The Untold ref review: Bolton – Arsenal

91 Replies to “The Untold ref review: Bolton – Arsenal”

1. I just hope we can stop blaming the ref, just admit that the whole team is not good enough to win us a tittle..bring on next season.

2. Criminal but sadly predictable – we should all be consoling ourselves by earning vast amounts of money on Betfair due to the frequency and predictability of these events. I am sure others are.
   Get Dein back onside, send him into the corridors of power to find out WTF is going on, and stop it. We need someone on our side with cunning and guile, someone who knows these people, can not only deal with them on their reptilian level but get the better of them. DD has previous and fits the bill. Wenger, PHW and IG do not up against this lot
   Lesson from this and previous seasons, principals out of the window, we are not up against principled people and organisations. Fight dirty.

3. @Mandy Dodd

   Dein is not coming back in my view. But i don’t think it’ll help actually. This is bigger than a few personalities. I’m sure Stan Kroenke knows all about fighting dirty if need be. But for me, the MAN..the FA and Premier League etc. all see it as an existential battle for themselves. If Wenger succeeds in this, it forces them to acknowledge that there is another, better (morally and financially) way of running a successful football club. No amount of backchannel diplomacy is going to convince them to make an about turn on their own interests. It’s a battle of survival for them. One they are desperate to not lose.

4. Dont think Dein will come back either, just wish he would for a number of reasons. Take your point about the fight they cannot lose, and explains why so much is going against us. Think there is resentment we alone will try to keep to the EUFA FFP rules, maybe they think we are some sort of Platini inspired goodytwoshoes! But the fact is, rival teams are much better represented up there (or down there depending on how you see it)and have been since Dein left. Utd and Chelsea have officials all over the place , it shows.

5. @Mandy Dodd

   I wasn’t disagreeing really. Of course it shows. But I think it’s more about the money. Maybe having someone like Dein will curb it just a little bit, and that might be all we need. I doubt he’ll be back, and I still have my reservations about him. There’s no denying his influence in the corridors of power in football though.

6. Yet again arsenal are cheated by the authorities.
   I have decided to give up my season ticket next season as I cannot watch this blatant cheating anymore !!!.For arsenal to win anything ever again there needs to be a radical overhaul of the Premiership referee roster.
   Man utd get so many advantages from the officials and FA it’s just not funny anymore.Again against Everton Rio ferdinand should have conceded a penalty but ref waved play on , how can the officials get away with this blatant cheating time after time,Ferdinand also seems to be able to assault players at chest height and get no punishment whatsoever .In the last week , we have seen very soft penalties given to Liverpool and Bolton whilst we have had nailed on penalties not given to us. Against spurs we had a perfectly good goal ruled out which would have made the score 4-2.What sickens me most is the way that if ever there is a controversial decision against Arsenal Sky Sports(should be renamed Man U Sports)will show at most 1 replay which is normally from the worse possible angle they can find if they show the replay at all (I.E. Disgraceful challenge in the penalty area on walcott yesterday , RVPs offside goal against Spurs which was never offside).I do not know how much the Ref association are being paid by Man utd/Sky sports but think there is definately something very unsavoury going on.definately enough for me to say enough is enough I cannot watch this blatant cheating against my team anymore !!!!!!!!!!!!

7. Agree with bar the Chamakh tackle – I thought it was a pretty bad one personally! Not that I was bothered after Robinson gave Diaby months on the sidelines in the game at the Emirates… horrible player.

8. every season its the same this summer expect no new signings. Doujrou wouldn’t get into the West Ham team, Aluminia will be our number 1 again, same old Diaby here this time next season, Denilson well no one else wants him, Bendtner firing blanks again, Rosicky well past is prime but hey Wenger loves him. RVP will be injured during a friendly, Cesc saga continues, Song his not a DM but he looks good, Clichy cant handle pressure but its not his fault. Aug/sept Wenger believes in this team and has the potential feb/march Wenger: we lack the mental strength. We hear the financial stability of the club and our avg. squad age is 23.

9. you are no different than that clown arsene wenger. He stops criticism and cant bear it like a dictator. Same with you. Just because i wrote something negative about arsenal and you, what do you do, remove me from your site. I know this wont come into the site, i will say it anyway, you are a sick man, you need to see a shrink, arsenal is playing rubbish football and here you are analysing the ref, you need to see a doctor, you pretentious son of a bitch, fuck off!!

10. well got up this morning brushed my teeth showered up, sat down with my tea and brown toast, looked outside watered the plants walked in looked around sat down, got up looked around. Turned the TV on walked up stairs looked out my window noticed the neighbor. Walked down to the garden and sat admiring the sun……………….getting boring now!!!

11. go lick wenger’s boots, that will be better for you, wenger worshipper, do you shag off to wenger’s photo at home?

12. I didn’t watch the match but I can assume arsenal tippy tapped the ball around the box again refusing to shoot?

13. Well Manu played 3 more games and still sit on top, Arsenal had no cup games to worry about and supposedly easier runin, hahaha Manu to beat us 3 nil next sunday.

14. @deephenry:
    Please come drop by to clean latrines here at Old Trafford! You’ve earned a lifetime job. Just say I sent you, at the gates.
    Sir Alex

15. Watch how, over the next few weeks, Wenger will try and re-write the narrative of the season.His version will run something like this…

    ‘Last autumn, lots of people wrote us off. They thought we might not even finish in the top four, let alone challenge for the championship. We proved them all wrong with our quality and our mental strength. We were serious contenders for the championship until the very end of April. We lost to Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 only because Van Persie was unjustly sent off in the Nou Camp. We also reached the Carling Cup final and lost only because of a million to one aberration in stoppage time.

    We’ve qualified for the Champions League for the 14th consecutive season – an incredible achievement, given our small transfer outlay when compared with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.

    We have continued to develop exciting young talent. Wilshere has already become a star and I’m confident Szczesny will too. That shows the strength of our youth policy and why we don’t need to spend a lot in the transfer market.

