By Tony Attwood
- Newcastle v Arsenal: team predictions, insulting comments, yellow cards and all that stuff
- Newcastle v Arsenal: the injuries, who returns; top and bottom of the league
All the data in this article comes from Who Scored
There is a huge variation between referees over the number of fouls each “sees” in a game, the percentage of tackles that they see which they give as fouls, and the number of yellow cards they give out per game.
In the table below, which relates only to games this season, you can see, the variations. Today’s referee, Stuart Attwell, is included in red – and the argument we have regularly put forward is that although there might be some variation between one referee and another, it should never be as big as these variations.
Further, the problem is obvious when one sees the figures, and it is notable that the figures are simply not regularly published in the mainstream media, probably on the old journalistic grounds that “readers don’t like numbers”.
| Referee | Games | Fouls pg | Fouls/Tackles | Yel pg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.Anthony Taylor | 8 | 22.00 | 0.57 | 4.88 |
| 2.Michael Oliver | 8 | 21.88 | 0.63 | 5.38 |
| 3.Chris Kavanagh | 7 | 22.43 | 0.64 | 6.71 |
| 10.Tim Robinson | 4 | 27.00 | 0.73 | 5.75 |
| 13.Stuart Attwell | 4 | 20.75 | 0.57 | 4.50 |
| 14.Peter Bankes | 4 | 19.25 | 0.51 | 4.50 |
| Variation | 40% | 43% | 49% |
The variation in terms of the number of fouls seen between Bankes and Robinson is 40%. To be clear Robinson sees 40% more fouls in an average game than Bankes!!!
One might simply ask, how can this possibly be? And then again, how come no one else is writing about this? How come it is not in every single match report?
The variation in fouls per tackle is even higher – it is 43%.. And the variation in the number of yellow cards handed out per game is even bigger at 49%. Kavanagh is handing out 6.71 cards a game and Bankes 4.50. So quite obviously what the sensible managers are doing is seeing who the referee is, and then adjusting tactics to accommodate the referee. And that is not how it should go.
Another massive variation is to be found with whether referees oversee home wins, draws or away wins. Clearly this ought to be roughly the same for the referees who are working each week.
Results for referees who have overseen four games or more ranges from 0% to 100% for home wins. For away wins it ranges from 0% to 62.5% and for draws from 0% to 57.1%.
Now, of course, you could argue that we have only had a small number of games this season so the figures might be skewed and it is true that the variation does reduce somewhat during the season, but from past evidence, there are still clearly home and away referees, and sensible managers will study the form and adjust their players’ approach accordingly. Again this is not how this should be.
For our referee today his favoured result is an away win. We have included his results for last season at the end and again we can see that he does indeed favour the away team, which is good news for Arsenal.
| Referee | Games | HomeWin% | AwayWin% | Draw% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Oliver | 8 | 12.5 | 50.0 | 37.5 |
| Anthony Taylor | 8 | 25.0 | 62.5 | 12.5 |
| Chris Kavanagh | 7 | 0.0 | 42.9 | 57.1 |
| Robert Jones | 6 | 50.0 | 16.7 | 33.3 |
| Samuel Barrott | 6 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 16.7 |
| Craig Pawson | 5 | 60.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| Simon Hooper | 5 | 20.0 | 40.0 | 40.0 |
| Tony Harrington | 5 | 60.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| David Coote | 5 | 40.0 | 20.0 | 40.0 |
| .Stuart Attwell | 4 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 25.0 |
| .Tim Robinson | 4 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 |
| .Peter Bankes | 4 | 75.0 | 25.0 | 0.0 |
| .Darren Bond | 4 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| .Jarred Gillett | 4 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 50.0 |
| Stuart Attwell LAST SEASON | 17 | 52.9 | 41.2 | 5.9 |
If this range of results by referee does not worry you, then fine, you’ll have few concerns about referees. If however you think it should not be like this, the only question left is, given the media won’t touch the subject, what on earth can the rest of us do?
We are certainly getting the short end of the stick with the referee calls. Player scoops ball into touch…Player kicks our player goes down, Merino gets called. They should’ve had two yellows when Schaer kicked the ball away…etc, etc.
Gordin goes for Jesus in the box, from behind. Does not even remotley gets the ball but does get Jesus…. not even a VAR check.
This is so fracking predictable… And this is just one example…
Apart from that Arsenal are not in a good day.
Haven’t won too many 50/50 duels nor have we been given many 50/50 calls. Team is out of synch.
I didn’t have a problem with the ref. Arsenal were completely flat, without an ounce of creativity anywhere on the pitch. As GoingGoingGooner says “Team is out of synch”.
Have to agree, not at it today.
Even so, and given we were away, thought we were jus, I mean just, the better side.
Given the insipid nature of the game, a 0 – 0, or at best a 1 – 1 draw was probably what it should of been.
Trossard, Gabriel, Jesus are just not firing at the moment. It happens. You just wish it wasn’t all at the same time. And of course we miss Odegaard.
Given the difficult start we have had. Tough away games. Playing with 10 men. I’d take being 5 points behind Manc. Rather be 5 points ahead but hey!
Liverpool are okay, but their start must be one of the easiest in the history of the PL.
I was gutted earlier but Manc losing has helped. Onwards and upwards.
According to Jacob Leeks, Senior Sports Reporter at the Daily Mirror, writing after our defeat today “with Arsenal now having been defeated three times this campaign.”
With a name like that, he should try to ensure that his stories are not full of holes.