Southampton v Arsenal 28 January 2014 – The Match Officials
Andrew Crawshaw
- Referee – Lee Mason
- Assistants – J Collin, S Long
- Fourth Official – I Williamson
Second time this year for Mr Mason to be in charge for Southampton and third time for Arsenal. He was at Southampton for Southampton’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland on 24th August and at West Brom for our 1-1 draw on 6th October and again at Cardiff on 30 November when we won 3-0.
It will be the 14th Premier game this season for Mr Mason, Mr Long has been with him for six of those games, Mr Collin is a relative stranger only having partnered him in one game before Tuesday (he is normally to be found with Mr Dean – not an auspicious sign).
Wrong, wrong, wrong
Mr Mason is noted as having a phobia against Arsenal and penalty area fever http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/31036. Last year he got 7 out of 10 penalty decisions and 8 out of 9 red cards and 4 out of 6 second yellow cards wrong so don’t look for high class decision making on important game changing incidents. He also had more than double the bias against Arsenal of Mr Dean, so we will be playing against more than 11 men again.
This year against West Brom the game was notable for the accuracy of the Untold pre-game articles – Arsenal – WBA, the told you so game
The main talking points were :-
The stonewall penalty for Arsenal when Mulumbu tried to break Wilshere’s leg within 5 meters of Mr Mason without him seeing anything wrong The Mulumbu – Wilshere incident: penalty or not? How the English media stands alone.
The second was for a penalty call on Koscielny for a tackle on Long which was not a penalty in any shape or form apart from the views of some jaundiced pundits (I did point out in my preview that if you were inclined to put on a bet it might be on Arsenal not being given a penalty, on Arsenal to draw or lose, and for disallowed Arsenal Goals, so I got two of the three right).
Mr Mason also displayed the main trait of biased refereeing where one team is allowed to be as physical as they wish to be (WBA) and the other is penalised as soon as they get near an opponent (Arsenal).
Against Cardiff we played much better, had a fully fit and functioning Ramsey and a fairly comfortable 0-3 win. Cardiff 0 – Aaronsenal 3 and for more detailed statistics there was this piece in the “Arseblog News” http://news.arseblog.com/2013/11/cardiff-0-3-arsenal-by-the-numbers/.
In fairness, I can’t remember Mr Mason being particularly obnoxious in this game, he did only book Arsenal players where Cardiff were given “talkings to” for similar offences which is in line with his normal practice. Maybe we don’t remember too much bad stuff after a great performance!
I haven’t found video highlights of the Southampton v Sunderland game, the Southampton web site being particularly impenetrable and the other sources I find videos not having that match so I can’t give any information on how Mr Mason behaved. Any Southampton fans reading this could you please provide brief comments?
Going back to last year Mr Mason did one Southampton game, 28th October home game v Spurs (1-2) and, to me, his numbers for that game are incredible. 96% overall score meaning no errors to speak of! He never gets anywhere that kind of score when in charge of Arsenal. I’ll just have to hope that he does the game on Tuesday in the same manner (but I’m not expecting it). The key moments from that game were :-
- Minute 14 – Bale scores (0-1)
- Minute – 35 – First (and only) wrong decisions, Schneiderlin wrongly penalised for fouling Huddlestone, no foul so no free kick – everything else was judged to be correct.
- Minute 38 – Dempsey scores (0-2)
- Minute 64 – Sandro rightly gets yellow card for foul
- Minute 65 – Rodreguiz scores a goal (1-2)
- Minute 74 – Vertongen rightly gets yellow card for foul
- Minute 90+2 – Livermore rightly gets yellow card for persistent infringements
An excellent refereeing performance, 128 out of 130 decisions adjudged to be correct.
So Mr Mason, you have shown that you can produce great refereeing at Southampton with a North London Club playing. There is absolutely no reason for you not to do the same on Tuesday.
COYG – three points please
Recent posts
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Third time this year! In terms of number of games…and a few other things, looks like mason is the new Dean.
This is a tricky fixture even without ref bias working against us.
Wonder who the pgmol have in store for us in our fixtures from hell run?..
Sorry to go off topic a tad so early but I wanted to ask this. On Saturday Morning I was listening to TalkSport, I know my own fault, and heard the following. There’s a guy on there each Sat AM who’s an Arsenal fan and it seems a fan off Untold as he refers to it fairly regularly.
He claims he had seen an item on Untold that showed the refereeing bias regarding major decisions, IE Goals, Pens, reds etc. clearly showed that the ‘Big teams’ get favoured. Okay I can live with that. But it had us up there in the top three.
