Untold Exclusive : You are the PGMO Ref

48 Replies to “Untold Exclusive : You are the PGMO Ref”

1. Ok. I am counting 3 – the last 3 articles here in Untold – that deal with refs. This is of course very important but it is getting a bit too much for me.

   Refs in England are terrible and are generally biased against Arsenal. I can’t really believe that anyone can dispute that. I don’t believe that anyone can dispute that those atrocious refs’ decision did not influence Arsenal’s results this season (and other seasons as well, for that matter).

   However, I am of the opinion that our loss to Stoke, and for that matter, most of our bad results this season, are dominantly due to elements that have nothing to do with the refs – injuries, mentality, wrong decision making, whatever.

   For a lack of better definition and since I am not a football expert I’m calling it “the way the team looks”. Do you knwo why? Because I might not be a football expert, but I have watched thousands of hours of football, I am an observant person, and I know what I’m seeing. And I’m seeing a squad that misses something, fighting spirit, creativity, tenacity, killer instinct, whatever. Alas, I am not sure what it is and for sure don’t know how to solve it (like all those keyboard managers).

   My problem is that the weight given to the refs issue in Untold, greatly outweighs and exceeds the contribution of the refs’ decisions to Arsenal’s current situation. As a result, people are confusing the extensive research and effort put into the refs’ issue, with an attempt to smoke screen and ignore other issues.

   And again, really, 3 articles in a row is too much. Way too much. This is Untold Arsenal, not Untold “Refs in England Suck”. I did not read a single article by some of our more football savvy contributors trying to anaylze tactics, mentality, there is some writing about injuries (and it’s being connected to refs not protecting us…).

   Thank you.

2. @TommieGun
   “I don’t believe that anyone can dispute that those atrocious refs’ decision did not influence Arsenal’s results this season”.
   Really? Anyone? How about: the media and anybody watching/reading/listening those?
   I agree 3 articles is a bit much, but the influence of this issue goes beyond ‘just’ missing out on a game or two. It causes frustration of the players (look at Wellbeck, he can not believe what’s happening his now team), injuries, and so on.
   There goes your fighting spirit when you got kicked in your head for 60 min and you get sent off for giving a pat.

   I talk to a lot of football fans that only watch/read/listen the news. Nothing is wrong for them. Nothing was wrong of last PL title. Nobody would ever say Liverpool got robbed.
   The simple reason is there: Calciopolis.

   So, yes, 3 articles is a lot. Far from everybody see the issues with the ref, far from it.

3. @ Francois – the refs giving us shit treatment is nothing new. It has been going on for at least 6 years now. The fact is that even the media has questioned some of the refs’ decisions in the Stoke game, of course they never say that there is something “wrong” with the refs …

   Again, my point is, that unless you’ll correct me, you neither are a football person or a psychologist, so you have no idea whatsoever what’s going on in Welbeck’s head or whether the players are frustrated for getting kicked and that’s why they play like they don’t give a shit.

   And I’ll tell you something else: Rambo was kicked throughout his carreer playing for us. He got his bloody ankle broken by that criminal Shawcross. He came back to become the best midfielder in England last season.

   So what’s up this year? Flashbacks? I have no idea, but neither do you so please stop making up theories.

   The refs shit has to stop but it seems like it’s the only issue worth discussing here.

4. Problem is, pissing and moaning on a website will do nothing. for Untold to really do something, they have to gather proper evidence and take it to the authorities. Take it to the press, take it to Arsenal and ask them to fight their corner.

5. @ great article.I Answered all A’s.Maybe it’s due my Arsenal bias hehehe

   @Tommiegun since we’re in the mood of dictating editorial policies, how about we go to Le-stooges and call them out for being prats!

6. @TommieGun

   Can see where you’re coming form, but also believe there are very solid reasons for the way the site looks/ contributors behave.

