If you are a regular reader of Untold you’ll know that over the weekend there was nothing published after the ref preview. Things went wrong, and it being the weekend I didn’t have the technical resources to sort matters out.
Obviously we try hard not to have this happen, but if you value Untold you might like to do this. If you can remember this link https://www.facebook.com/UntoldArsenalToday you can simply go to it and see what we would have posted here, on there, whether you are a member of Facebook or not.
But if you are not a member of Facebook, you can join up. You don’t have to join in all the Facebook thing, you can create any identity you want, and not put anything on line. But if you then go to https://www.facebook.com/UntoldArsenalToday and click the like button, the Untold stream will click on as and when anyone tries to take us down.
So you will still get your Untold.
Just remember, on Facebook, we’re UntoldArsenalToday. I’m not going to move across to the Woolwich Arsenal site in future when things go wrong, as this time that only made matters worse. So, Untold goes down, we go to UntoldArsenalToday on Facebook.
Meanwhile, here is a short article I put up this morning on the Facebook page. It’s nice to be back.
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There is an article this morning in the Guardian from Amy Lawrence, credited on the website as being at the Emirates Stadium Sunday 14 February 2016 18.08 GMT.
Amy Lawrence is of course a very highly respected journalist, and I am certain that she undoubtedly was there. (I sometimes have my doubts about some journalists from other papers, but not the Guardian) Yet she chose to write a piece which omitted what was, for most of the spectators there, the major issue: the referee.
Now of course I didn’t interview 30,000+ people to ascertain that this was indeed the view of the majority, but I sit amidst a regular array of supporters (not with a bunch of Untold Arsenal writers), and most of them don’t know of my association with Untold.
And I listened to my regular neighbours in the ground, to the crowd at large, and the booing and jeering of the referee from the moment he started to give what looked like a load of ludicrous decisions – including of course the penalty and the early yellow cards to Arsenal.
And I know that we have had multiple issues before with this man. Indeed if you read our preview of the referee written, as previews generally are, long before the match, you’ll know we suggested there may be trouble ahead.
But what particularly interests me is that here we have a piece in an esteemed newspaper by an esteemed journalist that totally and utterly omits any mention of what seemed to most of the people there, to be the main issue.
That is not to say that I am suggesting Ms Lawrence should actually be agreeing with us, of course not. I am saying that if one does a report on a game, or a commentary after a game, writing it in a way that is utterly divorced from the expression of opinion of many (maybe not most, although it seemed that way to me) of the people there, is dangerous.
It divorces the commentary totally from the reality that the rest of us perceived. And once that happens it divorces the newspaper from its readership and potential readership in a way that doesn’t happen if one mentions the events, but then disagrees.
So why do it? Of course it is possible that Ms Lawrence was in a sound proof box and didn’t hear the crowd. And didn’t see what the rest of us saw in terms of the ref. Or maybe she has the view that “the Arsenal fans always blame the ref” – although I don’t think I have heard such an outpouring of disgust at the officials for a very long time. (And the ability of some Arsenal fans to blame their own team is legendary in football).
Or is there some sort of unwritten rule in football commentary that one doesn’t mention the ref? I suspect so.
We know that Alan Greene on Radio 5 used to be very critical of referees but then suddenly stopped. It seemed very odd at the time. We know that the TV companies, with their huge financial investment in buying TV matches, won’t ever mention the ref except to say that our referee in the studio says that the ref at the match “got it spot on, on that occasion”) – just like they hilariously don’t show any crowd trouble during a match even when some drunk turnip has wandered onto the pitch, as at the Arsenal Coventry game. (If you get to see a full video of that match do watch – there is a long period where you are looking at the grass and nothing is happening).
But to extend this to the papers… that seems odd.
But to make my point clear – I am not saying Ms Lawrence should have agreed that the ref had been bought by Leicester in a version of Type I match fixing we have rarely seen before, but rather that to ignore what was to many people the key issue in the game, when writing a report, seems odd.
It is a bit like doing a piece about life in Carlisle without mentioning the floods. Or writing a piece about November 13 this year and not mentioning that it is Remembrance Sunday. Or writing about gravitational waves and not mentioning the overwhelming intellect of Einstein.