    And we have achieved all this despite another season of appalling bad luck with injuries. Losing Vermaelen for nearly all the season was a huge blow. We’ve also been unfortunate that Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott and Van Persie have rarely played in the same team because of all the knocks we’ve suffered.

    Yet, despite these problems, we’ve once again achieved a considerable amount. We are still a young side which is improving and we are not far from winning a trophy next season.’

    There’ll be no mention of his failure to address the obvious problems in goal or at centre back, his refusal to sign cover for Vermaelen in the January window, or his arrogant refusal to practise defence, let alone dead ball moves.

    Or that Wilshere’s emergence, Szczesny’s arrival and Djourou’s resurgence all happened by injuries and chance, not because of the manager’s clever planning.

    No mention either of signings – Koscielny, Squillaci and Chamakh – which haven’t worked, or his continued support of deadbeats like Denilson, Diaby and the hugely undisciplined Eboue.

    Not to mention the lack of experience and ‘winners’ in the dressing room, the injury crisis which has been ongoing for five seasons (more than just bad luck?) and his own desire to absolve himself and the players of any responsibility by blaming third parties for Arsenal’s problems.

    I wonder which narrative will survive the summer?

16. Wenger has turned this club into a fucking joke – if the man had any sense he should resign at the end of the season and take these losers with him. a first rate manager would have acculmulated a squad that doesn’t have to rely on the best 11. A decent manager would have a squad of 20-25 with players who are good enough to come in and replaced injured / suspended players and still win games. Any one who thinks you can win the PL from August to May with their best 11 is living in subbuteo land!

    We have full backs who cannot stop a cross coming in, and centre halves who cannot win a ball in the air when it matters.

    I am sick and tired of reading that Djourou is the answer to our central defensive problems, when he is no better than a fourth choice centre half. He cannot defend against a tall, strong centre forward, even when they are quite useless; see West Ham, Ipswich, Bolton games to name a few for confirmation. He has no idea of positional sense, continually ball watches, and is totally unaware of what is happening around him.

    We need a centre half in the Cahill/Dawson mould, players who put their body on the line to prevent a forward scoring, and know how to defend properly. A Cahill/TV centre back partnership would be a great prospect, but will Wenger pay the money?

    We also need a top quality holding mid-field player, which Song patently isn’t. He cannot tackle for one, gives away frequent free-kicks in dangerous areas, and his passing is poor, particularly when playing against top opposition, when he has less time to make a pass.

    We also require a 20-25 goals a season forward if we want to win the Premiership/ Champions League.

    Will Wenger put this right? Probably not, because the top players we need will be needed by the likes of Man U/City, Chelsea, Liverpool,and Spurs, and Wenger will not be humiliated in the transfer market by losing out to any of these managers.

    A massive clear out is required, everyone knows who they are, and all the wages saved would pay the wages of the three major signings requires, so the £40m Wenger has supposedly been given could be used for the transfers only.

    Wishful thinking probably, I am already dreading next season.

17. I WONDER WHICH NARRATIVE WILL BE COPY AND PASTED FROM OTHER WEBSITES DR KOX ??????????

18. Just saw the Bolton pen again – laughable. Must be scary being an Arsenal defender, knowing refs will give a pen wherever possible – in stark contrast to Rio or Vidic, who, as even their fans admit – can do what they like.
    Did hear a few rumours on Deins return but I suspect they are just that. If they want him, they sacked him over plotting to bring in the current owner, so they have a ready made excuse to bring him back.
    Wenger can still get his way but he has to wisen up the defence. I think new coaching could be as important in some cases as new personnel.
    Things do not seem great today, but could be worse, could be a Spurs supporter, they have been putting the boot in, but they will most likely not be in the CL next year and will soon lose their manager , one way or another. And then, there is that 36000 stadium

19. @dr. kox,
    There’s an inside crisis, which you document by caricaturing Arsene based on your surface (purported) understanding of the whole story; and an outside crisis of bent refereeing which you don’t touch. There is are inside problems which beg constructive specifics (none of which you offer) and outside problems which beg constructive specifics (none of which you note). Your stuff is a rehash of anti-Arsene criticism and not as clever as you seem to think. How about some constructive analysis for going forward. That’s what needed now, if you’re an Arsenal supporter. Not self-flagellation, not supporter flagellation, not Arsene flagellation, but thoughts toward what needs to be done in the short term, medium term and long term. Something beyond platitudes. Something other than salt in the wounds. Of course, salt in the wounds may be your thing, but, you’re more than invited to offer constructive ideas for going forward and reasons for it. C’mon, mate, wallowing, narcissism and sadism don’t really cut it around here.

20. @dr. cox,
    p.s. you’re second posting gives analysis and food for thought, at least. I was responding to your first posting.

21. Just an awful end to any dwindling hopes of catching the scum. Most important penalty decision of the weekend was Ferdinand on Anichebe…. just paving the way, eh, Old Mother Riley. Of course the tackle on Theo was a penalty – it was Taylor, a forward who cant tackle. As for fat lump Davies, he was given licence to thump into anyone by not being booked early on (still the worst tackle in the game.) I’m not worried about the usual AW mantra bollox about age 23, mental strengths and being focussed blah blah, I just want that £40 million spent on proper Arsenal players and a huge clearout of average, overpaid basket cases (Bendtner, Almunia, Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Eboue – £10 million the job lot). Walter, can I ask Untold contributors who we should be looking to buy?

22. The problem for us, methinks, is the lack of transparency (to say the obvious). There are two unknowns at work for us now in trying to sort out the inside crisis and the outside crisis.

    Inside, we don’t know Arsene’s relationship to the Board, and to what degree he has been (and will be) able to operate – that is, what are the financial parameters he may face as opposed to the easy assumption that he makes all the decisions and has chosen not to splash any cash on obvious needs (such as the notorious January window backups, if any value could be had – another unknown). To target Arsene as the sole cause of failures to sign is based on an assumption that may or may not be true. We don’t know. Then again, he puts himself in the hot seat, it comes with the turf, and is now caught between a range of fan anger-disillusionment-revaluation and whatever the Board politics have imposed on him (or which he willingly represents). Either way, my heart goes out to him as he looks as frail as the team defense he rightly calls frail (at best).

