint.
    So guys and gals, brace yourselves. That time of the season is here again, where nothing in our games is rational, and even a 4 – 0 half time lead does not guarantee a win. De ja vu all over again. I can’t hardly wait!

  70. Arsenal v Leeds United (7.45pm, Monday 9 January)
    Referee Mark Clattenburg
    Assistant Referees Jake Collin & Simon Bennett
    Fourth Official Peter Walton

  72. Thanks Walter’ who do you think of the 2 Manchester’s will be most favored!! And i don’t get it Walter this time around the 2 guys to meet! We are used always seeing Derby county VS Manchester not until in the finals i mean that’s the way it have been. Who changed the sequence?

  73. I bet Probert would have sent off Djourou earlier for that handball by Dempsey had his linesman not overruled him.

  74. knew that the game would be hard won last night, but that was onesided. Obviously the penalty and the yellow was deciding factors, correct or not, but what really made the game difficult was the blatant bias against arsenal in every minor decision, that everything had to be 150 % correct in arsenals favour before given.

    wenger said to skysports after the game that “we have consistent problems to face” and would not describe them any further. Is he speaking about the referees in general? Injuries? or just refering to the disgusting smell coming from the dung with the cocksign up the road? time will tell.

    Anyways, happy new year everyone, and may it be a year for every team, also cocks and mancs, to get fair decisions in every game!

  75. Thank you as ever for this wonderful unbiased thread in regard the referee.No teams should loose or win a game by mistakes of officials.Having saying that it seems to me that at times when the team in itself is not showing results tend to look an excuse for the referee.Side by side with this thread I would love to see analysis of the team in general and individual brilliance or fault.
    of players as well.Because at the moment this thread is concentrating only on refs performance there is kind of missed link and that makes look like an excuse to make when you loose a game.At the end of the day games are won and lost in 90 min and there are opinion who says that here and there referee mistakes will not change the output.They do and they dont.
    Yes Fulham they want to win more than as and on the day our midfield they where shadow of themselves and the Latin american guy was excellent.Our attacking department was useless specially THEO.Now if you showing only the picture above when was hacked and dispossessed it does not tell the story of the game nor his performance. Our substitute they did not make any impact as well. In fact reviewing the Sidwell goal You will notice the luck of concentration of ROSICKY.Sidwell passing him by and he did not make any effort simply was not concetrating.
    My view may be wrong but what i am trying to suggest is lets not make an excuse that the game is lost due to only and only referee.First and foremost lets look at our self .

    Thank you

  76. @Alex – I would have to agree that Theo’s performance was uncharacteristic… and worrying.

    However this is the Ref Review – and we should save this debate for another thread – I’m sure someone will write a post match thing (unless they’re too depressed).

  77. The referee review is fantastic job.However i dont see where it will end or what is its ultimate goal.
    Are we going to challenge the referee association into court ?
    Are we going to sign petition ?

    I dont get it what is its ultimate goal?

  78. I’ve always given refs the benefit of doubt and thought they are incompetent but last night was surely corrupt. Can’t we take legal action?

  79. @ALEX – we are trying to give some perspective. The fanbase are a sleeping elephant… you are angry – that is good, anger is an energy.

  80. when u do ur ref review do u do it in real time or with the benefit of numerous replays?The ref gets one chance to view everything at speed.We are where we deserve to be no more no less.If u think football is so corrupt why waste ur time watching it as according to u the outcome is already determined.Before u think i am a total doomer i just think all the paranoia detracts from an excellent site which has taught me much about arsenals history that even being a fan 4 36 years i did not know.I also like the way u dont resort to disgusting name calling as whatever u think of people they are only doing their job

  81. Walter thank you for this review, I watched this game and kept wondering what the ref was thinking, the commentators, and when they finally scored I honestly thought the ref might forget and celebrate. After the game I reminded my friend of a famous qoute by our infamous former head of state Amin who told our boxing team ” if the umpires are biased, go for the knock out”. My friend replied ” how can u knock out someone they do not let u touch”??

  82. @Basil

    When you watch and comment on football, do you first go out and play at Premiership level to see how difficult it is to spot a pass or score a goal? If the players don’t do their job properly they should be called out on it, and the same applies to the ref who has all the power in the world and no accountability at all. If he can’t call a game fair and square, whether it be through bias/corruption, or ineptitude, then he has no business calling himself a referee. Those that appoint referees need to be accountable and more transparent because what the refs routinely produce is unacceptable AND follows a statistical pattern which indicates that it isn’t just randomness at play here.

