Editorial note: No organisation has ever analysed and reviewed the performance of Premier League referees before in this much detail. As I am sure you can understand, the amount of time it takes our team to complete this work is enormous, but all of us feel this is worth it, for the simple reason that anything that helps overcome the scourge of bad refereeing (be it due to incompetence, a lack of proper resources such as video equipment or a deliberate attempt to manipulate the outcome of a game) is worthwhile. I would personally like to thank our team of observers and analysts for undertaking this task. Tony Attwood, publisher, Untold Arsenal.
By the Referee team
1 : Details of the Match Referees and Assistants
| Manchester United vs. Manchester City [1-2]
Referee – Mark Clattenburg 1st Assistant Referee – Jake Collin 2nd Assistant Referee – Simon Bennett Fourth Official – Mike Dean |
Bournemouth vs. West Bromwich [1-0]
Referee – Kevin Friend 1st Assistant Referee – Simon Long 2nd Assistant Referee – Derek Eaton Fourth Official – Chris Kavanagh |
| Arsenal vs. Southampton [2-1]
Referee – Robert Madley 1st Assistant Referee – Marc Perry 2nd Assistant Referee – Edward Smart Fourth Official – Simon Hooper |
Burnley vs. Hull City [1-1]
Referee – Paul Tierney 1st Assistant Referee – Simon Beck 2nd Assistant Referee – Ian Hussin Fourth Official – Michael Oliver |
| Middlesbrough vs. Crystal Palace [1-2]
Referee – Neil Swarbrick 1st Assistant Referee – Scott Ledger 2nd Assistant Referee – Andy Halliday Fourth Official – Mike Jones |
Stoke City vs. Tottenham [0-4]
Referee – Anthony Taylor 1st Assistant Referee – Peter Kirkup 2nd Assistant Referee – Gary Beswick Fourth Official – Jon Moss |
| West Ham United vs. Watford [2-4]
Referee – Martin Atkinson 1st Assistant Referee – Stephen Child 2nd Assistant Referee – Stuart Burt Fourth Official – Steve Martin |
Liverpool vs. Leicester City [4-1]
Referee – Craig Pawson 1st Assistant Referee – Harry Lennard 2nd Assistant Referee – Adrian Holmes Fourth Official – Lee Mason |
| Swansea City vs. Chelsea [2-2]
Referee – Andre Marriner 1st Assistant Referee – Adam Nunn 2nd Assistant Referee – Andy Garratt Fourth Official – Roger East |
Sunderland vs. Everton [0-3]
Referee – Mike Jones 1st Assistant Referee – Mark Scholes 2nd Assistant Referee – Darren Cann Fourth Official – Neil Swarbrick |
2 : Matchweek 4 Summary
Referees of the week ( with no wrong Important Decisions) – Paul Tierney and Mike Jones this was, for both of them, their first games of the season so well done to the pair of them. Paul Tierney gets the vote for referee of the week by virtue of also getting three Important Decisions right (Mike Jones had one correct). There is an argument for the prize of the week going to Mark Clattenberg who got six Important Decisions correct but as he also got two wrong that rules him out.
Worst Referee of the Week with 3 wrong Important Decisions Andre Marriner (see incidents 12, 13 and 14 below)
Penalties – There have been 47 correct decisions relating to penalties so far this season and 15 wrong ones. This is a vast improvement on the figures that we have noted in previous seasons and is a very welcome development. Long may it continue.
3: Games where the referee arguably affected the results
- Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace, result was a 1 – 2 away win for Palace but we feel that the correct result should have been a win to Middlesbrough. In Min 72 McArthur stamped on Ramirez foot – this should have been a straight red card giving Middlesbrough a man advantage for some 30 minutes of the game. In Min 73 Dann committed a deliberate handball in the Palace penalty area but this wasn’t spotted by the referee or linesmen. A penalty should have been awarded from which Middlesbrough would probably have scored.
- Swansea City v Chelsea, result was a 2 – 2 draw but we feel that the result should have been a Swansea win. The Swansea goal in Min 62 should not have counted as Fer kicked both of Cahill’s legs before dispossessing him and scoring. Costa should have been sent off for a second bookable offence in Min 65, leaving Chelsea a man short for a minimun of 25 minutes play. Min 92 Fer was clearly fouled by Fabregas inside the penalty area without the spot kick being given.
4: Lucky players who should have been sent off but weren’t
- Straight red cards (should be missing the next three games) – McArthur (Crystal Palace) and Evans (West Brom)
- Yellow card (should have missed the next game) – Fonte (Southampton), Rooney (Man United), Bailly (Man United), Wanyama (Spurs)
- Villain of the Week – McArthur for a deliberate stamp on Ramirez.
5: List of Major Errors on Match Day #04 (with links to video clips)
A technical note here that may save you time/effort/energy when switching between the article and the video clips – If your mouse has a middle click (the scroll) press it on the link, and it will open in a new tab. Another solution, hold “Ctrl” and press the left click to open in a new tab; alternatively, Right click on the link, then select to open in a new tab or window.