    Outside, in regards to patterns of bent refereeing, we know a lot more: thanks to Walter/UA – and will know much more after Walter’s post-season report and analysis. Still, the actual and specific background machinations – amongst the hives of Riley, Kastle Fergus, Sir David and Son, and the Skewed Mainstream Media Minions (from Sky, through the Telegraph, through some among the Guardian, and other establishment pundits) can largely be inferred, but could well do with a smoking gun memo or insider (deathbed) confession to sway public opinion toward a demand for change.

    It is a hard time, but truth-seeking and the joy of the game will be exciting enough to see us through. Let’s stay clear-eyed, on the side of calm constructive analysis and in the truth and our beloved team and sport will be all the better for it. Keep hope alive, and it will keep us afloat.

23. Can we Have an Untold Wenger review now because the man has completely lost the plot.

24. @Sensible Opinion:
    Ok, but how about your Review: What is the plot? How specifically has it been lost? What are Arsene’s specific set of powers and misdeeds in losing said plot? What specifically to do going forward? How about your contribution to this — beyond “‘es lost da plot”? Bleating is cheap. How about your analysis?

25. deephenry, do you have some kind of sexual fixation you want to share? Well this is Untold Arsenal and I think there are other sites where you can tell about your sexual preferences.

    And yes we analyze the refs over here. We have been doing this all season. Win, draw or lose… we do it. Don’t like it? No problem. I don’t think you are obliged to come along. I really don’t think people will miss your “highly interesting” comments.

    And insulting people is normally a valid reason to delete comments.
    Anyway you still have my kind regards. As a ref I hear enough insults and if you think you can hit me with such silly words I can tell you that it is wasted on me

26. @Phil – I agree that chamakh’s was a bad challenge, and I think the ref was right to card him, but I’m quite sure it was a slip, as mentioned in the article. Still, just because it was unintentional doesn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous, and I think it’s too much to ask ref’s to try to read players’ intentions because that can lead to bias.
    Apart from the diaby foul you mentioned, robinson seriously went for fabregas in each of the games last season. He is the only player in the league who I’e seen consistently going for the backs of other players’ legs when there is absolutely no way to win the ball. Despite what I just said about ref’s not trying to read intentions, the only conclusion you can draw from the way he does consistently tackle from behind when he can’t win the ball is that his intention IS to do harm. I honestly think he should not be allowed to play football in this league because he so often shows no care for the welfare of his opponents.

    Despite the penalty decisions, I don’t really have any complaints about the result yday. On another day we could have won easily, but nasri had a bit of an off-day and didn’t make the most of the many opportunities he had to score or create a goal, and we didn’t defend the corners well enough. We have looked tired in the 2nd half of games recently.
    My major beef is that poor refereeing decisions mean that United should be about 10 points worse off at this stage, and we should be a few better off than we are now, so we should at least be 2nd. I just hope we can hold on to 3rd now, and that chelsea can knock Utd off the top. No one really deserves to win the title this season, but united are only ahead because of the kindness of referees. Chelsea have been poor overall but they have earned (almost) all of their points from what I’ve seen – a damn sight more than Utd have earned anyway!

27. Yeah…What BOB said! A proper supporter.

28. This has to rank as one of the most biased refereeing performances against Arsenal of the year (decade, century, millennium, etc.), including Dowd’s shocker against Newcastle.

    Not to mention the 2 penalty shouts not given, I believe Djourou was also blatantly held in the area late in the game when it was 1-1. They got away with tackling Koscielny, so why not try doing the same to Djourou? Of course we didn’t get to see a replay of it. That would cheapen whoever wins the title because it would be more obvious that they will have got help from the referees.

29. Walter – I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over Deep. He’s been posting reactionist drivel on the facebook page for a while now and, respecting people’s right to an opinion I left him be until he swore again in a post after being warned to mind his language. Likely he’s just venting here now he can’t on the facebook page.

30. This is the funniest thing I’ve ever read.

    You deluded Arsenal tossers are the SOREST losers in the history of the entire world and the matrix. Pathetic. You deserve all you get, which is NOTHING.

    BWFC 2 – 1 Arsenal

31. You should listen to the argentinian comentators on fox sport latin america….The refereing in england does not allow skillfull players to flourish…I would not blame Cesc or Samir to leave for Spain where the chances of having their careers finished by a Kevin Davies style thug are minimal
    The premierleague is becoming a wrestling style football , horrible to watch..Why do the referees allow that?…
    Things like Crouch being sent of after 15 minutes in Madrid (in England he would have had a warning) show that the refereing in England is off….What a shame….it is a beautiful league to watch , yet those fouls the refs allow , are simply pathetic.

32. Phil, I like it when they go rough on me. 😉 After all I am a ref. 🙂

33. I ve seen your analysis on referee and i can say “well done good job” Bro.
    Here there is big chunk you missing.And that is :

    A)-You forget completely this is England and French players they dont stand one minute to get justice.
    I beleieve honestly this is something that we have to swallow.
    Arsenal team as we all know they are almost french national team.Specially Wenger being himself a frenchman it does not help.Highly scrutinized in every aspect of the game even they post false sexuall affair to tarnish theyr name.
    Wenger has won the real football with this team according to whatever statistics anyone could produce.
    He show us time and time again how propper football is played.How players they show respect toward opponent teams and referees.Yes even myself at times out of frustation i want to see somebody from the players to be vocal on the pitch but the lesson that i learn is “just play football”the rest is irrelevant.Even from this team would have shouted at the referee even correctly surely the red card is the answer.Simply because is Arsenal player.