  83. All said and done though..Alex’s point is a valid one. The anger is good, most of it perfectly justified but we need to make it count. Else it’ll all be of no use. Something has to happen…or we try and make it happen .. to prove that refereeing is bent. How? Lets discus that here or elsewhere. But it has to happen..otherwise it’s all just discussion.

    Now..that might be okay and this is a forum in the end..so things ending with discussion..just that.. is fine. But since there’s so many people here who are likeminded, there is a chance to do what we think is right .. so maybe we can think more on the lines of how we can channelize this discontent.

    For e.g There was this bill called the Lokpal bill to fight corruption in India, for which the whole country sort of united (shockingly may I add). Not that anything happened in the end… coz the slick politicians played around with words predictably and screwed everything up. But the point is that there was an organized completely non violent protest on a very very large scale which worked wonders in at least getting the point across. Maybe that exact thing doesn’t work here… because it is just a game in the end.. but I’m saying lets think… because otherwise Alex is dead dead right. Everything is awesome at UA and there is nothing to complain about; but maybe we should…take one more step forward.

  84. @Arvind

    Hardly the forum to discuss this, but I wasn’t supporting the Lokpal bill (at least in the form that the agitators demanded)mainly cos I am against concentration of powers in one body. I don’t think that would do away with corruption at all, and I don’t think it’s an apt comparison. A more apt one would be the Occupy Wall street etc. But again, can we really picket the FA office? Will it have any impact because they’d probably be more than happy to stay on the oligarchs’ luxury yachts instead.

    Personally, I think we aren’t at the stage to do anything other than form a groundswell of opinion. Something which is made harder by the media who refuse to countenance any possibility of the referee even being wrong because anyone (except Alex F) complaining is deemed a moaner, a whinger, or just ignored. For the rest, the fact that the media don’t want people to think along those lines, means that it DOES matter what people think. What we think. Yesterday was the first time I considered giving up watching football. On a large enough scale, they lose their money.

    I have also asked people in the past if there is a concept of Public Interest Litigation in the UK. In India, a PIL led to the Supreme Court of India giving a judgement that the Kerala(I think) Cricket Board (and other associations), despite being a private body, serves a public function and hence has to be accountable to the public. (Which meant the Prevention of Corruption Act applied to them and they were censured for wrongdoing) If such a thing could apply to the FA and PGMOL, it would be great.

  85. Really Gunners i don’t think we can do anything here. First if you look at the Whorerists they are like they have their mission’When Fergus complains its normal when Le Prof comes in its moaning. Don’t you see the difference! Let us keep up the spirit and we might prevail in the long run.

  86. @Shard: We can discuss the Lokpal elsewhere..you’re right.

    Lest I was minsunderstood, I’m not advocating we fill Wallstreet or do what happened with the Lokpal. I’m just saying there has to be some other form of protest.

    You say you’ll give up watching and hey you maybe right. But honestly… how how many more pointless mind numbed fans will take your place? As it is… rationality is a rare commodity in the football world. People were talking about sacking SAF and Mancini after 1 loss. 1 loss. So your money .. if I may say so.. is not needed because they make money from the mindless followers more than the rational ones. All just my own opinion.

    So I’m saying… maybe there is a way and lets all who post here regularly try and think .. what can we do? How? I don’t know right now. But should we? Yes. That’s all I’m saying.

  87. I just find it impossible that EVERY time Manu, Chelsea Tottenham etc drop point and we are meant to start gaining them (not just this season every season) funnily enough we have a shoddy performance from a referee……..red cards for opposition not given. Sometimes as much as 3 penalties in a match not given etc, but then all of a sudden when our rivals pick up points we are allowed points too……..as if to say “you will not pass your rivals but we will allow you to keep pace” I find this disturbing. Wenger is not stupid and you can see it written all over his face that he wants to say something but he knows full well if he does he will be hung drawn and quartered by the press.

