by Andrew Crawshaw
What did we learn from the referees in Matchweek 4 and 5
Arsenal v Fulham – I thought Referee Jarred Gillett was OK, Fulham were tiresome with their play acting, Mitrovic being particularly guilty but for the most part he wasn’t being rewarded with free kicks, merely made himself look like a prat.
Arsenal v Aston Villa – in this game I thought Robert Jones was little short of diabolical. He demonstrated a poor knowledge of the rules and no understanding of the difference between a routine foul and challenges clearly intended to hurt the opponent. How Aston Villa ended the game with 11 men on the pitch only he and his bosses in the PGMO can explain – oh sorry of course they don’t explain. Can anyone else say why Saka being picked up and thrown to the ground in the penalty area isn’t a penalty and at least a yellow card?
IIWGX moments of the week (If it were Granit Xhaka)
- Saka being picked up and thrown to the ground not being a penalty.
- Ramsdale clearly being held to prevent him from getting to the corner that resulted in Villa’s goal.
- Jesus being upended in the penalty area – apparently fairly.
Who is on duty this coming weekend?
Matchweek 6 – Saturday/Sunday
| Match | Referee | Assistant Referees | 4th Official | VAR referee | Assistant VAR Referee |
| Saturday 12:30 | |||||
| Everton v
Liverpool |
Anthony Taylor | Gary Beswick
Adam Numm |
Craig Pawson | Darren England | Timothy Wood |
| Saturday 15:00 | |||||
| Brentford v
Leeds |
Robert Jones | Eddie Smart
James Mainwaring |
Keith Stroud | David Coote | Nick Greenhalgh |
| Chelsea v
West Ham |
Andy Madley | Harry Lennard
Scott ledger |
Thomas Bramall | Jarred Gillett | Constantine Hatzidakis |
| Newcastle v
Crystal Palace |
Michael Salisbury | Neil Davies
Natalie Aspinall |
Paul Tierney | Lee Mason | Richard West |
| Nottm Forest v
Bournemouth |
Michael Oliver | Stuart Burt
Simon Bennett |
Matt Donohue | Graham Scott | Simon Long |
| Spurs v
Fulham |
Stuart Attwell | Dan Cook
Wade Smith |
Darren England | Andre Marriner | Derek Eaton |
| Wolves v
Southampton |
John Brooks | Marc Perry
Matthew Wilkes |
Steve Martin | Tony Harrington | Steve Meredith |
| Saturday 17:30 | |||||
| Aston Villa v
Man City |
Simon Hooper | Adrian Holmes
Dan Robathan |
Peter Bankes | Mike Dean | Lee Betts |
| Sunday 14:00 | |||||
| Brighton v
Leicester |
Tony Harrington | Simon Long
Steve Meredith |
Andre Marriner Chris Kavaanagh Mark Scholes | ||
| Sunday 16:30 | |||||
| Man United v
Arsenal |
Paul Tierney | Lee Betts
Constantine Hatzidakis |
Simon Hooper | Lee Mason | Neil Davies |
This will be the second Manchester United game that Paul Tierney has refereed this season, the first repeat appointment of the season. He was on duty in their first game where they lost 1 – 2 against Brighton, Constantine Hatzidakis was on Assistant duties in that match as well. He booked four United players and one from Brighton. There was one VAR intervention to confirm the Brighton goal in the 70th minute.
One last reminder – the U21s have their next match in the PL2 on Saturday against Blackburn. The game is at Borehamwood and well worth going along if you can. Currently we are top of the PL2 table with three wins and a draw from our four games. Blackburn have lost all four of their matches and haven’t yet scored a goal.
| Pos | P | W | D | L | For | Away | +/- | Pts | |
| 1 | Arsenal | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | Crystal Palace | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| 3 | Everton | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| 14 | Blackburn | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | -8 | 0 |
- Clubs are being encouraged to tackle more and more by referee’s approach.
- Suddenly a key set of referee statistics does not appear. Why is that?