    Finally i would love to hear from Wenger why are arsenal biased but i doubt he will say it as it is a very strong statement from his caliber and surely the premiership will be in tatters.
    Facts remain facts and that is why England will never win any significant trophy.
    The national pride of the FA -referee-Media has derailed our title.
    Knowing this i am very much in comfort and i have nothing absolutely nothing to worry as a fan.
    Having said that, in this magnificient new stadium and youth project the board how badly they miscalculate that the national pride of all this governing FA and Media and obviously the referee ?Do you think they get it right? I dont think so.

    WENGER THE MAN

34. The Davies tackel really was a nast one. He was clearly not going for the ball but aimed at the knee of Song. Song who has had some knee trouble since the Birmingham game and Davies knew this and I could almost hear him think: let’s do his knee a bit. Very sad.
    My match reporter also couldn’t believe him getting away not even with a yellow card…

35. @Antarchile:
    Yes, you’re right! The tragedy here is that Arsene knows this and that he and the great footballers have NO HOME in this mendacious corrupt money machine that has become (under the smokescreen of “English Steel”) a meat-grinder. Davies is one of several designated hitmen with so-called referee enablers to enforce the code on demand from various higher-ups. It is a self-re-enforcing system. How could anyone who loves the game and wants longevity in the game wish to stay here? Let’s face that before we allow all the denunciations of foreign traitors like Cesc to gather the fully-expectable momentum as he/others consider and decide to leave. This is a completely foreseeable tragedy, the iceberg ahead of the EPL Titanic. Thank you Antachile – a sobering truth-telling.

36. There is quite clearly an F.A conspiracy to punish footballing sides like Arsenal, and to help out these new “anti football” teams like Bolton and Stoke.
    Bolton are 8th in the league, Stoke are in an F.A Cup final, and quite possibly Europe?
    Yet the F.A sit idly by and let a team like Arsenal whimper and drift into obscurity.

    Something needs to be done.

37. Oh, the manager of Bolton on Untold. 😉 We are getting rather a big audience these days.

    And now after we have made you laugh, my dear Owen do you have anyhting to say of importance. For example where I was wrong in my review. Please make at least an attempt.

38. The New Math???:
    EPL = “the physical style” = “English Steel” = meat grinder = ethnic cleanser

39. deep indeed. the day will come when technology takes over from the inept just as it did in cricket. ask any cricket fan if they had not got sick and tired of umpires guessing whether a leg had been before a wicket and you will get a resounding “yes!” tech apart, the game is being brought into disrepute by a referee association stupid enough to field 16 refs for the greatest show on earth.

    refs are no more than average humans who need help with making a decision on actions that take place in a split second. were it not for challenges, tennis would not be the fair game it is today…human error has been largely removed as a factor. yet the beautiful game trundles on, caught in a time warp. what’s the point in wearing a five ounce boot made from exotic materials if the game is still being played to the rules from the 19th century? why don’t more so-called supporters see a problem with that?

    harsh as it may sound, American football is a much fairer (note i did not say better) spectacle to watch as the umpire stops the play, looks at a screen and then explains his decision to the crowd on the spot. who would have thought?

    i also suspect some of Untold’s cro-magnon readers (thankfully there are few) would rather go back to the old hoof-it-and-hope game of yore as their minds cannot process the short pass game quickly enough. you have my heartfelt on that one. i further suspect we would retain better press and fairer discourse among our supporters if the team had more names the media and our guys could safely pronounce. gael, samir and marouan must be rather more difficult for the magnons than edward or gary or john. of course that would be difficult to prove, but you get the feeling.

40. If Villas-Boas does not come, I do not want Wenger to leave the club.

41. An average Manchester United are about to win the league, and we are not good enough to mount a serious challenge. We were not good enough to beat Birmingham in a cup final. It’s easy to blame others. but the Arsenal management team are to blame.

42. Who’s in denial here, Bexxxy.
    Yes, we are flawed, but your same tired mantra.
    Did you ever hear of a level playing field. I mean I know
    it’s quaint, and not part of the “real” world, and I’m as
    disappointed as anyone; but there is a reality to the rage
    in these parts that implores, demands, needs a fair contest.
    All this, in your dictionary, is erased by “it’s easy to blame others.” You know what, Bexxxy, it’s also easy NOT to blame certain others who have power to hurt those who blame them. Can you see that both ideas can be true at the same time? An inside crisis AND an outside inflicted crisis at Arsenal?

43. @danshighamsparkgunner

    Going to give up season ticket because of refs? Does this mean you will no longer follow Arsenal by watching on tv and internet? If you do watch, will it be any less frustrating?

44. @Owen Coyle,
    You know if you continue to fly in ever-diminshing circles you will soon wind up your own A-hole. Pathetic? I’d far rather have our soul searching than your smug ignorance that passes for an opinion. No offense to A-holes, but anyone with one has an opinion. Some of us actually can explain them. Others like you simply squat and let fly. Go foul your own nest.

45. @ Bob

    Yes, i see the possibility. It’s the probability that sways me

46. @Bexxy,
    Do you mean that the probability is that the refereeing re. Arsenal has not been bent this season? I agree that the probability is our management is deeply flawed and that it must change in ways that are being discussed on this website as we proceed. Do you agree that there have been game-changing calls this season against Arsenal on uneven playing fields that have been documented and shown to so by this website? Where are you on this Bexxy? What specific probability or not is it that sways you?

47. My thoughts are that at least half the league teams have fans with the same gripes with officials that we have. Each of these teams believe they have been awarded more dubious decisions than any others.