    I have a strong STRONG feeling Manu are match fixing. What are the odds (even though i hate moneybags mancity) that they lose a game in the 93rd minute to a clear offside goal, just after manu loses their match because of shoddy play. Its almost 100% certain that when Manu loses points everyone else has to….it happens every season. Maybe manu are NOT themselves doing it but bent Refs that are manu supporters are or something, but something is blatently wrong. Is there ANYTHING we can do about this Tony? I have felt for many years we are being screwed over, but when you say anything it is that Arsenal fans are moaners and Arsenal are just full of “french whingers especially their manager” and other xenophobic comments.

    I love Arsenal dearly but how are we meant to cope with all of this, Mancity taking our players other players leaving other clubs buying the league. I HATE seeing tottenham above us whilst they get all the decisions and i have a real horrible feeling we wont get into the CL spots this year, if we dont how are we meant to compete for the players we need in the club………i am starting to really worry for Arsenal

  88. One other even that may be worth a mention on this post is Joey Barton. The lad tried to do a Gervinho on Bradley Johnson and was dismissed in the 36th minute. Of course, and as usual, this was an off-the-ball incident. The midfielder went on to criticise both Johnson and the referee on Twitter. The incident aside, but for good old Joey to say “I wonder how long it is before a football club sues a referee for making a bad decision?” – then for sure, even those footballers that used to take advantage of the gullibility of referees are getting tired of these shenanigans.

  89. @Reviewer04

    This is an excellent review and I agree with most of it. But I cannot give Probert the benefit of doubt in two of the major decisions.

    I have a good recording of the RVP penalty incident – minute 57/58. Senderos pushed or wrestled RVP to the ground in the box – very clearly shown. There is no doubt over this. RVP was outpacing Senderos and forcing his way past him, Senderos used a lot of force to deflect RYP sideways to the ground. Senderos did not get the ball.

    Re Djourou’s second yellow; there was minimal contact between Djourou and Zamora, Djourou seemed to be outpacing Zamora when the latter fell forward into the box – he knew he was not going to get past Djourou and dived for a penalty. The direction in which he fell is inconsistent with a pull or push from Djourou. Probert had the yellow out in a flash. Basically Djourou seemed to be winning the race to the ball and was unfairly punished. The yellow should have gone to Zamora for diving.

    The contrast between the heavy foul by Senderos on RVP and the light contact between Djourou and Zamora is very marked. Djourou did have a hand on Zamora, but Zamora also had a hand on Djourou.

    Under their present manager, Fulham have degenerated into thuggery, unfortunately this is permitted by the PGMOL/FA when Arsenal are the victims.

  91. @Arvind & Shard,
    The best way to practically address this issue is this:
    Rather than stop watching football, you should attempt to watch as many matches wrt to the big clubs against the smaller clubs as humanly possible and assess the performance of the officials in each and every one of those matches. Invariably, the small teams will always be hard-done-by by the officials in favour of the likes of Manure, etc. Walter and the other refs on UA are already performing this role admirably in their other non-Arsenal ref reviews.
    After an injustice has been seen by you, which will almost certainly be against the non-top4 clubs in the EPL (and also beyond if you’re watching a cup game), go online to the main fans’ blog of that club and express your view as an Arsenal fan visiting their site (of course you may choose to avoid the tiny-totts’ sites!). Don’t also forget to do this if you are watching a match involving Arsenal and especially if they win! Repeat this process with all of the clubs you watch and stimulate the same kind of discussions that are being had here on UA with these other fans. From those seeds that are sown, groundswells of opinion will grow that will further highlight and expose the incompetence or corruption/bias (whichever term you wish to use) of the officials and the FA. This is now how revolutionary change and accountability are brought about in the modern era we live in and it shouldn’t be difficult to foster and attain support as i’m certain the vast majority of fans feel the same way and just need a platform of unity to fall behind. English football has a palpable impact on the lives of so many people within the UK and beyond and materially costs them alot of their hard earned money and time in these tough times of extreme austerity! Highlighting things that are taking advantage of their loyalty will always garner opinion, particularly during these difficult financial times. That is how the apparently weaker masses are able to defeat the corrupt and self-appointed, rich minority elite our modern age! Give it a try and see what happens! In the meantime keep supporting Arsene and the boys and don’t despair too much as all’s still not lost because there’s still so much to play for this season; including the EPL title once we get our better players back in late Jan – early Feb! At least a top4 finish will be achieved this season i’m very confident of that! Come on Liverpool, West Brom and Newcastle over the next couple of nights!