One is bound to ask, what sort of reality is being painted here?
Interestingly Barney Ronay in the Guardian did touch on the refereeing issue saying in an earlier comment, “a game that was sadly dominated by some debatable refereeing calls from Martin Atkinson.”
OK, not as strong as we would say, but strong for the press. Later he adds, “Riyad Mahrez dived in search of a penalty but was not booked. Not the greatest day for a referee who was barracked relentlessly by the home fans.”
My point is not that each journalist can mention everything, but the issue of the ref so dominated the game from the perspective of the home fans, that not to mention it is just… odd.
PS, don’t forget, https://www.facebook.com/UntoldArsenalToday. I may have said that already.
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Updates on anniversaries etc will follow shortly on the home page.
Welcome back
This article is just about spot on in it’s comparison between reality and reporting. There was the issue of Sky NOT showing the empty seats at the start of the game, even though they regularly pinpoint this on a day other than one which saw a marked protest against THEM!
So, if you cannot report the reality, what is the point of reporting at all? Indeed, one of my pet grouches, (being a non Season Ticket holder, and living too far away to arrange short notice trips), is that often, what is said on live television is NOT what the pictures are showing.
So what is the point of having commentary, if the professional commentators only say what they want?
On PGMOL’s “Sunday Supplement”, it was stated by one reporter that “it costs money to send reporters to a game”. To what end – to NOT report what is actually happening?
The Investigative journalism, for which the UK press USED to be renowned, is sadly, no longer. Where are the Andrew Jennings’ of today – a journalist who investigated and reported, never mind the personal consequences. Yet here in the UK, he is hardly given the credit he deserves for his crusade, and eventual results against corruption in football.
Blogs such as Untold are where the real truth lays – ignore the so called professionals because they ARE dictated to by personal agenda!
Glad to see Untold is back. Just to add fuel to the ref debate, there is no talk of the “handball offence” which gave the spuds their first goal against man wealth-eh. I have spoken to spuds who are happy but puzzled about the decision. This and the Vardy blag should be part of the greater media discussion of how we can help referees with more technology. Instead there is a damning lack of acknowledging the incidents even occurred. It is something you feel that a person claiming journalistic qualities might have noticed.
Tony.
It is clear to me that journalists aren’t employed to write accurate match reports. If they were, they wouldnt be so different to what we all witness.
They are there to sensationalise and for me the biggest from is the way they all cosy up to each other. Watch Sunday Supplement and it makes you want to be sick sometimes.
Match day reporting is more about finding an angle, perhaps a pre-agreed agenda. For example, Wayne Rooney or Harry Kane can have a horrible game yet they’ll get their regular 8 out of 10 mark and very little criticism. Meanwhile Giroud will get slaughtered and Mertesacker will be called slow.
Arsenal winning will be nothing to do with us outplaying the opposition, rarely will you see a favourable match report. It will be written to display negativity.
The match report was not about us easily beating Bournemeouth but about Flamini.
Beating Leicester will be about the referee harshly sending off Simpson and a lucky 95th minute goal. There will be no mention of the serial fouls Simpson had committed by the time of his first booking and small mention of the fact Leicester really should have been down to 9 players after Drinkwaters recless tackle. Of course it is a romantic story about Leicester but you have to report on what you see and not with your heart – even if it was Valentines day. It could also be argued that the Pole should have been sent off for that terrible challenge on Monreal. So any genuine match report should mention the fact that leicester played the price for the physcial approach they adopted. There will also be no mention of the Mahrez dive or the Mahrez dive.
Had Drinkwater played for us, it is clear to me what the headlines would be this morning.
PS: Thierry Henry vs Danny Murphy
What I find interesting is the way ex Arsenal players seem reluctant to show support for the club. Thierry Henry is quite frankly an embarrassment, hearing him eulogising over Spurs and showing restraint over his support for Arsenal is pathetic. Meanwhile, Danny Murphy is showing his support for Spurs, blaming Ramsey for being kicked dangerously and is on Talkspud this morning wchanting ‘come on you spurs’. Don’t get me started on Alan Smith, that bloke is so wet
he could be the River Thames. It is a shame that players I once held in high regard are behaving like this. At least Martin Keown sticks up for us.