   First key is alluded to by the name, Untold. Our weaknesses as a team are dicussed at length, fairly and unfairly, elsewhere. That story is being told and told and told, entirely without reference to an enormous contributory factor, which they attempt to redress here.

   Second, it’s about the difference between being mugged in the street and spending your own money stupidly. If it’s the latter, you have cause for personal regret, and you try to learn from it. This might involve talking to yourself and others, but ultimately it will all come down to what you do. No injustice has occurred. With the former you can expect and go looking for justice. If you don’t find it, you’re entitled to keep shouting away in a, probably forlorn (unless your more optimistic than me), effort to make people aware of what happened or at least keep the issue alive.

   Third, it’s about room. I suspect we all get something from the chance to speak a little here, but we all also hope people will read what we say- if I was to post each time what I have to say about refs, and my opinions about weaknesses in the team, my posts would be too damn long for anyone to read.

   If I need to talk about those weaknesses, I tend to go elsewhere, somewhere on the Internet that story is being told. However, I have been doing a lot less of this recently because to me it makes little sense going over those weaknesses each time they cost us points.

   My rationale is that once a good understanding of the team and it’s capabilities has been reached, things that happen on the field , good or bad, should please or disappoint but hardly ever shock or surprise. As an example, once you know a Mertesacker is slow, there’s no call to talk about it every week, or rather after every time we don’t go well.

   It would be a different situation if- and this is obviously a total and outlandish hypothetical- every member of the first team squad were available, and Wenger made a selection I found strange or foolish. I’d have something to say, but if, as recently, a good 90% of each team is dictated by what is available, there’s not much for me to say. Cross fingers, off we go.

   You could say that rationale of mine ,which basically amounts to only talking about genuinely new things, should make me fall silent on the topic of referees- I know they are shite towards the club, nothing new can surprise me- but then we get back to the Untold aspect of it I started with, to the fact it is an injustice as opposed to a disappointment and to the fact that, arguably, a performance like Taylor’s on Saturday is a brand new thing in the way that our severely depleted defence failing dismally to deal with the early aerial assault isn’t.

   Referee’s have one big thing over the players : a player can only briefly soar above his normal, real performance level; a referee truly starts out with a blank slate each time. Mertesacker can basically never outrace anyone, not even Crouch, Cazorla can never win a battle of power with Nzonzi, Cameron et al, but there was nothing to stop Anthony Taylor from going on the pitch and putting in an excellent performance. In effect, whereas Cazorla is and always will be five-foot-not-much, a ref can be a midget one moment a giant the next, it is a matter of the mind for him, plus his legs carrying him to the right place and his eyes getting to his mind the information required.

   Taylor didn’t put in an excellent game, with his supposedly blank slate he performed a lot like someone who had notes in the margins there, and so it was a truly new event and one worthy of being talked about a lot.

7. would be interesting, would have to mass our best troops, there are a lot of us too.

8. You are right TommieGun: Its going on for far too long and i have mentioned it my post on other articles. we need to look at ourselves, our performace 1st. we know the ref’s are crap and no one really knows apart from the club, how this can be sloved.

9. In our present situation it is good to retain a sense of humor and I quite like this different approach. It was also worth reminding everyone about the invisible and silent Woward Hebb.

   Taylor’s performance on Saturday was so appalling (not for the first time) that I have no objection to having another look at it.

   Foul 5 above, which occurred very early in the match looked like at a potential leg breaker, and should in my view been a red card for the Stoke player – have I just failed my audition for the PGMO?

   But seriously, Sanchez has been subject to quite a few similar tackles already this season (remember Cahill) and unless such tackles are stopped his leg will be broken.

10. @ Rich, I party agree.

    Of course that we need to shout the ref thing from every rooftop – my problem was that it seems that it is almost the ONLY thing we talk about.

    About what to do – well actually someone can file an administrative motion against the PGMOL and ask for documents, information, transperancy. It would be intersting just to see the contentions made by the PGMOL justifying their secrecy.