  92. Many thanks Walter for the review. I was at the game and the poor performance of the ref was really noticeable. I was sitting very close to the corner flag and got a close view of the Djourou incident at 41mins – the fouls by Riise were absolutely clear cut to see. I also noticed RvP getting fouled regularly by Hangeland/Senderos on several occasions and yet the ref did nothing. RvP was clearly getting upset by this. Still, even with this bias Arsenal had chances to win the game and based on their second half performance (no shots on target and two off target) we didn’t deserve to win.

    I’m starting to think that it would be a good idea for UA to prepare a dossier on the standard of refereeing in the EPL at the end of the season and send this to Arsenal, the press, the FA, PGMOL or anyone else that you can. I think a full season of reviews for the big 6 clubs will be difficult to ignore. The publicity it should get would be worthwhile even though it is likely to be ignored by the powers that be.

  93. Alex,
    Thankfully you mention the word Petition. Yes.
    It is one way to try. Otherwise, ditto this ref review and the commentary, include the one right after yours, that does not respond to the “P” word, and I don’t mean Probert. Right you are ALex!

  94. Dogface this is the worst appointment we could get for this game.
    Because this means that we will not have Clattenburg for the game against MU.
    Because Clattenburg can have bad games but in the Arsenal games so far he has the most even record when it comes to wrong calls. A 6/5 and a 7/6 was the difference between wrong calls for and against us in the games he did Arsenal this season.
    In his games it almost evens out this season!
    Compared to other refs this season….

    So I was hoping to get him in the Utd game. Expect Dean or Dowd I would say… yuk

  95. Things get worse, the spuds just won. But looks like Liverpool will not
    Wenger has now told the world that things are not right, without elaborating. He has been ridiculed all day n radio and in the press. John Hartson came out and said he should just accept it, take it on the chin, doff your cap to the powers that be.He said arsenal teams lack discipline. John, you have been through a lot and for that you deserve respect, but give it a rest, you do not have to be a media whore.
    It remains to be seen what will happen, but I confidently predict things will get worse for arsenal. A cl place is worth , what thirty million? They do not want us to have that. Wenger and the team need to use this as motivation, if we finish out of the top four, the greatest media wankfest will ensue.
    We are really suffering at losing our pacy attacking fbs, gerv and theo are clearly being hit. Jd, try as he might cannot support an attack like bac. And being a cd, he is naive in the ways of a fb, and he was caught out yesterday. Much as I would like to see coq and Miguel get games, I think wenger has to bring in experience in this dept. Gibbs is a good footballer but cannot yet be relied upon to stay injury free.

  96. DOGFACE
    Yes i am absolutely pissed with the performance of some players and when i come and see the reality of this referee blunders it is not a consolation either.

    Back to the main subject I believe there should be an exit strategy for all this fantastic job that you are doing.
    to leave it just like this for the sole purpose of discussion only it looks kind of waste.
    Yes this is a pro ARSENAL site but the subject is not limited to arsenal only.Therefor to associate and elaborate with other genuine fans of other clubs will not hurt any fan or any club.

    Probably this kind of organizing will make quicker the date that video technology will be introduced.

  97. Frank Rizzo, Arvind, all,
    Lee Probert is now ahead in the race to the bottom.
    Yes, a very well publicized final report sent to all the media and made available on this website for downloading, rather than making people search for it like last seasons wonderful (but overlooked and forgotten) season ref wrap-up by Walter. This one should not be accessible but hidden in the archives.

    Arvind, we need a petition, so that the feeling generated here by the reports can be productively channeled into a document that should also spark other fair minded fans (even them, yet) who have been specifically hard-done by the referees who serve other interests.

  98. Alex,
    Yes, and FULL video technology at that, not the goal-line only video that is a mere bandage for a hemorraghing wound.

  99. DaVinci mentioned Barton, but there is another situation involving Lampard. Earlier in the season, Song received a (red card) suspension after the match for stomping on Barton. More recently, Lampard’s tackle merited a red card, but there was no call on the field. My question is why is there not a subsequent review like the one applied to Song?