It is almost as if it is a crime to be pro Arsenal in the media.
It is just sad to know that Mr. Atkinson is 1 of the UK’s 2 representatives at Euro 2016. It also does not say much for the 2 officials when both awarded penalties that altered the games yesterday. It does look like there is an agenda to these whistle carrying members of PGMO. If that is not obvious to a person, maybe we should get Walter & co to explain some points to readers. BUT, despite the best efforts of the ref yesterday, Arsenal won and Leicester lost, due to their cheating. Makes you feel good when the team plays well and gets the result despite the official…..
I for one am delighted the “ref”,I use that term loosely,was “barracked relentlessly”.too bloody right.it happens at old Trafford.it happens at st James,at the Britannia etc etc.we’re usually at the wrong end of it”same old Arsenal cheating again”cliche.so why not us ?about time.we know who theses refs are..there is a hard core ,six or seven who have an agenda against us.sp put them under pressure.i mean every decision.like they do oop north.it’s the only way.cos Mike Riley & his cronies will try & stitch us up anyway they can.in relation to the journal report.these days they all tow the line.afraid of their own shadows.all too PCs to upset the status quo.t.god for supporter blogs.
As regards reporting on the game http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/not-bet-arsenal-being-galvanised-7369927 . Dave Kidd appears to have broken ranks.
An excellent article as usual. One point in response to Norman 14’s point that “There was the issue of Sky NOT showing the empty seats at the start of the game…”. This was probably because the Leicester fans proved to be all piss and wind and there were no empty seats; their “protest” evaporating quicker than a light shower in the Sahara.
Back on topic, Lawrence is just another in a long line of journos who claim to be Arsenal fans, and indeed she is from Islington. However when push comes to shove she doesn’t have the courage of her alleged convictions and serially toes the general media line. In this she is encouraged on the various podcast slots she is given. Though lord only knows why, as the vacuity of her comments in them is only matched by the utter lack of insight she brings.
It was interesting that Guardian Gooner Amy didn’t mention the referee (particularly as colleague Barney Ronay brought it up as well as Leicester’s rotational fouling).
I always get the impression that she doesn’t like to show her true colours (very unprofessional), so tends to sit on the fence a bit as far as Arsenal is concerned.
Henry and to a certain extent Ian Wright are the same. If they’re too pro Arsenal they’ll be out of lucrative positions in no time, so have to be a bit negative about us sometimes.
They all fear for their jobs, it easy to aim at the hated epescially with ignorance as English hate the French. they are all on e big family who milk from the same cash cow until the refs can be auditioned or Stan makes a bigger stand we have to win it the hard way!
And to the poodits if not about money it’s about being relevant. Mark bright on Vardy dive so funny
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/02/15/mark-bright-criticises-jamie-vardy-on-twitter-compares-him-to-ma/page/1/
The big question for me is whether someone like Graham Poll knows what he does.
Does Poll actually know that the spirited defence of the Vardy penalty today would be a different tale if one of our players were foolish enough to open himself up for widespread condemnation by doing the same thing.
I have no doubt that instead of the ludicrous untruth that Monreal blocked Vardy’s path leaving the forward with no choice but to go over, he would have written ,of one of ours, that it was a blatant attempt to cheat after knocking the ball to the right and showing no interest to pursue it, instead running to the left, into Monreal, before colliding with him as dramatically as possible.
No doubt at all. That is what Poll would write. Whether he knows that is the case I can’t be sure. After reading his book I felt pretty sure that he believes the things he says. Is he seamlessly lying to himself, with a profound lack of self-awareness, or is it just the public he lies to?
The Drinkwater challenge, however, is the one which suggests consciously choosing a biased approach with the intention of deliberately misleading. He was firm in a column last week about how bad and dangerous Flamini’s challenge was, but in this week’s offering ignores the issue of the Drinkwater one. That is surely a choice based on knowing how impossible it is to defend that challenge in writing. You can’t do it without looking more stupid and suspicious than these guys are prepared to look unless in extremis.
So Poll leaves it out, and surely editors and other members of staff at that paper are complicit,too. They are happy, encouraging even, with the preposterous and unexplainable hypocrisy of ignoring that challenge a week after he contributed fully to the unequivocal condemnation of Flamini from all quarters.