Is that true? If it is I haven’t seen it !!!
We have Arteta, Ramsey and Vermaelen back and available. Will be nice to see them back in action after quite an absence. Jack is seemingly suffering from the knock he received during the Coventry game, but that’s pretty much it. It will not be straightforward, but we’re more than capable of a win. With a measured optimism, 1-0 or 2-1 will do for me:)
Cautiosly optimistic for the game. 1-nil to the Arsenal.
Goal.com reports that AW has agreed a two year extension along with BFG and Tomas Rosiky. I really hope so.
Any type of win at Southampton would be massive.
Pressure would be on City at the lane.
COYS!
Sorry, I will never say that again.
Top three teams in getting favours Jambug? Have not seen that one! Was it a presenter or a listener that said that?
Mmmm…Mason.
“1-0 to the referee” the Arsenal fans sang to Mason during one recent game against Everton, with clear reason. Match ended 2-1 to the Arsenal!
Thanks to the Untold team for this season’s previews. Very interesting.
Mason again?! WTF is going on, we seem to be having either probert or mason a lot lately, what happened to the other 14 refs?
Off topic
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/27/arsene-wenger-jose-mourinho-arsenal-fixtures
I’d have expected the reporter to add a section at the bottom saying something like “does Wenger have a point” and showing the number of fixtures and rest days, to prove Wenger wrong(like they love to do always). But because he didn’t, I know what Wenger said is true, he’d a point. Not that I needed the guardian writer to tell me that, but just trying to show how they withhold information if they suspect it’ll aid Arsenal’s argument. Like the lack of offside replays against our strikers since the game at City.
Double Canister,
Always root for the smaller enemy:D
Al – you give the Guardian too much credit. They won’t have the time or the resource to do that kind of analysis themselves. The Guardian is stretched thin financially…
@ Pete, if they’re not going to do any sort of thorough job, then they have no journalistic integrity and are no better than second rate bloggers trying to flog advertiser’s click through…. bugger, that’s what happened around 5 years ago isn’t it.
Brickfield, you probably knew this one:
A man got his credit card stolen. He didn’t post a complaint because the thief was spending less than his wife.
Pete,
The Guardian also seems to be quite ‘stretched’ in terms of justice and fairplay where all things Arsenal is concerned. While it may be respectable in some areas of reporting, where it concerns Arsenal it is the pits. I have followed its editorializing in its headlines on Arsenal topics – needless to say that was enough and there was no need to read further!
You’re right guys. Guess I was giving them a bit too much credit than they deserve. They’re just as bad as the rest of the tabloids(even in size).
@ Florian – had heard a slightly different version of that ,but thanks anyway, you’ve given me an idea !
Hope for 3 points and a clean sheet tonight .
Up the Gunners !
The blow-dryer mishap.
John’s wife caught him blow-drying his penis this morning and asked him what the hell he was doing?
Apparently, “heating up your breakfast” was not the right answer.
@ AL
Sky Sports just showed the Rest Day analysis since Aug 2010.
Bit of a surprise as to who’s worst off, but proves that Maureen Jo is talking through his backside again and polluting the atmosphere.
Spuds 954
Arse 966
MCiy 966
Manu 966
Lpool 967
Chel 982
@Gf60
Spurs position maybe influenced by the fact they play their European games on Thursdays?
But (unlike us who had to play City;early ko Saturday after a Wed game) their games then go to a Sunday?
And I believe…could well be wrong…that this was for league games only.
Having to follow our trip to Naples for a Wednesday evening game by a trip to Manchester for an early Saturday game is probably the most unfair scheduling that I have ever witnessed in the game. My history is not without blemish so I’m imploring anyone who knows about a worse schedule for enlightenment.
I recall Chelsea having games postponed by a day during their Europa cup run. Mourhino just says whatever comes to his mouth, safe in the knowledge that his adoring media fans would never call him out on his bullshit.
Mandy.
It was the co-presenter on the mid morning show. He’s definitely a Gunner and I’ve heard him quote statistics from ‘Untold Referees’ many times. The others rib him about it because of it’s Arsenal connection, but by and large they take what he says as genuine and don’t mock the stats just because of that connection.
Anyway, on Saturday he was again quoting from ‘Untold’ and said that there was a table showing how PL teams where favoured or otherwise when it came to the ‘BIG’ decisions.
He then read down the table as my memory serves Chelsea where top, and the rest of the upper reaches included Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs, and Man City in about that order.