    Another thing that can be done is to have an “alternative” ref review board. Of course it would cost money but you can open a YouTube channel, covering every (or not every) match, with a professional referee explaining all the major mistakes made in a match. I am sure it would be popular.

    Just 2 ideas from the top of my head.

    About players – now here is our big disagreement. Mertesacker of last season did not need to outrace anyone, he was out THINKING anyone, he anticipated moves, he shouted at team mates to go and cover about 20 seconds before shit happened, and our defense, may I remind you, was impeccable.

    He is not “Lost without Kos” – Per is the brain, Kos is the engine. He admitted himself – after the world cup, he can’t bring himself to mentally be where he was last year. So there are two options – tell him to sit the fuck out until he sorts out his shit, pay for a psychologist, or give him the hairdryer treatment.

    There are so many instances where I can see that we are screwed by the refs for not calling a shove or something, but AT THE SAME TIME, there are so many of those instances that you know that the shove was not the kind that FORCES a player to tumble; he can do whatever it takes to stay on his feet. But tumbles. Our players need to be mindful of that – they will never get those marginal calls, so best stay on your feet and FIGHT.

    And another example – which goes both to refs and injuries. We know refs will let other teams assault our players. We just know that. But do we see players trying to work around that? To maybe release the ball much quicker, doing more one-twos ? No, we see our players dribbling through the middle and getting hacked. True, it’s not their fault – it’s the people who commit and fouls and the refs not calling them. But sometimes in life you need to be smart, and not right. And we are not being smart.

11. @TommieGun
    True enough, I shouldn’t be guessing and throwing theories around (also, I really find it funny the faces Wellbeck put sometimes :p).

    Maybe I’m not fed up just yet with ref articles cos I feel the injustice is too much.

    I still feel the issues on ref is not enough brought up in the mainstream media and as much as I hate to find excuses with the refs performance, I cannot do without it most of the time (I could for Man U and Dortmund).

12. @TommieGun

    Good post. Plenty for me to think about, but for now I gotta dash (otherwise this could be third day in a row I’ve been half- consumed by football-thinking despite the fact my aim was to do zero football-thinking in that period)

13. I think that after having moaned about it it was time to have a bit of a laugh with the PGMO and this whole situation.
    Sometimes laughing with your own misery brings some form of relieve.
    and that is what this article did I think

14. Something Dana White says to the fighters of the UFC. Don’t leave it in the judges hands.

    We are doing that at the moment, we are starting slowly in every game, allowing the opposition to get up a head of steam and put us on the back foot.

    We need to hit the ground running and put the others on the back foot from the off. with this squad, we should be at least 2-0 up at half time against most lower table opposition.

15. Off topic…

    Imagine my disgust this morning when I turned on Radio 5Live to hear someone slagging off Wenger, the Board and the club. It turned out to be someone called “Mark Harold” from the Black Scarf Movement.

    Why the eff does a national radio station (or any radio station) give air time to these minority malcontents?

    Really angry. Thought I would have a rant here. Sorry.

16. I for one am more than happy to keep a spotlight on PGMO corruption.

    Our players are assaulted with impunity; it seems that every team we play is given unfair advantages; Arsenal are robbed of the opportunity to compete; and our manager is maligned, mocked and insulted all because there is a non too hidden agenda to oust him.

17. we have a lot of data / analysis on the ref. does anyone have similar stuff on our conversion ratio’s for corners, free kicks around the box, or number of clear cut chance we get to the goals we score?

18. So: Arsenal v Hull, one of thirty-two matches in the 3rd Round of the Cup. Given Walter’s uncanny ability to predict ref appointments, who do we think most likely to look after that game?

    And paranoid though it is of me, I can’t help but feel the uncalled foul that led to the first Hull goal at the Emirates back in October was the first salvo in a rematch that has seemed eerily on the cards for some time now.

19. Off topic, sorry, but Arsenal U19s go in at half time against Galatasaray 2-1 up. Kerem Caliskan scored for the hosts after 8 minutes, Mavididi on 40 and Robinson on 42 with the Arsenal goals. I can’t find a stream of the game so have little idea of the overall run of play.