All we need now is for Dermot Gallagher to enter the fray- back up the penalty call, offer clear criticism of the two yellows, and utterly ignore Drinkwater’s challenge. Halsey will probably join the party over on goal.com or wherever he trades his wares these days.
@Tony and Untold,
Welcome back! Glad to see the site running properly again.
@Andrew, I emailed you back with some minor edits to the Wall of Shame table in excel format. Let me know if there were any problems with the email/attachment.
Wouldn’t worry what 3 x yellows Poll writes!
Slightly off topic, I wondered if anyone can help.
I’ve been trying to find evidence of Arsenal fans criticising AW for his shocking tactical decisions in bringing on Theo and Danny.
It just seems a little unusual as there are usually loads of people who think that Mr Wenger is crap and makes bad judgements all the time and I can’t seem to find them today 🙂
Now the “press” is already reporting thet Spurs are going to be the only real threat to Pep’s Man$.
WOW they surely like to put themselves out there talking rubbish.
That Spuds have improved is clear, but they will have it hard building a stadium and they are not even as good as Arsenal in it’s current state either.
I’m sure there will be players going and coming this season end at Arsenal, probably a little more so than other season ends as Arsenal look to improve the squad.
Jerry, thanks I got the attachment, to be honest I haven’t looked at yet in detail. Need to do it on my main computer rather than tablet. A job for later today. Greenhouse more urgent this afternoon.
i’ve watched MOTD for the first and the last time yesterday
Kante was apparently moving his hand ‘away’ from the ball, ref was right to give ‘advantage’ after Morgan jumped on Ozil, Vardy was ‘clever’ to dive, Ranieri was ‘positive’ after his rant about yellows, Simpson was ‘unlucky’ after two clear fouls stopping promising attacks, Drinkwater is ‘not that kind of guy’ who breaks legs, and not even a mention of handball after Giroud strike
i’ve said this before, but this game clearly shows that PGMO favours Leicester, in all their games i’ve seen (about 4, excluding our away win) they’ve been given doubtful or plainly incorrect game-changing decisions
Andy.
Yes I saw that article.
I have nicked a couple of Man Utd fan Dave Kidd’s notes. Whilst he was hardly complimentary about us, at least he was prepared to recognise the way Leicester went about the game.
Dave Kidd, Mirror:
“Claudio Ranieri has moulded a team of ultra-professional workaholics, fully capable of employing the dark arts – best exemplified by Jamie Vardy buying a penalty from Nacho Monreal, which the England striker converted just before half-time. Vardy has won six penalties this season, more than any other Premier League TEAM. And he truly has ‘won’ a lot of them too”.
Dave Kidd:
“There was also a horrible dive from Riyad Mahrez and a potentially leg-breaking challenge from Danny Drinkwater on Aaron Ramsey”.
I wonder what Martin Samuel is saying about the Drinkwater tackle?
Atkinson went off after the first half under loud booing from the Arsenal supporters. Rightfully so
When you’re wrong you’re wrong, and I have been proved wrong by Dermot Gallager’s ref watch feature on sky.
He says the Vardy one was a pen, which I strongly disagree with, but elsewhere surprises me by agreeing with the sending off, saying it was a foul on Ozil, and, most unexpectedly, by including the Drinkwater incident and saying it should have been red.
Very surprising. His criticism of Atkinson is mild and all implied, but it’s something at least. Meanwhile prepare to hate Atkinson even more as it seems he has gone out of his way to try protect Drinkwater afterwards by saying he saw it and didn’t think it was yellow let alone red.
Astonishing stuff. Should be crucified by the media for that, and if his boss was half normal he’d be out of commission for a while until he is retrained properly.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/10168213/re-watch-tottenham-penalty-wrong-danny-drinkwater-deserved-red-card?
as for city-tots game, apart from wrongly awarded penalty, i’ve noticed a bunch of doubtful offsides against city, for which there was only one tv replay (which confirmed that offside call was wrong though)
makes you think that tinies are also favoured, considering that they also have been given a bunch of favours previously, including the last city game
OlegYch
Spurs have been very popular in the media for a long time.