As far as I recall they did not mention Utd, and didn’t go into any individual team, but concluded that it seems the ‘little’ Clubs are right to complain that the big Clubs get massively favoured by referees.
Now I’ve NEVER seen statistics on Untold that reflect anything like what he said he saw, especially with Arsenal up there and utd not even in the top 4.
So either I’m blind or they’ve got at yet another Gunner to ‘tow the line’
I know in the scheme of things it’s pretty trivial but are there stats on here to back him up or did he just make it up?
Here I go again with my conspiracy theories about our scandalous media.
Okay Maureen calling Wenger a whinger is nothing new, and in itself nothing to worry about, but again it’s down to the way it’s reported that’s the key.
We all know, everyone in the media knows, Wenger only made a point and was no more whinging than any other manager, but it suits there agenda to paint Wenger as the ‘eternal moaner’ the ‘constant whinger’. But why?
The why is because painting Wenger in that light erodes his credibility. It undermines anything he says, no matter how valid. It creates an atmosphere whereby you can say, or do, anything to Arsenal you want and you will get away with it, because if God forbid, Wenger has the temerity to complain what do we get.
Here he goes again. Same old Wenger always Whinging. Everything he says, no matter how credible, is undermined.
Just have a look at the amount of ‘posters’ who tag every sentence With Wengers name in it with Whinging or Moaning or some such thing attached to his name.
The media have got what they want again, Wenger back up there, top of the Whingers list, right where they want him.
AND NOW THE WHOLE CRUX OF WHY.
Referees !!!!
They read the same shit we have to. But they now know, as if by some miracle it had slipped there mind, that they can stitch us up as much as they want and they have NO CHANCE of being criticised or called to book. As I said earlier if Wenger does have the temerity to question any bad decisions it will just be as I said earlier, Same old Wenger, always whinging.
Yep, keep Wenger up there as a non stop whinger and the Refs can do just about what they want to us with impunity.
I know some will think I’m mad but I’m telling you, that is what’s behind this constant media agenda to paint Wenger as a moaner, whilst of course nobody else ever moans, especially there darling Maureen.
Can we get a bit more detail on the “rest days”? Big picture, rest days across a season will be governed by how many games are played by each club.
What is important is the distribution.
A whole series of matches at 3 day intervals, followed by a 10 day break (as we had both in December and early Jan) is far worse than a series of games at 4/5 day intervals.
Clearly, matches have to be fitted in somehow but my objections are:
i) TV companies don’t seem to care that their scheduling unnecessarily biases certain clubs.
ii) Having big away games very close together is tough. Every season I look closely to see who we are playing following CL games – particularly if we are away and particularly if the game is a Wednesday. This season we managed to play both MU and MC 3 days after CL away matches. That is not fair.
Having Everton at home – unnecessarily on a Sunday – 3 days before Napoli away and then 3 days before MC away was grotesque.
If you want media bias lets compare..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2409489/Wizard-Oz-New-Arsenal-signing-Mesut-Ozil-quash-unease-Emirates.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2546478/Mata-vows-win-title-Manchester-United-interview.html
and
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2264465/Theo-Walcott-agrees-deal-stay-Arsenal.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2547071/Wayne-Rooney-poised-sign-new-300-000-week-deal-make-Premier-Leagues-earner-days.html
I am not comparing the players , but the news item,
us completing our record deal quashes uneasiness, others completing record signing wins them the title.
Us getting out top scorer to new terms for longer time is taken as a chance to remind us we havent won trophies ( pls read inside the article) and others attempting to hold on to their star player is a BOOST for their manager.
Long live the media.
When counting rest days, are we just counting the number of days without a fixture or is it a little more detailed than that?
Jambug,
I haven’t had time to go through all of Walter’s articles on important decisions, but early in January he did a summary table showing decisions for and against each team. The numbers have been factored to reflect 38 games, based on the reviewed numbers and so are clearly indicative rather than actual.
Here is a link to the table.
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/extrapolated-2013.jpg
It shows Arsenal at the top of the table with -20 decisions and United near the bottom with +14. Negative numbers show bias against that team, positive ones bias in favour of that team.
I think the quotes from “Talk Sport” were wrong, misleading or misunderstood by the presenters – no change there then.
r.iris
The whole problem with the media is that they set the agenda. They create ‘perceptions’ and more often than not it is perception, and not reality, that becomes the new ‘reality’.
I.e. If they constantly say that Wenger’s a Whinger then that creates a perception so strong it becomes the reality. Whether he does or doesn’t is irrelevant.