    COYG

20. Pete, the answer to your question is that the media (print, TV and radio) like controversy, division and discord. All this sells much better than harmony. Imagine a string of people or articles where people say how happy they are (about anything to be honest). ‘We’ don’t want to hear that, ‘we’ want bad news. I think its priceless that the BBC run with the Wenger Traingate story and at the same time condemn those that made the protest, before staging an FA cup draw in Hull with hardly a mention of the fact that ARSENAL won the cup last May, not HULL

    But I’d agree with the poster than said we need to take this to the authorities or the media. Its gone too far now to simply bat this around on Untold. I believe Anthony Taylor might be suspended this weekend? Perhaps just a twitter rumour, but there were far too many bad decisions on Saturday for this to be simply ‘bad refereeing’ or coincidence: this was deliberate and its time something was done about it.

    How about a set of new banners? Not slagging off AW but aimed at the PGMO? ‘PGMO: We are watching you’ ‘The PGMO are NOT FIT to referee’ I’m sure people her can think of better ones

21. @Tommiegun. I must say that your posts have always been very interesting and quite thought-provoking, and I admit that you’re one of my favourites on UA. But I totally disagree that ref issues are being over-flogged. No! The refs have a very significant part to play in the way Arsenal are seen by everybody. That we win, lose or draw is down to the ref. If the ref on Saturday didn’t halt our momentum by dubious calls towards the last 10 minutes or so, we probably would have drawn that match. Likewise the Chamber’s sending off.
    Every wrong call made by the ref is unjust, has a bearing on the eventual outcome and the overall perception of the club, especially if we drop points. Mistake or not, it is robbery and should be seen as such. UA talking about it underscores the gravity of the problem and the urgency of the need for change. It simply should not continue like this. Most English refs are a disgrace and I apologise if am sounding extreme here. Talking about their perennial poor performance, especially as it concerns my club, can never be too much, until there is a positive change.
    You made some great suggestions in your last post which I believe is worth looking at. That came as a result of talking too much about it.
    Please note that at the root of every important point you made about fighting spirit, tenacity, mentality, injuries, creativity, wrong decision-making, which we need to address at Arsenal is this issue of bad refreeing. No matter how good a team is, and how prepared they are, repeated doses of woeful and vindictive refreeing, match in, match out, will take its toll on players’ minds and will affect their on-field performance. We have been soldiering on for all these years, what with all the changes brought by player departures, new arrivals, etc. The ever present factor is the ref performance which has remained unrepentant, reckless and arrogantly resistant to change.
    And we are suppose to not talk about it too much.

22. Apologies for that rather long rant. But I just had to get it out of my system. We are being robbed silly, sometimes cleverly, sometimes brazenly. It is not agood feeling to kettle up and play the goodie two shoes by doing some self criticism. No. Am p*ssd for having to put up with us being screwed over every game, and we’re being blamed for it. No. We need to talk about it until someone listens and those bad ref either change or go. They are defiling the beauty of the game of football. That is a shame if we can’t talk about it.

23. don’t apologise Stan, agree with every word

24. Just a couple of thoughts on Tommie Guns earlier posts.

    Firstly on what is missing in our team it clearly can’t be fighting spirit, tenacity and killer instinct given that we are at the top of the bad boys list of yellow cards. So I presume Arsene has been neglecting the need for creativity in his desperation to get a team full of thugs!

    Secondly I am not a lawyer but I have never heard of “filing an administrative motion” in British law. Only judicial review would seem similar in what we have here and this would normally be for government or legal matters and I would have thought not usable in the context of PGMOL. I would be fascinated to have further explanation.

25. @blacksheep

    I quite like the idea of an “educational” banner re the PGMO, always provided that a suitable form of words can be found to illustrate the problem without getting any of our sound supporters into trouble with the law.