    I believe in probability that these errors, however unbelievable at times, are honest mistakes by refs. Eaqually, management mistakes were honest errors in judgement

48. Now is the time more than ever for all true members of the AFC family to stand up and show true solidarity and get behind the team , starting Utd @ home this wknd. By screaming and singing as loudly as possible to drown out the AAA and getting your support through to the lads. Do not let the spoilt haters from within have a hand in our clubs history. This process of destructing and undermining our clubs principles and values by the media, officials and ‘footbal uninteligencia’ along with whoever else wants to jump on board in this country is no doubt about to enter its ‘End game’ in which it will be nearer to completion if it succeedes in contributing to our implosion and fall from the top 4. Don’t let these fuckers voices be louder than yours !! @ the ground , out side, on footbal phone ins , anything! make ourselves and our support to this club and its course. We are too close to give up now, and there would be one hell of a party @ WHL

49. p.s. To be clearer: I meant: “bent game-changing calls and non-calls”

50. @Bexxy,
    Yes, you believe in the probability honesty – that’s commendable – but it is an act of faith that you assert in the face of a season-long effort here to document the probability that all the anti-Arsenal calls and non-calls are so numerous as not to be explainable by chance alone. That is, the odds – based on the painstaking analysis on this website – show something other than honest error. Yet, all this time and effort amounts, in your mind, to a reaffirmation of the likelihood of human error and the probability of honesty being the rock-bottom truth of this season. It’s nice and decent of you. But you dwell in an evidence-free zone. That said, I say cheers to Mr. Venger’s call for unity so that the boyz do FEEL our support.

51. Dont think Man Utd fans could ever have the same gripes about refs that we do Bexxy, nor could their playing staff. They were let off the hook yet again this weekend

52. @ Mandy Dodd

    Agreed. I did suggest half the league, and guess they wouldn’t be included

53. Fair enough Bexxy,

54. A good analysis once again Walter. I’m glad you picked up the incident where Koscielny was held in the opposition box, I missed it first time round.

    The match result was tough for the fans to take, but it must be shattering for the players. Wenger also looked shattered afterwards. As your correspondent Mr Venger posted earlier, all fans need to get behind our guys and help them get through the remaining matches.

    I still believe we are close to having a championship side and with a few tweaks we will be there!

    Not only have we been the victims of too many wrong penalty decisions over the season and especially since we became title contenders, but we have suffered from an accumulation of over aggressive tackles with the other teams not being punished. These can be as game changing as a penalty.

    The work you are doing Walter is invaluable and the hope must be that the continued highlighting of biased refereeing must eventually change the set up. Mind you, the partiality in refereeing within the EPL seems well entrenched.

    As an Arsenal fan I would still like the team to be able to beat the likes of Bolton despite the partiality of the ref!

55. @Walter:
    Correct me if wrong, but just before the corner that led to Bolton’s 2nd goal, wasn’t there a push in the back of Djourou, as we about to win a header? He then missed this header, and we all know what followed.
    Also, I think EPL teams have picked up on the fact that there’s a lot more leeway in what constitutes a foul when playing against Arsenal. However, if we commit the same fouls which the refs allow to happen to us, we get booked. Almost every late challenge we make is a card, and almost every late challenge we suffer is at most just a foul. It shows in the wrong calls and non-calls against us, we usually get about 80% of the bad calls against. But I guess that’s just probability at work, eh Bexxy?

56. And a fair percantage of tackles we make in the area, or attempted tackles end up as pens against us.
    And does anyone else notice, when the refs want to do us, they first book Song early on, hugely reducing his effectiveness. Funny how this rarely happens to say Fletcher when fit, or Essien, or even the master of the centre circle foul, Van Der Vaart.
    I think the players are conscious they are walking a fine line, after recent weeks.
    We have to get much more streetwise at dealing with these refs, and opponents spurred on with them but not easy.
    But the extent they feel they have to knobble us to me shows how close we are getting, maybe closer than many of our fans realise.
    Just wonder how these refs live with themselves, I would be embarrassed to have to stoop to that cos some whisky nose told me I had too.
    I accept some are bent / weak willed but surely there must be one of them with some professional pride? I would rather walk away and tell the world what I know than do what some of them do.

57. C4, I had doubt about that challenge on Djourou. But as no other angle was shown of the incident I really could not see if it was a fair challenge or a foul. So as I could not be 100% sure about the call I didn’t want to talk about it. But it looked close to a foul from the angle they showed. But looking close is not the same as being a foul.

58. I agree with btjgooner. The referee obviously did make many ‘wrong’ decisions, big and small. But yesterday was one match, where I did not feel we were cheated as such. Of course the penalties, and the yellow cards etc. But we lost that game because we couldn’t defend on set pieces, and we couldn’t be clinical enough in our shooting. As bob would say, more a factor of the inside problem, than the external one.

59. Sorry, I meant bjtgooner of course..

60. Walter, you need to create a video. It needs to have a comical element, maybe one of those pieces of music that suggests the absurdity of life.

    Then you need to visually annotate every penalty we’ve been denied since Eduardo was nobbled the second time, by the FA inner circle.

    You can also record every penalty denied opponents of Man U, in the same period. (or every freebie penalty given man u)

    I suspect we have had over 100 clear penalties denied us in 2 years…go check…

    the video needs a catchy title…hmmm….you’ll think of one….and then of course it needs to go viral.

    All these things need to be worked on, but the only way to fight the media assassination of Arsenal and AW, is fire with fire.

    There are many videos to be made, but the penalty campaign against us is the worst….”how do you stop a really good attacking side?”…”don’t give them their penalties, dummy….right it on your forehead, Smithers, now go get your whistle”, “yes sir”

61. @Shard
    I agree that looking at the hard facts with hindsight, we lost due to poor defending of set pieces, and for not taking our chances (Nasri, what the hell?).
    I really doubt we would have lost to ten men though, if blatantly yellow card fouls had simply been handed to Bolton like they were handed to us.

62. @c4

    But this is where your argument comes in. Would they have gone in for those tackles if they knew that the referee would actually do his duty? Of course not. But they know Arsenal are fair game ever since the Newcastle draw. All opposition teams saw to what level referees will go to stop us and decided they could use that too.

63. @Walter
    OK thanks, wasn’t sure why you skipped that incident, but I guess it’s for the same reason I had to ask. Lack of replays and angles. Nothing new there…
    I’ve noticed our guys get hammered in the box when we have a corner, especially of late. Refs just ignore it, and instead give a penalty for sissy dives in our box. Funny how the media just ignores such things. Why no talk of Sturridge diving? What if Cesc had done it?
    How do these guys sleep at night?