MOTD last night was ex spud Danny Murphy and ex spud Tim Sherwood, with Murphy pronouncing his love for the Tiny Tots. Murphy was on Talksport this morning with ex Spud Alan Brazil.
The differenc appears to be that Spuds are proud to display their colours and display a biased attitude. The classic was Murphy blaming Ramsey for making an issue out of the studs up, over the ball challenge by Drinkwater – despite knowing Ramseys history.
Meanwhile the Arsenal ‘fans’ in the media are embarrassing with their lack of support. What are they afraid of.
@Andrew,
No problems, just wanted to confirm that you received it. I was using new email software, so was not sure if it was sent properly. Best of luck!
Rich
The main reason referees can get away with making terrible decisions is because the fans, players and managers who benefit from said decisions don’t have the guts to admit they were wrong decisions.
Show me one Tottenham supporter complaining about the off side decisions they benefited from against City in the first game , or the hand ball decision in the reversed fixture. There aren’t any.
Name one poster on here who thought Flamini’s two footer was a bad challenge. I don’t recall any. Arsene Wenger even went so far as saying it was Flamini who was fouled on the play.
The same ones who said Flamini’s two footed challenge was a good one demanded a red card for Drinkwater.
One poster on here called a handball given in another game as ‘ diabolical ‘ when the offending player had raised his arm above his head into opponents face, blocked the ball from going into the direction of the goal while looking at it the whole way through. The same poster wanted two penalties for handballs against Leicester when neither one was as blatant as the one he was so vehemently against before.
To be clear, Atkinson’s ‘performance’ was a joke , as was Clattenburg’s.
You simply don’t give 50/50 penalties in games of title bearing importance.
It has to be a stone wall penalty, otherwise, you let the teams decide the outcome from the run of play.
Basically, referees get away with their bias, incompetence because mostly everyone else are fool of shit 🙂
Who on here doesn’t think the two quick yellows for Simpson were a make up call?
Atkinson went into his room, looked at the penalty decision and the posible Kante hand ball, and decided that those two might’ve been too much of a bias even for him , so at the first real chance of giving something back to Arsenal he obliged.
Simpson’s first yellow was his only second foul of the game and I don’t remember ever any player being sent off against Arsenal for such soft fouls so early in the game. Do you?
If there’s no penalty for Leicester and Kante doesn’t handle the ball in the area, Simpson never gets sent off period.
Tom, not sure what you’re trying to say
a penalty is a penalty in any game, so here is my judgement on penalty calls (with the aid of video replays)
1. Vardy deliberately ran into Nacho after sending the ball the other way – dive
2. Mahrez didn’t ran into Nacho, but Nacho didn’t make any move towards him either, Mahrez simply tripped – no foul, no dive
3. Kante deliberately moved his hand to block the ball – penalty and a yellow
4. after someone shot ball ended up touching Morgans hand, which was close to his body – no foul
5. Giroud powerfully shot again, this time the goal-bounded ball collided with Huths outstretched arm – i think it was a penalty, but not sure since the handball was apparently not deliberate
Now, i can forgive the ref for making wrong calls in 3 and 5 because he probably didn’t see them (although linesman should have seen 3), but the Vardy episode is inexplicable
As for Simpsons fouls – those should be a yellow in any game, as he didn’t get the ball and not even intended to, those were cynical fouls in dangerous areas
“Show me one Tottenham supporter complaining about the off side decisions they benefited from against City in the first game , or the hand ball decision in the reversed fixture. There aren’t any.” – why would they complain about it, especially here?
“Name one poster on here who thought Flamini’s two footer was a bad challenge.” that was a bad challenge, and the ref review judged it as a correct decision, and most readers here agreed with that
remember Flaminis red card against Swansea? this was the same kind of challenge but more dangerous, no one here said it was a wrong call by the ref
“One poster on here called a handball given in another game as ‘ diabolical ‘ ” – are you referring to city-tots game? how was that a handball when the player didn’t even see the ball? and the ball was not flying towards goal, and it actually hit Strelings back, or armpit at worst
of course the ref couldn’t see which part of the body it was without replay, but he should have noticed that Sterling was not facing towards ball, which means the ref deliberately gave a wrong call
remember our 6-3 game with city? how nothing was given for zabaleta raised arm hitting the ball? and the expression on zabalettas face when he was moving the arm towards the ball?
makes you think, doesn’t it?