If they constantly refer to anything Maureen says as ‘clever’ or ‘mind games’ no matter how ridiculous they still create a perception that Jose is a genius.
They also want to portray Wenger as a bufoon in the transfer market. Over the last few years, at least up until Ozil, virtually every signing Wenger made was portrayed as either a panic or second rate buy.
Compare that to how they portray every player United, Liverpool, or Spurs buy. My God they was wetting there pants when King Kenny was throwing money around like it was going out of fashion a few years ago. Same with AVB this Summer.
Yet look at what’s happened to king Kennys and AVBs genius purchases and compare them to Wingers second ratters and panic buys.
But hey who cares about the true reality when you can create your own very caustic anti Arsenal one.
Above you have highlighted just a couple of perfect examples of how the media create these perceptions, or false realities.
I work in Selhust. I can see Palaces ground from where I work so I work with a few of there fans plus of course a smattering of all the usual suspects.
Generally they quite like Arsenal and don’t like the bankrolling that’s going on.
They have no axe to grind, in fact most neutrals would like to see us win the PL, but non the less:
They still insist that.
1) Wenger is the biggest Whinger. Never sees anything.
2) Like all the other top sides we get favoured by the refs.
3) We have had a lot of divers over the years. United, though bad, are no worse than what Arsenal have been over the years.
I contest all 3 of those perceptions.
Wenger neither moans or fails to see any more or less than any other manager.
we do not get favoured by the refs.
We have had the odd dive, but by and large our rap sheet on this is very very favourable compared to United, Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Yet 1, 2 and 3 are repeated in the media constantly as facts and are duly swallowed, hook line and sinker by your average fan.
And there you have it. The perception is created. The reality is hidden. The perceived reality then becomes the true reality.
I don’t think rest days can be taken on their own, some context is needed. I think what you need to do, is to compile a list of how many days opposing teams lose to injuries, for each team in the league. And I am specifically thinking less serious injuries, unless teams really are trying to break legs. I suspect you will find that some teams are noticeably rougher than others.
Now look at your rest days, taking into account how rough the team was that you just played (and hence may be carrying bruises from) and how rough the team is you next play.
Jambug and Mandy,
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/33028
This article is the one that I think was being referred to by the Talk Sport team. It has three tables, the first gives the total numbers of ‘Important decisions’ that each team benefitted from, the second the numbers that they suffered from and the third was the net balance of the first two.
It is important to remember that Arsenal were the only team to have all games reviewed, the numbers for all other teams reflect the reviewed games only..
The table I referenced in my 12:32 post, factors all the numbers up to 38 games so can be used to see the relative positions for each team.
On average, Arsenal had to overcome one wrong “Important Decision” (second yellow, red card, penalty or goal ) every other game; United benefitted from one wrong “Important Decision” every other game.
jambug,
I saw your comment about your forced hiatus but I was unable to respond. You are welcome back.
Thanks for hammering home, with facts, that the media are the sustainers of biased officiating by setting the agenda which sadly your average fans (with average intelligence) are unable to see through.
Great work pal!
Andrew Crawshaw
Thanks for that. So basically an Arsenal fan, looked at 3 tables. One that showed a slight bias towards Arsenal. One that showed a massive bias against us. And one that combined the 2 for a balanced overall depiction, that showed a substantial bias against us. In fact the worst in the division by far. Yet a supposed Arsenal fan still managed to highlight the ONE TABLE that showed a slight bias towards us and totally ignored the really important one that showed the overall biased. The one that showed the disgraceful truth of the bias against us!!
TalkSport are a disgrace, but more shame on the Arsenal guy who sits there and joins in with it, even adds to, there ludicrous anti Arsenal agenda !!
Bootoomee.
Thanks for the welcome. I’ve had a browse through the 2 or 3 weeks I missed and see you’ve been carrying on the good fight. Well done Sir.
And we’re still top !!!!
COYG
Great stuff in the comments -following on from a good article.
I’ve written before – that I can’t stand the Guardian. I used to absolutely love the rag. Then, my fave sports writer at the time, David Lacey – made me realise his and the paper’s anti Arsenal bias.
I was left thinking that if the Guardian writes such crap about Arsenal – what twists are there in their reporting of everything else? I gave up – not only on Guardian, but ALL of the press.
Credibility, non.
jambug,
Not to take the lightning out of Brickfield’s thunder, but here is a new version of an (old) American classic:
Question: A dog and a journo (lawyer) get killed by speeding cars on the highway; how can you tell the difference on the scene?