64. @Shard
    Spot on, that’s exactly what I’ve seen too. After the Newcastle game, a message was sent out. Subsequent games confirmed that message, and I think Mr Riley and Co (short for COrrupt) are cracking open whiskey bottles, and passing round brown envelopes and congratulations.
    Next season, we need to shore up defense a bit, as well get more clinical. We create enough chances to almost always score 3 – 5 goals. That will negate their efforts. It will be tough though, because everyone now just parks the bus against us.

65. C4, I try to be sure when I try to make my point. When not sure I dont contest it. I do it like the challenge in American football: if the replay shows no evidence that the call was wrong, the ruling on the field stands. As I had not other replay I could not but agree with the ruling.

66. I really do wonder why no media has started an investigation after the Sturridge dive. I was thinking of all the media gathering and asking Sturridgde to be banned for a few weeks. Maybe the media would ask Uefa to intervene in some way and ban him from international football for a few games.
    But non of that. The media swept it under the table as if nothing has happened.

    It could have nothing to do with the fact he is English? No, it couldn’t…

67. @Marcus

    ‘I suspect we have had over 100 clear penalties denied us in 2 years…go check…’

    Given that no team has had more than 9 penalties awarded this season in the Premier League, to suggest that Arsenal have been denied 50 per year is laughable – as is the invention of some deep-rooted conspiracy at the heart of the English game, with absolutely no evidence or proof to support it whatsoever.

    Far easier to stick with the tin-foil hats rather than face the obvious weaknesses in selection, lack of experience, set-piece defending, mental strength etc though…

68. What are the odds for having Webb as a ref on sunday? The right man to finish the job for Utd? Or is he kept for the MU-Chelsea game the week after?
    Then I fear it will be Dean or … Dowd. Well, they have plenty to chose from to finish the job.

69. I have to ask Walter the question, given the refs views of the incidents, and only the briefest of time to make a decisison.

    what would he have done on the penalty shouts? We Refs all know what sort of decisions are giveable and what are not. My first inclination was that Stuuridge was fouled, it was only the second view that showed he dived, and vice versa with Theo.

    I suspect that my decisions may have been as in the game.

    Is the real reason for no video replays being used the fact that outcomes are much easier to control.

    Who knows!!

70. @BobbyP

    The two are not mutually exclusive. Did anyone ever say Arsenal are a perfect outfit? Certainly not me.

    For sure, smelling a rat, and smoking it out are 2 different things, but since this site is dedicated to producing hard evidence, in the form of match analyses of the referee performance, (a form of hard evidence the football authorities are loathe to produce themselves), then I think your remarks smack of desperation.

71. @Marcus

    While Walter’s efforts are admirable, this is nothing that any neutral observer would consider ‘hard evidence’, given his clear (and admitted) bias. Would you honestly consider a similar analysis from a United/Chelsea/Tottenham fan detailing decisions against them as hard evidence?

    For an impartial, unbiased account which would be taken seriously by a neutral observer, this type of analysis would need to be performed for ALL teams by an impartial referee.

    As an example, noting instances of holding/shirt pulling in the box not being given as penalties for Arsenal while not mentioning occurences of this against other teams is clear bias, given that it’s accepted in the game that this happens in all games for/against all teams, without penalties being awarded.

    Strange that you accuse me of desperation after your ludicrous 50 penalties a season comment though… Interesting to note that Barcelona have received 1 league penalty this season, but Arsenal have somehow had 50 legitimate penalties turned down?

72. @Bobby P

    It may not be ‘hard evidence’ to people who want to turn away from it. But at least walter puts his bias, and the reasoning for his decisions out there to be debated, agreed with, or criticised. As you say he’s biased and as such his ‘decisions’ could be wrong. What about the bias of the actual referees? Do they declare it? Do they put forth their reasoning on why they made certain calls? No. They live in their own world, and we are just to accept what they say. They show no sense of responsibility or accountability. In the end, that is all this site is demanding. And NO club should have a problem with that. (except ManU I guess)

73. @Shard

    The rules in England require every referee to declare if they support a team, have a family connection with a team, or ever had a season ticket – and they are then banned from officiating games involving that club. So they DO declare any bias they may have (as opposed to tin-foil hat conspiracy theories with no shred of evidence to support it).

    Walter does provide detailed reasoning – but with such obvious bias that unfortunately it discredits the analysis completely to any non-Arsenal supporting reader. Once again, would anyone here take a similar analysis from a Sp*rs fan seriously if it consistently claimed that 80% of decisions went against them?

    I personally agree that we have had the rough end of decisions this season, but the complete over-exaggeration present in each of these reviews prevents any such claim from being taken seriously – and the paranoic claims of a vast anti-Arsenal conspiracy are beneath this otherwise excellent site

74. @Bobby P

    Do WE hear what bias the referee has? Do WE hear their explanations after the game as to why they gave some decision? If they made a mistake they can say so. If mistakes keep repeating themselves then they should be accountable for it. y your contention, we should all just shut up and deal with the ‘cards’ that fate or in this case the referee deals us. Life is unfair, so what’s the big deal if football also is?

    And actually, I don’t think we have had rough end of season decisions. We have had horrible refereeing performances consistently throughout the season. Partly it’s because the referees are useless, but mostly, it’s because they have a clear agenda. You can doubt it if you like, but tell me. What reason is there to say that the referees cannot be corrupt?

75. laughable game

76. @Bobby

    Your remarks make no sense Bobby.

    When a lawyer stands up in court in defence of his client, what does he present?

    Is it not ‘the evidence’?

    The fact that evidence is open to interpretation is clearly understood by legal minds.

    Walter has stood up and presented his evidence….whether he is an Arsenal supporter or not does not invalidate his evidence.

    Whether his evidence becomes conclusive on the other hand is a different matter. So let’s keep our apples and pears separate here.

    Walter’s declaration actually is not that he is biased, but that he strives to remain publically impartial in spite of his personal convictions…again, a perfectly tenable position

    Regarding the 50 penalties a season remark….your response has no scientific rigour.