Tom is a well known troll. Do not feed.
as for ‘players and managers who benefit from said decisions don’t have the guts to admit they were wrong decision’ – Pochetino essentially said ‘it all evens out in the end’, maybe he’s right it evens out for his team, but does anyone remember bad calls against tots? And Pellegrini simply said it was completely wrong and pointed out refs mistakes in previous game
compare that with comments from Mert and Wenger for Leceister penalty, who gave the ref benefit of the doubt
actually, i don’t remember anyone from Arsenal complaining about ref, even about Deansea tricks
do you remember much wrong calls in favour of arsenal? i remember those that were pointed out on untold ref reviews, but none of them affected outcome of the game, so why would anyone talk about them?
If you want to see the “establishment” view of the officials on Sunday have a click on this:
http://you-are-the-ref.com/ref-cam/arsenal-v-leicester-city/
But, be prepared for an enormous pile of self-serving cobblers and have a couch ready for a quick lie-down.
Percy, ” unprecedented insight” ahhaha, more like load of short-sighted bullocks
I don’t know what you’re smoking Tom but I could do with some. Officials do not watch TV replays at half time, nor do they check their bank accounts or confirm Aeroflot are taking them to meet the boss’s yacht.
Flamini didn’t make contact with the cherry it was the cherry trying to make a pie from nothing that kicked Flamini. Drinkwater was trying to break Ramseys leg.
Neither Atkinson nor Clattenburg had an unexpected game. They belong to PGMO the home of unfettered unaccounted cheating corrupt officiating.
The first red card should have been to Schmichael for his reckless attack on the ball that was left by an Arsenal player who didn’t want a broken leg or maybe 2 broken legs. I cannot remember who the Arsenal player was but hats off to him for not getting involved. I note that nobody even noticed how smart the Arsenal player was (live to fight another day). The Vardy header that was saved by Cech, was a foul as he was holding Bellerin down by the shoulder. Look carefully there are so many with sight that do not see.
Kante was constantly tackling from behind. He should have been booked early if the official was honest. Simpson fouled consistently with absolute disdain for the Laws. He was shocked when Atkinson showed him the red. It was not what was expected from a fellow participant in this fairy tale.
Waselcheatski should have also seen red as his was another diabolical tackle.
Tom you are really dim. You see thing like Jose did.
conspiracy against Arsenal is going on in the media,in the league by d F.A.
What other club do you want them( the media) to pick on if Arsenal(top 4 club) or Wenger( that have past his best in there word) win the trophy?
They always against Arsenal to hide the fact that Arsenal is the best team or to undermine Arsene Wenger achievement.
I just want to see how they will react when Arsenal win the league.
@OlegYch
Did you check their report on the City match? In particular the view on the penalty call against Sterling?
This was how they explained the Atkinson decision on the Kante incident in our game:
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RCT at 2016-02-14 13:20:36
… and that is the key phrase for me – ‘ball hits the arm’, and not the other way round.
17
RCT at 2016-02-14 13:19:15
Especially as the reply shows that the ball appears to have come off Kante’s body before hitting his arm.
RCT at 2016-02-14 13:17:23
Thanks to LUKE MAC @lukemac93 for his tweet – he disagrees with me in that his opinion Kante’s movement towards the ball is intentional, but not for me Luke. There are too many factors which have not been met for the refereeing team to give the penalty; the team have to be 100% sure to award a penalty and be in no doubt, there was an element of doubt in Kante’e intent.
9
RCT at 2016-02-14 13:12:03
The first big call of the game falls to Mike Mullarkey who decides no handball offence by Kante. A correct decision for me, Kante’s arms were in the expected position, he had no intent to handle and the ball only traveled a short distance.
And Sterling’s action:
Big Decisions by our top officials today!
AM at 2016-02-14 18:36:11
Both Martin Atkinson and Mark Clattenburg have made big calls today. This is what it is about making big brave calls as they are seen in real time. Replays show Sterling`s arm in an unnatural position and the ball has brushed his ribs and into his arm in his jump to stop the movement of the ball and therefore penalty kick award is correct.