1. No Penalty For Arsenal (Min 91) – Koscienly was kicked in the face by Fonte in the box. [Ref – Robert Madley] Last Minute Fonte kick Koscinely
2. No Second Yellow Card Against Fonte (Min 91) – Fonte committed two yellow card offences but was only booked for one. [Ref – Robert Madley] Fonte elbow on Giroud no yellow Fonte elbow on Giroud no yellow_0009
3. No Second Yellow Card Against Rooney (Min 83) – Rooney committed two yellow card offences. One was two reckless fouls in 2 seconds and one was a reckless challenge on Bravo. He was only booked for one. [Ref –Mark Clattenburg] Man Utd vs Man City Rooney No Yellow Card
4. No Second Yellow Card Against Bailly (Min 45) – Bailly committed two attack breaking fouls but was only booked for one. [Ref –Mark Clattenburg] Man Utd vs Man City Bailly No Yellow Card Man Utd vs Man City Bailly No Yellow Card0002 Man Utd vs Man City Bailly Attack Breaking Foul
5. No Penalty For Middlesbrough (Min 73) – Dann clearly used his hand to block the ball. Hand was in natural position from a long way. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick] Boro vs Palace Dann Penalty Boro vs Palace Dann Penalty_0005 Boro vs Palace Dann Penalty_0006
6. No Red Card Against McArthur (Min 72) – McArthur clearly planted his studs on the foot of Ramirez. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick] Boro vs Palace McArthur Yellow RED
7. No Penalty For West Brom (Min 50) – Cook was not even looking at the ball and was clearly determined to stop the run of Pawson. [Ref – Kevin Friend] Bournemouth vs West Brom Dawson Cook Penalty
8. No Red Card Against Evans (Min 88) – Evans makes a lunging tackle from behind and goes through the player. [Ref – Kevin Friend] Bournemouth vs West Brom Evans Yellow Red
9. No Penalty For Liverpool (Min 61) – Huth clearly tripped Sturridge in the box off the ball. [Ref – Craig Pawson] Liverpool vs Leicester Sturridge Penalty
10. No Penalty For Liverpool (Min 40) – Fuchs made a clear push and barge in the back of Sturridge. [Ref – Craig Pawson] Liverpool vs Leicester Second Sturridge Penalty
11. No Second Yellow Card Against Wanyama (Min 50) – Wanyama made one reckless foul and one attack breaking foul, but was only booked for one. [Ref – Anthony Taylor] Stoke vs Spurs Wanayama First Yellow Card Stoke vs Spurs Wanyama Attack Breaking foul no yellow card
12. No Second Yellow Card Against Costa (Min 65) – Costa made one reckless tackle and one clear cheating attempt to con the ref by diving. But was only booked for one. [Ref – Andre Marriner] Swansea vs Chelsea Costa Poor Tackle Swansea vs Chelsea Costa Dive no yellow_0009 Swansea vs Chelsea Costa Dive no yellow
13. Wrong Goal Against Chelsea (Min 62) – Fer clearly fouled by Cahill in the build up to the goal. [Ref – Andre Marriner] Swansea vs Chelsea Fer Cahill Foul Goal Swansea vs Chelsea Fer Cahill Foul Goal002 Swansea vs Chelsea Fer Cahill Foul Goal003 Swansea vs Chelsea Fer Cahill Foul Goal004
14. No Penalty For Swansea (Min 92) – Ki was clearly fouled in the box by Fabregas. [Ref – Andre Marriner] Swansea vs Chelsea Ki Fabregas Penalty Swansea vs Chelsea Ki Fabregas Penalty002
6: List of Major Correct Decisions on Match Day #04
1. Correct Non-Penalty For Southampton (Min 33) – Perez appeared to have been blocked by Fonte and Van Dijk but no replay or clear footage shown. Assumed correct. [Ref – Robert Madley]
2. Correct Non-Penalty For Southampton (Min 52) – Perez appeared to have been pushed by Van Dijk but no replay or clear footage shown. Assumed correct. [Ref – Robert Madley]
3. Correct Penalty For Arsenal (Min 91) – Fonte clearly pulled Giroud’s shirt and tripped him from behind in the box. [Ref – Robert Madley]
4. Correct Non-Penalty For Man City (Min 56) – Rooney and Bravo both got the ball in the same way. The ball was blocked between their feet. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
5. Correct Non-Penalty For Man City (Min 75) – The ball hits the chest of Fernando in the box. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
6. Correct Non-Penalty For Man City (Min 58) – The ball hits the arm behind the body of Otamendi, not intentional. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
7. Correct Non-Penalty For Man United (Min 30) – Fellaini and Nolito both had their arm in an unnatural way around each other in the box. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
8. Correct Non-Penalty For Man United (Min 25) – Blind committed an obstruction foul on Sterling without playing the ball. So it should have been an indirect free kick in the box in favor of Man City. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
9. Correct Non-Penalty For Man United (Min 80) – Bailly tackled the ball cleanly out of the box and Nolito went down on the follow through. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
10. Correct Non-Penalty For Middlesbrough (Min 26) – Ayala and Dann both their arms wrapped around each other in the box. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick]
11. Correct Non-Penalty For Crystal Palace (Min 89) – The ball bounced off the keeper and hits arm of Delaney from a short distance. Arm was also in natural position. No movement of hand towards the ball. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick]
12. Correct Non-Penalty For Burnley (Min 84) – Keeper didn’t reach towards the player and cleared the ball. Mason also dived to the ground later. [Ref – Paul Tierney]
13. Correct Non-Penalty For Hull City (Min 58) – Robertson clearly played the ball and then the attacker ran in to him. [Ref – Paul Tierney]
14. Correct Non-Penalty For Hull City (Min 60) – Vokes looked to have been fouled. Not enough video evidence to review the decision. Ref’s decision stands correct. [Ref – Paul Tierney]
15. Correct Non-Penalty For Everton (Min 17) – Gooch appeared to ran into Jagielka. Not enough video evidence to review the decision. Ref’s decision stands correct. [Ref – Mike Jones]