  100. Dogface, Walter, Tony, All,
    Ok, so if Clattenberg/Walton do a bad number on us, as they are fully and demonstrably capable of doing, will a petition emerge on UA, or only further eloquent rage? It appears that a groundswell is perking.

  101. p.s. sorry, clattenberg, as walter says, would be desirable at MU; my main point above is that WHOEVER does the next number on us, and it will happen, will tat be the last straw that triggers the groundswell?

  102. cyberian
    January 4, 2012 at 12:51 am

    DaVinci mentioned Barton, but there is another situation involving Lampard. Earlier in the season, Song received a (red card) suspension after the match for stomping on Barton. More recently, Lampard’s tackle merited a red card, but there was no call on the field. My question is why is there not a subsequent review like the one applied to Song?

    LOL…but it all evens out over a season.

    To quote John Wayne:

    “The Hell it does”

  103. If this corruption fiasco doesn’t blow in the mother of all explosions, with the carnage of Dowd’s career, Webb’s reputation, Ferguson’s ego, Probert’s probity, Atkinson’s smarm, Dean’s uselessness, and Riley’s rapaciousness blown across London Bridge from the Old Bailey….smacking Messrs Hartson, Lineker, Hansen , Lawrenson et al on the chops in passing

    I will be well disappointed

  104. @cyberian – Lampard got a yellow for his what should have been a red card tackle. Makes you wonder if 4th official Webb had anything to do with that. Now the FA won’t do F*ck All about it.

  105. I have had the impression of “Arsenal vs the corrupted world” since 3 or 4 years ago but things were never as clear as they are right now, thanks to Untold. I have no more doubt, no more sadness, no more regret now, just simply, purely and totally support our Club and our Manager.

  106. Its getting more and more ridiculous every season. Everytime we have the opportunity to catch up the ref will always f*ck us. Other fans might call us bad losers but this is too obvious for anyone to see. Im sick and tired of all this.

    Damn.

  107. I noticed that as soon as it became clear that RVP was going to break someone’s record, the FA laid down a new rule( no penalties for Arsenal). I was even relieved when the year ended hoping this witch hunt was now behind us but alas, time has come when we have to do something, on the pitch our players must continue the struggle but we off the pitch shd try to raise more awareness about this conspiracy . Anything you do can help, even if you just send the link to this page to every soccer fan you know. Walter has done the bigger part, surely we can do the easy bit. Gunner for life………

  108. i am soooo damn upset . come on why premier league referees hate arsenal i still remember since liverpool game vs arsenal final 2001 come on OBVIOUS fouls , penalties. the riise push on walcott wasnt a straight card even riise stoped a bit and knew it was a foul but as usual referee didnt even give him a foul . we still need to buy class players and sell scquillaci ,arshavin, and chamakh and get plz podolski , vertonghen or taiwo & ( hazard , or goetze or any very creative midfielder ) plzzzzzzzzzzz good luck arsenal i adore the team and welcome hime Thierry ( Titi) we missed u a lotttttt

  109. Just watched the added video clips Walter. Truly astonishing! And the ref is standing so close he can obviously see what is happening. The fouls on Djourou, Gervinho and Walcott are so blatant.

  110. And now that I found out how things work (thanks Dogface) you can expect more video clips in the ref reviews when they are needed. And in other articles

  112. Yes Pat,
    that is where the ref blew his cover. If he would have been a real master he would have given those fouls. But he wanted to impress his masters (who ever they might be) that much and by doing this he went over the line and went further than a real clever ref would go.
    The blatant fouls you should give but every 50/50 call you don’t give. That is the mark of the master. Probert is still learning the trade a bit you now. But he is not affraid to make a fool of himself, that is for sure.

    But like I said in his ardor to screw Arsenal he just went too far so it was visible. That is for people who want to see of course. If people prefer to stay blind that is their problem.

  115. I think its a great idea Ugandan Gooner.

    We need a viral video compilation….I say compilation, because 5 minutes would not really help. We are taking a box set here, over about 60 I think.

    Talking of box sets, (not V.P’s clever boxing tactics as suggested by WhoreKnock), one item could be:

    “100 Penalties Arsenal Never Got”

    at 30 secs a clip, that would be 10 5 minute videos

    I know for viral we really need more salacious stuff like:

    Famous – Ref – bitten in half by 30 metre Orca

    And

    Famous – Ref – caught in bed with Hooker

    but hey, it needs to start somewhere

  116. Or how about famous English ref caught working as an “advisor”to a gambling firm……..sorry, a bit slow there, has already happened!