Interesting that the ball can hit Kante’s body before his outstretched arm, did it, so it’s not a penalty, but when it strikes Sterling’s ribs that is discounted.
Walter’s ref review will be a good read.
Percy, credit to them for
“1-2 From an incorrect offside call from JB with Aguero through on goal we now have a Spurs 2nd goal – HOW THINGS CAN CHANGE ON THE TURN OF AN INCORRECT OFFSIDE CALL!”
OlegYch
What you call an ” inexplicable” decision re Vardy call, the “TEAM TALK.com” deemed a correct decision, with their 5 ref panel agreeing in unison ( as did Gallager and other PL refs)
They also thought Kante handball was a penalty, Ozil was fouled, and Simpson sending off a wrong decision narrowly 3 against 2, so you can’t claim bias.
So that puts your opening statement of ” a penalty is a penalty in any game” in a proper context , doesn’t it 🙂
Menace
You are easily my favorite poster on here( hands down) and I would pay good money to see you do ref reviews instead of Walter.
That would be the most entertaining segment of any kind anywhere.
As for my dimness and all, I’m afraid that has been established on here by Bootoomee long time ago, so you can’t take credit for it, sorry 🙂
The BBC thinks that ManU is going to rename their south stand. I think the new name is the Charlton-Mourninho Stand. This will be announced on the day they sack van Gaal.
You can watch a game, and get stabbed in the back, all at the same time.
OlegYch
And Drinkwater should’ve seen red. Mustn’t forget this one either.
During the game some young kid says ‘please God give us a goal’ and the commentators take the mick & have a laugh. Then Ozil is about to take the free kick that was awarded after the Wasilevski foul. Ozil says ‘God is Great'(in Arabic) & kicks the ball for Danny to head in.
If a player elbows/hits an opponent and the ref doesn’t see it and it’s picked up by the cameras retrospective punishment occurs
How is it that the Drinkwater tackle on Aaron Ramsey doesn’t come into that type of retrospective punishment because it was a worse offence
@Steve Vallins
I know it beggars belief, but Atkinson has reported that he saw the incident and doesn’t rate it a foul , let alone a caution of any kind. Can only review retrospectively if the ref says he missed the action.
Anyone know the ref for the Barca game..
You are tipster. And you will give Barca 7 penalties in the game. All in the first 15 minutes.
Percy it gets him out of a difficult position but must worry every fan and footballer in how he views totally unacceptable challenges
@Gord, very good, lol. …….7 is the perfect number, btw, says so in the Bible. All refs are sh&t, you and I maybe know that, but let’s see if we can get through a game without making excuses and judge the game and our performance with a fair assessment. Who is the better team, and dare I say manager.
@Tipster,
We would all love to have your naivety that football is clean, ref mistakes even out, tactics and team play is the only thing that wins games.
Yet last time we faced Barcelona, we were progressing 3-2 into the next round, until Busacca decided to send off RVP for what no one still knows, decided to give Arsenal 5 yellow cards to Barcelona’s 0, and ignored 3 Barcelona players choking Arsenal players necks right in front of him.
Oh yeah, and then 4 months later Busacca retired to become the Head of Refereeing Development with FIFA. I think we now know what he sent RVP off for and what to expect from the ref. Unfortunately, for refs it seems the only way they move up is by bringing the game into disrepute with clear bias against Arsenal in big games (Riley, Busacca, probably Dean next)
@Jerry,
Yes we were very unlucky that game, but I remember Bendtner missing a great chance late on, maybe a better player would have put it away, thing is, we’ve played Barca maybe 4 times in the knock out stages. Never beaten them. Why, can’t always be the refs fault.
I remember Arshivins goal at the Emirates too, was a great night, but something needs to change otherwise it same old same old. Btw, who knocked us out last year, was that the ref too, and the year before and before,…..if we are happy just getting to the knock out stage then it is a form of success, I want our name on the cup, more than anything, I’mnot interested in wenger being given all the credit for what, not winning, yes great man, bla bla bla. need a change. And yes the refs are sh&t….
