How was the ref – and one club finds a way around FFP constraints

 

 

By Tony Attwood

Prior to yesterday’s games, two different points of view about the referee were put about.  One came from the Sun newspaper (I use the word lightly) and it said, “The appointment of Peter Bankes for the power-keg Premier League showdown between Arsenal and Manchester City lacks common sense.

“Gunners fans are up in arms because Bankes is from Merseyside and has an affiliation with the Liverpool County Football Association.”

The other commentary came from Untold Arsenal which said, “Sunday’s referee likes home wins, sees few fouls and waves lots of cards”.   Our hope particularly came from the fact that 57.1% of Bankes’ matches this season before last night were home wins.

Now obviously I don’t know where the Sun writers found the supporters who were up in arms.  We don’t know how many they were, or who they were but I didn’t meet any.   And indeed it does look as if the Sun simply made this up.

And why would they do that?  Well, most likely because after the anticipated defeat of Arsenal they expected, they could write another story, heightening the tension, then getting some Arsenal supporters who don’t realise they are being led along a dodgy path (in order for the paper to get a story without bothering with all that research malarky), to complain, and then the Sun has another story without the tea-boy who makes this stuff up, leaving the office.

The great shame about this is not so much that Arsenal supporters are being misled – that is just a part of life – but rather that it covers up the real story which is that there are home referees and away referees as our figures before each match show.

It is a plot that is adopted through all the media, either because the journalists all follow each other or because they simply don’t understand what is going on.  Robert Jones for example has run 22 Premier Leaguegames this season and recorded 63.6% home wins.  Paul Tierney has run 25 Premier League games this season and has recorded 36% as home wins.   Which referee would you sooner have for the next Arsenal home game?

And of course the refusal of the media to debate this point does increasingly look as if the PGMO has asked or told them not to.

But on the other hand, there is a certain awareness of just how good Arsenal’s transfers and youth policies are, as the Telegraph finally admits “With Rodri still on the sidelines, City simply do not possess a central midfielder with Rice’s range, athleticism and aggression and their power deficit was evident again at the Emirates on Sunday.”

The Guardian talks of Manchester City’s “collapse like an inadequately constructed French meringue,” which again shows that while newspapers will not discuss the key issue of the possibly subconscious but nevertheless present bias of referees, they can still have a sense of humour on occasion.

Meanwhile, the question begins to arise, could Tottenham go down?   I ask that not because of their position in the league today (they are 14th) but because in the league tables based on the last ten games they are actually 17th.  And since the clubs that are 18th, 19th, 20th in the league all go down, Tottenham still have a chance of fulfilling our dreams.

They are still knocking in the goals, but are conceding even more.

 

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
16 Manchester U 10 3 1 6 11 19 -8 10
17 Tottenham Ho 10 2 1 7 20 22 -2 7
18 Ipswich To 10 2 1 7 9 24 -15 7
19 Southampton 10 1 1 8 7 24 -17 4
20 Leicester Ci 10 1 1 8 6 25 -19 4

 

It does indeed look as if no one has ever told Tottenham that part of the game of football involves defence.  And in saying that of course I am not suggesting that anyone should tell them.  I really do think we should let them carry on in their own special way and see where it leads.  And they can perhaps swap notes with ManU as well, as they go along.

But there is one really weird story that is emerging, this again from the Telegraph.

“Juma Bah, an 18-year-old central defender from Sierra Leone, joined City after paying his own €6 million (£5 million) release clause to free himself from his contract at struggling Spanish club Real Valladolid. City then reimbursed him the money.”

Now why would ManC do that?  After all, the amount of money they are dishing out is the same whether they pay the other club in the conventional manner, or the player to refund him.

In fact, if ManC pay the club that counts as a transfer fee as part of FFP calculations.  But if they pay the player that is salary, and that is not something that clubs can be hauled up for in the same way.

Clever isn’t it, and it’s probably not against the rules, but it is a way around FFP constraints, and who would have thought that?

Has anyone told the Premier League?   Oh yes, it seems they have.

7 Replies to “How was the ref – and one club finds a way around FFP constraints”

  1. I fellt that the referee yesterday was trying to assist MC, based on his bookings for Timber and Odegaard, and his overlooking of MC fouls, including the deliberate kick by SIlva on Trossard after his original foul, as well as ignoring their players delaying free kicks by standing in front of the taker and their calling for ours to be cautioned.

    Once we scored the third goal, he must have realised that the result was beyond his influence.

  2. John L
    I was astounded that VAR took no action on the deliberate kick on Trossard who was laying on the turf having been fouled.
    Over the last two or three seasons we have had several instances of deliberate violence inflicted on our players mostly long after the ball has gone, elbows to heads, choking, kicking etc none of which have been punished.
    I thought that one of the reasons VAR was introduced was to pick up these incident’s which mainly happen away from the play and which the ref had missed.

  3. I read a story if true shows how out of touch the FA are – they want to charge Arsenal for their players behaviour over the Michael Oliver MLS red card incident. Weren’t they the ones who overturned the Red card to a yellow?

    I cant remember where I saw it but wow what a bunch of idiots the FA are if they do this!!

    The FA(ll) are really degenerating into a farcical organisation. How much more stupid can they behave?

    As a neutral I am becoming less and less impressed with the running of the game I love.

  4. @Mick Shelley – I am of the opinion that VAR is used to compound the bias of a lot of refereeing bodies sadly. It misses a lot of incidents.

  5. I thought I read that the PL were going to go after football clubs who operated outside the “Spirit of the Regulations” after the Chelsea Hotel fiasco.

    The media have been spewing out their usual transfer deadline day rubbish about incoming players when it was obvious that they have definite targets lined up for the summer, and don’t want to disrupt their long-term strategy by bringing in any players that don’t fit in with that strategy.

    No mention by the incompetent media of the situation regarding the latest FA charges which should have been responded to by today. It shouldn’t be very difficult for Arsenal to assemble a comprehensive portfolio of evidence supporting any claim.

  6. The BBC article reporting the fact that Arsenal have been charged is quite deranged, implying that “Police have been investigating “threats and abuse” directed at Oliver” is connected to the charge, although it seems that these threats were from 3 weeks earlier, and not from Arsenal fans.

  7. If we all post comments concerning man city latest bit of jiggery pokery re getting around PSR requirements on talkspite or any other so called sports platform then maybe these comments which needn’t be relevant to the subject matter (good old fashioned gaslighting) by their sheer number may make some Individuals pause to look into this a bit further. Make there comment section work as our advertising of certain facts.

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