    Let Walter show all the clear violations first.
    —–

    The bottom line for me is that, as many concur, we are watching The Groundhog Truman Show not the Premiership.

    Arsenal play well, in spite of diabolical refereeing, and get kicked off the park, literally and metaphorically. Small wonder that half way though the season players are demoralized and tweeting about official corruption – think about that for a moment….

    and by the final strait have the collective hang-dog expression of a team who know their card is marked.

    Man U of course continue their starring role in the Theatre of Dreams….

    and that is all it amounts to….pre-scripted wish fulfilment.

77. @Marcus

    When a lawyer stands up in court in defence of his client, he is not presenting impartial facts, but twisting things to show his client in the best possible light. That clearly contradicts your following assertion that Walter is striving to remain impartial. Maybe it’s you who is making no sense…

    ‘Regarding the 50 penalties a season remark….your response has no scientific rigour. ‘

    My response has clear scientific rigour, in that no team in English top division history has EVER been awarded more than 20 penalties a season. That is clear evidence over a massive sample size. No one has even been awarded 10 this season so far. To claim that Arsenal should have been awarded over 50 this season compared to that (and to the 1 Barcelona penalty for the world’s best team this season) is laughable, and I’m amazed that you can’t realize that.

78. @Bobby

    wrong…lawyers present evidence….

79. @Marcus

    Current penalty table:

    Man City 9
    Chelsea 8
    Arsenal, Liverpool 7
    Tottenham, Man Utd 4

    In your world, would the table read:

    Arsenal 57
    Man City 9
    Chelsea 8
    Liverpool 7
    Tottenham, Man Utd 4

    Do you realize just how stupid that looks? Honestly?

80. @marcus

    Exactly. And it is that evidence which is impartially scrutinised, rather than pointing out the lawyer’s bias in the compiling of that evidence. So Bobby P, please tell us where Walter’s evidence is wrong.

81. @Shard

    See my comment above – do you really think it’s realistic that Arsenal should get 50 penalties a season more than anyone else? Honestly? Or is it more likely that every team has lots of potential penalties that aren’t given; there is no great conspiracy, just a reluctance of referees to make game-changing decisions unless they are completely sure (not that this guarantees they are always correct…).

    An example would be Walter’s comment after 66 minutes above:

    ‘Koscielny is being held when a corner is taken and is brought down. The ball lands in the area where Koscielny was trying to get. The ref gives nothing. This should have been another penalty. Remember how quick the ref was to blow a little push from Koscielny in the first half.’

    These happen repeatedly in EVERY Premier League game, and the ref always favours the defensive team, and penalties are virtually never given, regardless of the teams involved. It is well known, and commentators often mention it. To include this as part of a great anti-Arsenal agenda is way off the mark.

82. @Bobby P

    Firstly, I highly doubt that Marcus meant that number be taken literally. I know I didn’t take it to be so. Secondly, Walter pointing that foul on koscielny out, is not a part of some anti-Arsenal conspiracy, it is simply a statement on the referees performance based on the instances in the particular match. If you say it happens all the time, in all games, then it should be a penalty then too, according to the rules.. You are criticising what you assume will be the conclusion of the evidence.(ie the conspiracy) Not the evidence itself.

83. Penalties I remember against us this year

    Clichy At Man Utd, Joke
    Wigan away, Dive , joke
    2 at Newcastle both confusing and joke decisions
    Liverpool at Home, Dive
    Bolton away, Dive

    6 out of 8 were poor decisions, I remember Almunia V WBA was a good call and Chesny last week was also a good shout.

    so Refs have cost us 6 pens against this season.

    How many have they cost Man Utd. None they award Pens to Man Utd, Clichy at OT. The ridiculous decision at West Ham, The sad decsion V Liverpool. take away the loading in Man Utds favour, would they win the league time after time?

    I am not Paranoid, just looking at facts!!!!!

84. BobbyP,
    About the Koscielny incident: the rules are clear. The instructions are clear. Holding an attacker when a corner is given = penalty.
    Now the fact that there are not much given is because the refs are weak, poor, afraid, biased, …. Whatever reason you can find they just don’t do their job as it should be.

    If the refs would have the balls for one month to tell the players before the game that they will punish those holding fouls with penalties it will be over for a long time. But for some reasons the refs don’t take their responsability on this. I do on my playing field. When I see it (which is not always easy I admit) I give a penalty. But I do warn each team when they get their first corner against them that I will blow for penalty when they hold attackers or bring them down. And when it happens I give the penalty.

    So yes I do follow the instructions and I think this is something that refs should be doing more and not back out of it. If you are affraid of making difficult decisions: don’t become a ref.

    I do try to look at the games with the laws of the game as my guidance and nothing else.

    About being biased and with possibly driving a few people away as they say here he goes again: My son once played in his youth team and became champions. The only game they lost that season was when I had to do the game as the official ref didn’t turn up. When I did games with my different sons involved they mostly ended up losing. So I think (dare I say I know) that I can even forget my own blood bond with a player and a team in a game when my children are playing so maybe I could be not as biased as someone else.

    I think I got more criticised over here for not killing the ref completey most of the times.
    But even then I can admit that at times I can make a wrong call. But then it is up to the readers to point at it and tell me why I misinterpreted the rules.

85. Laundryender, your question earlier which I missed.
    yes it could be that I would have made the same mistake as the ref with the penalties. Depending on the position of the field you can have the wrong angle.

    But as these reviews work with looking at: was the decision right or wrong I had to declare them wrong. Just as a video ref would and should have done if there was a review system in football.