@Tipster,
In regards to your comments about Barcelona, we have beaten them, particularly in the first leg mentioned above! You state, maybe a better player than Bendtner would have put that away, but forget we did have a better player, IT WAS RVP! who got sent off for no reason! Yet 3 Barcelona players were able to choke our players without getting sent off (actually their team did not even get a yellow card that game).
In that year, 2010/2011 we played them home and away, Arsenal won the home leg 2-1, and were tied 1-1 (up 3-2) in the away leg when the ref decided to get involved literally 3 minutes after Arsenal tied the score. That’s 2 games out of the 4 we should have won.
Arsenal tied them in the first leg the year (09/10) before 2-2 before losing 4-1 (away). In 4 matches we had 1 Win, 1 Draw, and 2 Losses. (Should have been 2 wins if not for Busacca).
So in 1 match, Barcelona only outplayed us, we should have won 2, and drawn 1. Barcelona has been getting favored by the refs for years. Arsenal will have to play near flawless football to overcome Barcelona and the ref.
Ok, but the tie was over two leagues, and what about the other years when we’re were knocked out, other teams. Thing is after 18 years we haven’t won the biggest prise in club football under wenger, and he has never won a European club competition. So, what should we do, keep going with the failed model or do something different, just to many failures and excuses. Reading some general comments it seems that some on this site support wenger before arsenal, support the manager yes, but not to the deterimient of the team. Like other walks of life you need to know when it’s time to go, wasted opportunity year after year. Great win yesterday, but it doesn’t hide the facts.
Perhaps, your last statement at 8:47 should have read that you are not interested in giving Wenger any credit. You focus on the one thing that the team has not been able to do, win the CL, but ignore the financial restrictions due to building the stadium, also numerous players getting injured due to assaults on the pitch. Many different managers have won the CL, but only 1 manager has gone a whole season undefeated in the Premier League.
@jerry,
Yes a lot of what wenger has done deserves great credit. The invincible season and team was superb. But he has stayed to long, living of previous glory. Why did he sell RVP. To Man Utd of all clubs, why did he buy senderous , an absolute clown, the pen against Liverpool in the QF was not a pen but the idiot should NOT give the ref a decision to make, also give Torres to much room for an earlier goal, fill the team with maybe 3 or 4 useless players every year because he can’t acknowledge he has made a mistake….but the years pass by, and still we say, next year, just two more signings, this player will do this, this one will get better, time is now, we live in the present, what other top European team would persevere with almost winning.
Percy,
I love your attention to detail.
I am not a referee, but I thought that Kante’s was a penalty and Sterling’s was not.
Never mind the other penalty: Vardy sending the ball in one direction and then going in a different direction, provoking contact after Monreal had slightly nicked the ball away, and falling like he had been hit by a bull. Not the first time this season a penalty has been given to the Leicester City diving team.
As to Atkinson, he cannot be pretend to have seen the incident and decided it was not a foul for a simple reason: Drinkwater contacted Ramsey and apologized for the foul.
@Tipster,
You mean the same RVP that never played a full season due to injuries until his final year before his contract expires and wouldn’t extend, had 1 more good year to win the championship (lots of Fergie time/dubious calls throughout the year), and was never healthy again since? So hold a player against his will so he’ll sulk and ruin the dressing room in his last year, or sell him so you can rebuild with new players?
Do you mean Philippe Senderos? The same Philippe Senderos that Arsenal and Arsene Wenger beat Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid to sign as a 17 year who also is a full Swiss international? You want Wenger to make signings that other top clubs want, but you try to beat him with one of the players he did exactly as you wanted. You go onto say the pen was not a pen, but blame the player and NOT the referee for making the wrong call! That’s not rational.
The squad players are not useless. You can not fill a whole bench full of world class players like it’s football manager or playstation. Players want to play to play for the national clubs. Look what happened with Debuchy!
You say you support the club, but do not like the manager and think the team has at least 3 or 4 useless players every year, so what part of the club do you actually support? The catering team, ball boys?
Jerry you are wasting a lot of time on a dildo thats run out of batteries. Tipster is full of Durham type bollocks. If he knows anything it is that Wenger is light years ahead of anything he can dream of with or without recharged batteries.
Final word on the Sterling decision – I think that was given by Dean, not Clattenberg. We all know how much Mike Dean LOVES it when the tiny totts score!