26. I would rather be in favor of supporting banner ‘in spite’ of the ref allowance rather than pointing at the PGMO…

27. How about a ‘give the referee a card’ protest, supporters could hold up card at a set time yellow or red etc. If this could be coordinated with Red Action it might work. The TV companies would have to ask why and that might allow a spokesperson to explain?

28. @blacksheep

    I like it! 🙂

29. we’d need the cards to have a short piece of text on them – something like:

    raise this card when you an occasion where the referee is clearly exhibiting bias against your team
    or simply Tony’s manifesto as outlined in his previous post,
    we want openness, parity, and for refs to be accountable

30. @blacksheep

    Sounds like a plan, the quicker this can be put into gear the better!

    For maximum impact we need to make our response while Taylor’s antics are fresh in everyone’s mind.

31. OK so we need some fire in our approach to the game. Picture this – whistle – Arsenal pass the ball to the side & there are 3 of the opposition on the floor Arsenal players are kicking the shit out of their opponents. The whistle is blowing. There are seven on the floor now. The whistle is blowing. The referee has pulled out his cards (unprecedented for first half) he is puzzled & doesn’t know who to send off. The whistle is blowing. There is blood everywhere and the Arsenal players are still kicking the shit out of the remaining players on the pitch. The whistle is blowing. Someone has got the ball in the net. Is it a goal? The whistle is blowing. The referee has consulted with his assistants and shows only one Arsenal player a yellow card (this guy didn’t kick anyone). The whistle is blowing.

    There you have it 1 – 0 to the Arsenal.

32. Just caught a few minutes of a game between Aus – Pak on my lunch in a game of field hockey. I’d really love to read an article if available in Ebglish of the concepts those Dutch football coaches took from the sister sport back in the day but I digress:

    Field Hockey is harder to call for the officials, sticks in the way, smaller ball, slightly faster game, less contact allowed etc. but the officals appeased to, whisper it, they appeared to be competent! And they also have interactive video replay with three challenges each (I think). So, to clarify, the sport that football coaches took their inspiration from to develop the modern game is slightly harder to officiate (IMO) and the officals seem competent and have been using interactive tech for years as seen in London in 2012 with conversations between the officals during challenges broadcast to the watching public. Here in the UK! No it’s not an alternative reality, it is simply a sport that is being run by people who respect their sport.

33. appear to < appeased to

34. the card action seems interesting. what about banners? why can’t the club allow it? unknowingly of course. what is the club scared off? what more can they loose?

35. @ Stan, I am sorry for the fact that I’m going to repeat myself, but us UA regulars know for long years that refs are after us, we know that they are biased, and we know that their decisions influence our games. Ok. Fair enough, Untold is not just for us regulars, but I think that 3 articles in a row (and generally the amount of weight given to this issue) is exaggerated, compared to the lack of suggested “action items” (such as my suggestions). And no, please, enough of twisting around people’s ideas and words, my suggestions did not come into this world because we are talking about it – it’s because the reailty is refs are screwing us.

    Like I wrote to Francois – you are not a psychologist (if you are I apologize). You don’t know if it’s the “toll” of “wrong decisions” which affects the players or not. So stop making theories. And again, my BASIC point is that we have been screwed for AT LEAST 6 years – so why do we perform like that NOW ?

    Final comment is that I think it’s absolutely vital to talk about refs, never said anything against it, I’m just saying let’s ALSO talk about OTHER stuff as well.

    As for the other poster (the non lawyer one) – this is not a legal blog, but since you brought it up –

    1. a request under the freedom of information act (2000), contending the PGMOL must be regarded as a public entity and therefore must reveal information to the public [I think there are very strong grounds for that contention] (btw I did not check whether they are in fact listed in the 1st schedule – if they are, then it’s almost automatic – and PGMOL will have to show that there are legitimate interests in witholding information).