  117. Walter,
    So this season’s ref review will have video backup to illustrate key points? perhaps turning points like calls and non-calls that changed a game? will last season’s ref review get the proper exposure it still deserves instead of burial in the UA catacombs? (It still merits reference, perhaps cross-references by ref performances this year and last year, via a hyperlink back to the specific relevant part of your last season’s report. It should not have been let go of so easily; and could well be recycled to somehow buttress this season’s report.)

  118. p.s. I’m referring to the overall season report you’ve done, last season and forthcoming this season.

  119. If Arsenal becomes a significant target again this season, it will not encourage (let me be polite) not encourage top players to stay and risk injury and trophy-preemption. The way to keep our players, attract new ones, and flourish as we justly deserve is to demand fair play, by an expanding petition, to protect the players and every team’s rightful position in the table by enforcing the rules as written and by video replay by a ref in the booth, etc. Otherwise, no end to our laments, mates. Do we need to wait for RvP or further red cards to our back line to start this small step forward? Fair Play on the Pitch Petition – the FPP. Hmmmm?

  120. Even my wife commented on the push from Riise on Walcott! “What does Fulham have to do to get a foul called against them? He almost pushed him out of the stadium!”
    I just chuckled in disgust. The performance of the referee the entire match was disgraceful.

  121. You know, I just had another look at the video clips, and thought back to some of the “articles” and “match reports” I’ve read the last few days.
    Something is extremely rotten in England with regards to football and media. Extremely rotten.

  122. And I’m sorry to say, but a large number of the fans are complete idiots as well.
    I’m truly disgusted by it all.

  123. why in the hell did he stop that move after he’d touched the ball (the referee)???? Did he feel responsible for the move and then blow? Again, appreciate this site’s support of Wenger. We’re not gonna give up!

  124. To Tony, Walter, Dogface,

    do you use something tags or keywords for each articles? I think it would be great and helpful if we can simply click a keyword, e.g. Poor Bert, and then get a list of articles with such keyword. Hence, we dont need to ask you guys each time we need to link to ilder and related articles.

  125. Hiya

    First time posting but i have always followed the website. Been a supporter of Arsenal after Arsene Wenger joined. Great Site and work done here.

    Thoought i would share this 2 sites which has something to do with refs. The sites talks about bad refereeing. I disagree with them on the part where they advocate to stop complaining or that its about the players and Wenger thou. Just to share.

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1008696-arsenal-why-wenger-is-wrong-to-complain-about-the-referee-in-the-fulham-loss

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/701925-the-reason-referees-seem-to-dislike-arsenal-fc-and-arsene-wenger

  126. Possibly the worst ref display I’ve ever seen, I was disgusted by that performance before the sending off and Fulham scoring, he was terrible.

  127. Bob, stick around (you will I guess) for a little half season report that is on its way.

    I think you will like it. Mmmm completely wrong let me say it again and better …it will make you furious/mad/angry/…..

  128. Wasn’t Probert in charge for that Wigan game 1/2 years ago where he did a number on us (the Rodallega dive rewarded with a penalty, etc.)?

  130. Interesting article on why ref’s don’t like Arsenal, and something I’ve mused on before. However, before the Fulham game, I saw RVP chatting to the ref in a friendly fashion and it did him no good at all in that game.

  131. Guys, I love Arsenal, but it is so unfair to see refs messing up your hard work week after week. What is the point to even trying to win something if everybody else is trying to prevent you from doing so? I really hate the Premier League.

  132. This is disgusting.Why on earth will the most popular league ( EPL) be infiltrated by bunch of incompetent referees.To make it a point of serious concern Arsenal always fall a victim.We were not awarded clear penalties in the last four games,what a cheat!Arsenal board should take drastic measures to correct this anomlies now or never.

  134. There really has to be pannel to analyze such things & take retrospective actions. This refree should never b eon the field again whether corrupt or incompetant.How can Arsenal players be motivated to fight & win such games.After all they are human beings, not machines.FA should be ashmed of this. This is going on for few years now.BTW what is arsenal board doing?counting money!

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