by Nekuhan
Tony, and other authors on Untold, will you please stop calling the PGMOb ‘incompetent’, ‘biased’, ‘partisan’, ‘partial’, etc., because they are most certainly NOT!
They are only a corrupt, criminal organisation, with no limit nor control, as Tony you yourself, and others, and other commentators have pointed out numerous times and indeed over so many years.
What is a corrupt, criminal organisation? Normally it is an organisation that is highly secretive in all that it does, whose actions could be seen (by some at least) as crooked, felonious, appalling and otherwise unacceptable.
Now of course these are the elements usually and normally associated more with the Mafia, Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta, Cartel, Yakuza or Triad. Now of course PGMOL is not the Mafia etcetera, but it does share some of its characteristics, such as keeping a very low profile and seemingly being answerable to no one other than itself. It is an organisation that has gained a monopoly for refereeing games in English professional football … (‘The best football league in the universe’!) and which excludes others from entering its territory.
And like the Mafia it is utterly secret. Now we can understand why the Mafia keeps itself secret, but why does PGMOL? Why not have a website? Why not, as in Germany, allow referees to discuss the match with the media shortly after the game? Why has it run out of cash? These are questions that are not asked, and thus not answered, just as the Mafia don’t answer such questions.
It is also, on its own territory, above and beyond the law (in PGMOL’s case the laws of football, if not the laws of the United Kingdom.
And of course there is a downside to this which is that although we can argue against the PGMOL we have no real means to fight them. They are as absolute as they are silent, which in turn means we can have very little hope for seeing any improvement in the way the limited company runs refereeing.
On the match vs MCity115, for example, it was not mentioned in the media nor on Untold Arsenal, that the two major incidents, (a ludicrous red card for Leandro Trossard and MCity115’s second goal to achieve the 2-2 draw, had happened AFTER the regular time + added time (decided by the PGMO referee!) had elapsed.
Now at this point we might note one or two things have been said on Reddit of late, such as “Michael Oliver, who refused to send Mateo Kovacic off for what was an obvious instance of two yellows recently travelled to the UAE to referee a game and was paid by the same people who own Manchester City.”
But Oliver kept the game going and going until MCity115, their owners) got what they all have wanted, holding Arsenal to a draw.
And thus Arsenal lost what could well be an important two points – because in the last two seasons Arsenal have lost the Premier League twice by only 2 points. This season, it can well be argued that in five matches, AFC have already been robbed of 4 (four) points by PGMOb!
The Club should make the formal complaints to multiple relevant bodies. Indeed I wonder how the UK’s new Prime Minister, an AFC season ticket holder, views such a treatment by PGMOb.
Maybe Untold Arsenal could install a virtual LIVE meter on its home page showing
a) How many points Arsenal have been robbed by (as Untold has pointed out, the bankrupt) PGMOb
b) The present Premier League table and
c) A virtual virtual table as should be in another world, without PGMOb’s ‘mistakes’.
Proud of the AFC team, the manager and his team. COYG (:-) !!
Best regards to all of you.
I’m seeng mention of Haaland’s behaviour after the goal and his throwing the ball into the back of the head of Gabriel.
So, now, I see comments it does not crosses the threshold for violent conduct, so it is normal he was not punished….
ok, so, Trossard gets a yellow for kicikng the ball into no one, Haaland can make what I call a violent act – true it is a ball, etc etc, but seriously how do you explain that to a 10 year old kid, justify it is ok ?!?! How would anyone of you react if your kid would throw his shoe at you when being upset fro chrisssake ?!?!?!
The level of hypocrisy of most is just mind-boggling. And I don’t believe for a second that the PL will enact any kind of sanction. But, imagine Haaland or White doing it….
As for the comments of City players Arsenal have not won anything… wheras Liverpool have… that level of total ignorance of the PL and the teams they are facing is utterly bonkers.
“The Club should make the formal complaints to multiple relevant bodies.”
What multiple relevent bodies? If there are any, who are they?
@nekuhan.
my problem with your position is that none of us have any proof of any corruption going on.
In Switzerland, you can run a billion dollar business into the ground and ruin thousands of shareholders and yet, as a CEO not face any legal consequences. Do you know why ? Incompetence is not a crime. A proof : Swissair and Credit Suisse for example.
So, yep, many people may think someone is ‘buying’ someone else. But the reality is none of us saw the money change hands.
And yes, I understand the opinion you state. Absolutely.
However, if we talk about corruption, it is then a consequence of someone – or someones being smart enough to set it up, build it up. make it up and hide it from all and sundry including the financial parts.
And this, in my opinion. is making the PGMOL way smarter then they are and will ever be. It is a compliment to them
Anyway, I maintain my opinion that the PGMOL employees active on Pl games and accross europe like in the Euros, are incompetent. Not because of some lack of character or intelligence. But just because the organisation they work for – PGMOL – is run by incompetent people, not able to train their personnel correctly and not able to balance the load of games, unable to recruit, to even keep their finances in order. it is a perfect example of an Old Boys’ Network, where actual competence is not required, but where you come from and who you know.
Nekuhan
I have sympathy with what you are saying but I cant agree with everything you say.
For example, I also maintain that the referees and or VAR are not ‘corrupt’ as such. Not in the sense they take bribes, backhanders, brown envelopes and the like.
NOTE 1: But as a rider to that I would say taking money for services outside the PL from organisations that own teams in the PL is as close to ‘legal bribery/corruption as you are ever likely to see. Talk about a conflict of interests. But that’s another story.
That aside, no I don’t think they take ‘bribes’.
My position is, and I have written in depth on this so many times I shall not do so here, but in brief, what I believe is that the referees do what they believe our mainstream media want them to do. In a nutshell be lenient with teams currently in Vogue, tough on those that are not Unforetuneately for Arsenal, they are never in Vogue.
Plus you have to be careful when you make accusations, because if you are wrong you just undermine your entire argument, and alas two points you make have fatal flaws, namely the two incidents in added time at the end of the already indicated time to be added.
NOTE 2: Before I start I haven’t checked if the added 6 minutes in the first half, and the added 7 minutes in the second half are correct, but given the lengthy injury to Rodri in the first half (he was down for over 5minutes), and our cramping issues (Including Rayas) in the second half, both seemed reasonable.
TROSSARDS BOOKING
Gabriel scored on 45 Mins and 5 seconds, just as the 6 minutes went up.
Arsenal celebrations plus a VAR check (so no timewasting) delayed start by 1 min 47 seconds. With 30 seconds officially allowed for a goal celebration before adding time means Oliver was within his rights to add another 1 min 17 seconds to the already allotted 6.
That means the half time whistle to be blown on 52 Minutes a 17 seconds.
Trossard was yellow carded on 52 Mins and 7 seconds.
MAN CITY’S EQUALIZER.
Just as the 90 minutes arrived on the clock Timber went down with cramp. He couldn’t continue and was substituted, so again no time wasting. It was genuine. The game restarted after 1 minute and 40 seconds meaning 8 minutes and 40 seconds should be added.
That means the final whistle should be blown at 98 Minutes and 40 Seconds.
Man City scored on 97 Minutes and 18 seconds.
As much as I disagree with lots of what Oliver did, his added time was correct