86. @Walter

    I totally agree with you – holding an attacker at a corner/free-kick is a penalty, and should be given as such. My point is that it is virtually NEVER given as a penalty, regardless of the teams involved – i.e. it is not part of some great anti-Arsenal conspiracy, but just the way refs seem to choose to officate. As long as they are consistent, any complaints are purely a question of interpretation, rather than bias.
    I also agree with your point that if they had the balls to give the decisions for a month (or even 2 weeks), then the holding would disappear completely – if only more refs would take that approach… Appreciate the effort you put in to the reviews, don’t want to appear overly critical

    @Laundryender

    My assessment would mostly concur with yours – the United and Wigan pens were complete jokes, while the Bolton and 2nd Newcastle pen were both weak, wrong decisions. Personally I thought the 1st Newcastle pen and the Liverpool pen were correct, but I may be in the minority here…

87. 100 is obviously a loud figure, but from what I have seen , scarcely a game goes by without us being awarded a cast iron penalty.

    Against Liverpool Walter identified 3 penalties. I called a fourth, the first clip showed Diaby going up and as he heads it Carragher pushes him deliberately and effectively with his hand in the upper back. Diaby consequently skews his header wide.

    Sorry. Penalty…its really simple

    That is 1 game where 4 penalties were denied us.

    And here’s the rub, our game is built around skilful attacking interplay.

    That means super skilful players like Nasri dancing into the box….

    end result, we get a lot of trips.

    Whether other clubs get denied many penalties is part of the equation. A really thorough anaylsis would break down percetiles and so on.

    But the simple fact is we have been denied time and time again certain and real penalties, a scenario that developped or seemed to escalate after the Eduardo incident.

    What was the Eduardo incident?

    I’ll remind you. A player went down in the box after getting an slight nudge, and the press went demented with accusations of cheating – you know the type, dirty foreigner sort of accusations..

    the whole thing was totally manufactured and utterly vile, a complete out and out assault on Eduardo’s character

    Never ever have we seen another player demonized in this way over this type of alleged behaviour

    Since that time Arsenal have been denied penalties on a consistent basis. ( so yes , i am definitely imputing an anti-Arsenal agenda here)

    If Walter cares to do the visual maths, it will make an interesting case study

88. Its true ( re the pens ) Its been like a recurring nightmare ever since Eduardo. We werent given a lot of deserved pens before, But it was manageable. From the beginning of last season its been a complete joke. In europe at times too ( braga away ? I’m sure there’s been others can’t remember off hand ) I thought it was improving early on this season ( wishfull thinking I’m afraid), but its gradually reached the same ridiculousness as last season IF NOT WORSE, especially as the season reaches crunch time.
    Something is so obviously wrong with the officiating in our games, the fixture list is skewed out of our favour, aswell as kick off times, and our media coverage is a disgrace WHAT THE FUCK HAVE WE DONE TO DESERVE THIS SHIT

89. Bobby P I sympathise with your argument. Conspiracies are hard to prove, my missus still believes Diana was assassinated, try telling her otherwise at your peril!!

    However what every football fan, and even the hardest Man U Fan would find difficult to argue with is the following

    Every game has key moments
    Every game has key incidents that influence the outcome
    man Uts have a huge bias of those incidents fall in there favour where referees do not apply the laws accordingly

    I admit to the following.
    I am an Arsenal season ticket holder.
    I have been attending football since 1969
    I love all things football, the game is bigger than any team
    I am a qualified referee
    When we loose (Arsenal)I am the first to admit our shortcomings
    No team has a divine right to win a game

    Despite the above I became really suspicious when our 49 games unbeaten run came to an end at Old Trafford. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUgP96XjEpY . The refereeing was shocking, had it been third world we would have been outraged. Yet no mention in the press, none at all of the abysmal performance of the ref whom allowed, the Neville brothers to assault Jose Reyes the entire game. Van Nistleroy to Punch Freddie Ljunberg in the face in front of him. Rooney to dive blatantly for a penalty, Rio to commit a last man foul and allow play to continue, and much more. It was a sad day for the EPL.

    Since that day at OT, Arsenal have not had one decision go there way when playing Man Utd not one but! We have had players sent off, valid penalties turned down, and two further non penalties given. The one on Clichy this year was pathetic. Additionally we have had Arsene Wenger sent off for nothing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4lMbSr2ZYk This season in addition to The Clichy penalty Scholes should have been sent off, he tried to injure Nasri twice. I mean tried to injure him!! What was the refs reaction, after the 2nd one a little chat and a yellow, again a sad day for referees everywhere and the EPL in particular. We wonder why when we go to the world Cup we cant pass the ball for toffee. It is because this approached is vindicated.

    In 2008 Arsenal were well clear and on target to win the league. From the moment it became probable, decisions started going against us. Birmingham away was famous not only for Eduardo’s broken leg but, poor decisions that led to 2 Birmingham goals, again a non penalty, and a blatant Arsenal penalty not given. It made great press that Gallas sat on the floor, a bad loosing Frenchman always makes good press but! Gallas was appalled because he knew we had been cheated! And there is really no other word for the sort of errors that occurred.

    This was Followed by weeks of decisions not going our way, Middlesborough at home, Adebayer recieves the ball from a Boro back pass, scores and is judged offside!! No outcry in the media Yet the Boro goal scored by Alliadiere was clearly offside. time and time again, as soon as we became probable, those big moments went against us.

    That is exactly what has happened this year, is it coincidence, is it just we lack bottle, Are northern refs against us, English refs favouring English players (Rooney, Nevilles, Scholes) are refs really shit scared of Alex, does Alex get his mates players to injure us, you know Pullis, McCleish, or is it more sinister!!! I don’t know but!!!

    I, like Arsene Wenger, dont believe in coincidence. something happening occassionally yes, but not like this. Patterns are patterns, and they don’t occur by accident.

90. Is it also coincidental that the last three matches have witnessed PK awarded against Arsenal? I doubt. Why they continually break the hearts of these young athletes is what I cannot fathom. Something inside of me keeps telling me that the FA is close to the kind of scandal that rocked Italy a few years ago. Just one disclosure and half of these ill-gotten premiership titles would be gone.

91. I really need to aplogise for the grammar in my above post, that is what happens when you post early in the morning, and after a few glasses of Rioja.

    Humble apologies

    I shall endeavour not to do it again but cannot promise