Answer: There were no skid marks where the journo (lawyer) got killed.
Ray…..
Yep, I got away with that one, and just so the memory never fades I’ve kept the dent to remind me of that great day.
or
On inspecting the aftermath of the collision the police where horrified. They found, blood, guts, hair and splinters of bone everywhere. It was a terrible scene. But one thing didn’t add up, they hadn’t found a single trace of brain matter. Happily it all fell into place once they realised it was just a SUN journalist on vacation.
jambug,
My cousin is a lawyer; she is so ethical, she does not practice law at all; she writes and edits law textbooks and teaches law at a university in Texas.
I also have an ex-journalist distant cousin; after covering some of the most horrific parts of the war in Lebanon, he now teaches history in Canada.
It goes without saying, for each good guy there more than two bad guys and a ton of mediocre guys; please keep the good fight on our behalf.
jambug,
Confirmation that no brain matter was found… I am a pathologist.
Ray…..
Apparently they searched everywhere, the gutter, the drains and even the sewer but all they turned up was more journalists !!!
jambug,
Yes, indeed. Many Red Nose and Moanrinho underlings and lackeys.
I wonder if journalists are also carriers for the plague?
Gord,
Luckily, we can easily deal with physical plague thanks to the discovery of antibiotics. Not sure about mental plague; when the Soviet union collapsed, it just moved over to what used to be “Western democracies” and we now witness the propaganda and many other methods that Stalin developed during the Soviet era.
Talksport are shocking.I got so annoyed yesterday after listening to Durham and their rent-an-Arsenal fans.Durham was saying why has Wenger come out about the difference between rest days without mentioning any reference to Mourinho although they had given it wall to wall coverage for 2 days previously I rang up and said to the guy who takes the calls I wish T’S and the rest of the media would take their heads out of Mourinhos arse for once. Couldn’t believe it but within a minute was on live.I gave a good account about how they don’t stop having a go at Wenger and treat Mourinho like a god I was the only caller not thanked for their call but all of a sudden had Chelsea fans ringing in and lots more besides. My next call will reference the no trophies phase with new stadium build and the financial doping of the premier league over the same span. God I hate Talksport !!!!!
TalkSport are a disgrace. I’ve asked these questions on here dozens of times.
How are a National Radio station allowed to openly criticise ONE business way way more than any other?
How are they allowed to put aside 5 minutes every day specifically for that purpose?
Would the BBC be allowed to put 5 minutes aside in the news every night to specifically have a go at, lets say, Tesco or Virgin ?
Could you imagine it being allowed against United?
Not a chance.
The least that would of happened would of been a boycott of the station along with a ban on TalkSport at the ground.
And lets not forget Durham has been doing this for over 2 years.
As I say I’ve posed this question on here a few times.
I’ve questioned it’s legality.
No one else seems that bothered but I think it’s incredibly important because it’s all part of the fog of deception and negativity that is perpetuated throughout our entire media. The negativity that affects how we are perceived, by other football fans but more importantly by referees.
It’s a f**king disgrace and something should be done. But what and by who?
jambug,
Some Western governments have links at the top with news tycoons, oil tycoons, Gulf potentates, and nouveaux riche types who are billed as “opposition” to some guy that is deemed to be “bad” because he is not allowing freestyle capitalism to come in and plunder his national resources.
From 20:03 in the BBC coverage:
> Steve Claridge on BBC Radio 5 live Sports ExtraSouthampton 0-0 Arsenal
> “Arsenal are just meandering around letting Southampton have the ball. It is almost as if they have been told they are not allowed to tackle them.”
Didn’t Andrew say that if Arsenal attempt to tackle, they will be punished? Obviously this dweeb from the BBC doesn’t read Untold.
COYG!
Disgraceful decision against Merts for the free kick before the goal. Couldn’t have been a more impressive tackle definitely not a foul
Funny how no foul for Monreal either when font climbed all over him
I think we are too cautious in this game a.t.m, hope AW makes changes in the team, as we are not doing anything yet. Arteta and Flamini together does not equal good Arsenal playing, separate OK, together, no.
Anyway second half, 1-3 to us.
Well, i was wrong, 2-2, a disgusting performance by Arsenal today.
We were not available tonight at all.
OK i am going to get stick i suppose, but this performance was terrible, and the fact is, i really do not understand why.
Ok Sou played well, but not that well.
I expected Giroud to get sent off, but Flamini, well.
Some one was going to get sent off i thought.
Completely disgusted really.
So that is my rant over.