    2. if the above request fails, then the FA who is undoubtedly a public entity, and who retains the services of PGMOL, must be compelled to disclose how come they gave away the total authority of match officiating to a limited private entity [was there a public tender involved? what were the considerations? does the FA get all the information from PGMOL? If so – why doesn’t the FA reveal that information to the public?].

    Both are not civil actions, hence I defined them as administrative motions (both are based on administrative law).

36. Gouresh – don’t assume that the club can’t allow banners. What can happen is the FA can punish the club for unacceptable behaviour. The Cards would be good. It will give a visual shock to the PGMO. They would still cheat but BBC will have to report it.

37. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2293059-tiresome-arsenal-fans-should-be-careful-what-they-wish-for

    Well worth a read.
    COYG!

38. No point moaning about the ref situation as it’s not going to change.
    Better off doing what I did at the weekend and bet against Arsenal when we have the really dodgy refs away from home.
    You can actually end up winning a tidy sum.
    When I heard Taylor was reffing it, I stuck £30 on a Stoke win, draw no bet (in case we played out of our skin and scraped a draw in spite of the ref) and won just under £80 back.
    Also won money when we lost to Chelsea earlier in the season as well.
    Obviously it’s not nice losing but the extra dosh in your bank account does come in handy.
    I remember back in 2011/12 depositing £20 into my online betting account, not depositing or withdrawing anything to the season’s end, just betting on Arsenal defeats and finishing the season with over £500 profit.

39. blacksheep63, I do believe you’re on to something! Excellent idea and if embraced by most would be visually stunning.

40. So let’s talk to Red Action Tony? Discuss this Saturday en route to the Newcastle game – meanwhile let’s hope the Turks are gentle with our second string tonight. I don’t mid the result but we don’t need any more injuries. Come on you Gunners!

41. @ Kenneth – cool. Saw a very similar article on Eurosport written by Jim White –

    https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/jim-white/arsene-wenger-out–arsenal-fans-should-be-careful-what-they-wish-for-123556458.html

42. Here’s one for everyone : do any of you post anything on the comments sections of British newspapers?

    Long story short I’m fool enough to occasionally try challenge the nonsense of The daily Mail staff and readership and, earlier today, under a Graham Poll piece which was critical of the amount of dangerous fouls only getting yellows this year, I said :

    ‘what do you expect when the man guilty of the worst ref performance in prem history was rewarded by being appointed boss a few years later?’

    It didn’t get through, nor have any of the four or five comments I’ve made about pgmol over the years. To me, that is incredibly suspicious and adds just a little weight to some of these theories about how the media have played a full role in creating this situation.

    The Mail, which spews hate and lets readers throw all sorts of bile, muck and nonsense about, including of course the most outlandish and false claims against the club on a daily basis, will never, it seems, let anything be said about pgmol. Why do they need that sort of protection, and is it an unofficial official policy? I’d guess so.

43. Fking Brilliant!

    That was a superb read from this amusing, beautifully constructed article.

    And then what?

    Do you ever have a tinge of regret about reading the comments? I read one. The first one.
    Now I’m sure TG has had some replies to his points, but I haven’t read them yet. Sorry.

    Thing is, this is a brilliant piece.

    Those above detractors may benefit by reading some previous Untold articles – on depression an’ shit.

44. I’m with TommieGun on this one.
    Really get fed up with the nonstop Ref story. It’s bad enough seeing the bias on match days without having the best haven of genuine Arsenal support go on and on and on and on about how bad the latest official robbery was.
    Don’t want to totally avoid it but not all of the time.
    Let’s celebrate Rambos scorcher and Poldi’s thunderbolt instead.

45. Micko,
    I $ugge$t you change your nomme d’guerre to $icko.

46. blacksheep63,
    what a wonderful idea whose time – as some of us have suggested now for two years running – has surely come.

47. @menace: Fair enough, but is there a regulation that banners cannot be unfolded?

48. Bob
    If we all started doing that, and started taking money off the bookies, do you really believe that the PGMOL would be able to continue doing what they are doing ?