by Walter Broeckx
Next in our series as we cover each and every Premier League team we have West Bromwich Albion which if you don’t mind will from now on call just WBA.
Now before any WBA supporters comes on here and suggest that it is not the averages but the actual decisions that count (as some fans of other clubs have done) may we suggest you take a look at both the introductory articles which you can find here and here. You may also enjoy our other site: Referee Decisions.
And if you’ve done that we are ready to have a look at the statistical pointers we have found when we compare the overall results of WBA with the results of each ref when he does WBA games.
Of course you might have bad experiences with some refs in some games but who, after seeing the statistics, you find are not really that bad in general. You can share your experiences of course. But this article is not really about those games in particular. It is more about the total picture of the referee and this team.
Under the table I will try to give a short explanation on what you see.
|
Total |
won |
draw |
lost |
won |
draw |
lost |
% games |
|
|
WBA |
253 |
62 |
64 |
127 |
24,51% |
25,30% |
50,20% |
|
| Atkinson |
16 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
37,50% |
12,50% |
50,00% |
7,08% |
| Clattenburg |
13 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
30,77% |
15,38% |
53,85% |
5,75% |
| Dean |
25 |
3 |
10 |
12 |
12,00% |
40,00% |
48,00% |
11,06% |
| Dowd |
14 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
42,86% |
28,57% |
28,57% |
6,19% |
| Foy |
25 |
9 |
6 |
10 |
36,00% |
24,00% |
40,00% |
11,06% |
| Friend |
11 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
18,18% |
36,36% |
45,45% |
4,87% |
| Jones |
17 |
7 |
3 |
7 |
41,18% |
17,65% |
41,18% |
7,52% |
| Halsey |
22 |
6 |
7 |
9 |
27,27% |
31,82% |
40,91% |
9,73% |
| Marriner | No games | |||||||
| Mason |
14 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
14,29% |
35,71% |
50,00% |
6,19% |
| Moss |
14 |
10 |
0 |
4 |
71,43% |
0,00% |
28,57% |
6,19% |
| Oliver |
11 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
27,27% |
27,27% |
45,45% |
4,87% |
| Probert |
14 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
35,71% |
14,29% |
50,00% |
6,19% |
| Swarbrick |
9 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
77,78% |
0,00% |
22,22% |
3,98% |
| Taylor |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
66,67% |
22,22% |
11,11% |
3,98% |
| Webb |
12 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
8,33% |
33,33% |
58,33% |
5,31% |
In their PL history WBA has got a win percentage of just under 25%. This season this is slightly better I think but we will take in account as many games as possible. So 25% is the yard stick we will use for WBA.
The first thing we find is one ref who doesn’t do WBA games. That is ref Marriner. But for the rest, all the refs do WBA games and we even don’t have to exclude refs for not having done enough games. So for WBA we are looking at 15 refs.
Who are the “good” referees for WBA? First let me say that by saying “good” referees I don’t refer to their decisions on the field. I only look at the win percentage of WBA under those referees. A high win percentage is good for the team but says nothing about the decisions on the field.
We have a rather high number of “good” refs it seems. Swarbrick and Moss are their top refs. With almost tripling their usual win percentage. I think they like to see them coming over there. Taylor is also a ref with a rather very high win percentage. But also Atkinson, Dowd, Foy, Jones and Prober have a very high win % for WBA in their games. That is 8 refs out of the 15 who we can call rather “good” for WBA.
Now who can we call the average refs for WBA? Clattenburg is such a ref. As are Friend and Halsey. And finally we have Oliver who all come close to the average WBA win percentage when they are around. That is four refs under whom WBA do as could be expected from them.
So now we go on the search for three bad refs. And those refs are Dean, Mason and Webb. I could ask what the common factor of those refs is. Answers on a post card or in the comment section. You might win a big bottle of shampoo. Taylor seems to be the exception to the rule in this case. Back to serious things now those three refs do have a bad record for WBA. Certainly the numbers from Webb are rather bad.
The next thing to do is to look at the spread of the referees. How does Mike Riley makes the appointments for WBA? And then we see that two refs have more than average games with WBA. Dean and Foy. Dean one of the bad boys but Foy is one of the good ones. So one could say that the cancel each other out a bit. But there should be no need for cancelling each other out. There should be a more even distribution of the refs in the WBA games. But then we end up with the same remark I have made a few hundred times before: you need more refs to cut out the individual influence of each ref.
One little bad thing for WBA is that their best refs Taylor and Swarbrick are two of their better refs and have the lowest numbers of games for WBA. For the moment at least. So this could still change of course.
All in all not really catastrophic numbers for WBA one could say. Things can always be better in terms of the appointments and this could be resolved with having more refs available in the PL.
The day Herbert Chapman resigned as Arsenal manager
—————————————-
Recent posts…
- Old Trafford calls in a sound engineer
- Dennis Bergkamp gives the team news and form for West Brom away
- Ref Review: Arsenal v Reading
The referee analysis
The full index of articles in order of publication is now available here.
——————————–
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches
I would expect that Webb’s approach to West Brom depends on who the opponents are and what the implications of the result might be for a certain other team.
For Dean it is likely to be a similar story in reverse.
ie Webb is noted for being in favour of the team concerned, whilst Dean is noted for being against the team in question.
Anyone know the ref for the west brom game? Hear dean and Webb will be assisting utd in the derby looks like curtains for city
We get Webb, with D.Cann and A.Holmes as Assistants, and Probert as the 4th.
I love the reviews, but you have to explain every time what ‘good’ and ‘bad’ means. This is unclear, and I can see why people who support other clubs jump to conclusions based on the convoluded logic of using ‘good’ and ‘ bad’. I won’t comment about it again, but if you want other media to pick up on your good work, being succinct and clear will do wonders.
Hi Dave C, did this bit not explain?
Who are the “good” referees for WBA? First let me say that by saying “good” referees I don’t refer to their decisions on the field. I only look at the win percentage of WBA under those referees. A high win percentage is good for the team but says nothing about the decisions on the field.
Webb tried to make up his bad number for WBA today.
@Walter
Absolutely! Webb is a disgrace. Dangerous play gets waved as play on. I wish I could meet him – I would put my fist through his nose! Let him feel what the players feel getting their legs snapped, the bastard.
But what character from Arsenal. Attacked and unjustly penalised, they prevail! Next season will be the test against the referees, let alone the teams, because we will be strong enough for the title.
@sav from australia,for your information the mafias are tricky ,canny and unpredictable. Whenever they see you trying to join their family when you are not one of them they neutralize you. Not until when the god farther is gone will we have brighter days but as of now lets keep the spirit high.
Start,
Yes that quote does explain, but that’s my point. The fact that it’s explained each and every time proves that ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is not the best way to label a ref’s performance (ie. Lacking in clarity). A label should be clear and not need explanation.
I am completely for this site, and the message they are trying to push, but I can see how certain readers get frustrated by Tony and Walter’s approach at certain times.
Thanks for the reply, sir.