16. Correct Non-Penalty For Leicester (Min 47) – Foul occurred slightly outside the box on Firmino. [Ref – Craig Pawson]
17. Correct Non-Penalty For Stoke (Min 37) – Stoke defender made no foul, Alli went down looking for contact. [Ref – Anthony Taylor]
18. Correct Non-Penalty For Stoke (Min 62) – Martins Indi made no foul and was standing in his position. Kane went down just on the moment of bodily contact. [Ref – Anthony Taylor]
19. Correct Non-Penalty For Stoke (Min 20) – Cameron made a clean tackle in the box. [Ref – Anthony Taylor]
20. Correct Non-Penalty For Swansea (Min 78) – Ball from close range against the hand in front of Ki’s body. [Ref – Andre Marriner]
21. Correct Penalty For Swansea (Min 58) – Courtois brings down Sigurdsson in the box after missing the ball. [Ref – Andre Marriner]
7: Major Wrong Decisions Made by Referees
| Matchweek 4 | Season to Date | ||||||||||
| Referee | 2nd Yellow | Red | Penalties | Goals | Total | Total Games | 2nd Yellow | Red | Penalties | Goals | Total |
| Andre Marriner | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Anthony Taylor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Craig Pawson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Jon Moss | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| Kevin Friend | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Lee Mason | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Mark Clattenburg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Martin Atkinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Oliver | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| Mike Dean | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | |||||
| Mike Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neil Swarbrick | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Paul Tierney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Madley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Roger East | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Stuart Attwell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Andre Marriner made the most wrong Important Decisions this week with 3, Craig Pawson, Kevin Friend, Mark Clattenberg, Neil Swarbrick and Robert Madley all made 2. It is interesting to note that the three referees who have only done one game each Mike Jones, Paul Tierney and Stuart Attwell have between them made no wrong Important Decisions. Also with a zero score after two games is Lee Mason. Can we see them more often please?
8: Major Correct Major Decisions Made by Referees
| Matchweek 4 | Season to Date | ||||||||
| Referee | Second Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Penalties | Total | Matches | Second Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Penalties | Total |
| Andre Marriner | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Anthony Taylor | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Craig Pawson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Jon Moss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2+1* | 3 | ||||
| Kevin Friend | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Lee Mason | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1+1* | 2 | ||||
| Mark Clattenburg | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8+1* | 9 |
| Martin Atkinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Michael Oliver | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Mike Dean | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Mike Jones | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Neil Swarbrick | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Paul Tierney | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Robert Madley | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Roger East | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Stuart Attwell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2+1* | 3 | ||||
Note – The *(Asterisk) is used to show a decision of high doubt, with the benefit being given to the referee.
9: Major Wrong Decisions Against Teams
This table is sorted so that the teams with the most wrong decisions are at the top and those with the least are at the bottom.
Sunderland and Burnley have still to have a wrong Important Decision against them
| Team | Second Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Penalties | Goals | Total |
| Arsenal | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Chelsea | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Manchester City | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Everton | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Hull City | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Swansea City | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| West Ham United | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Middlesbrough | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Southampton | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Stoke City | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Tottenham | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| West Bromwich | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Bournemouth | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Crystal Palace | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Leicester City | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Manchester United | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Watford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Burnley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
10: Major Wrong Decisions in Favour of Teams
This is the converse of the table in section 9 and shows where the largesse of the PGMO has fallen.
Leicester remain at the top with 8 in favour more than counteracting the one they have against them. For Chelsea their 6 in favour exactly matches those they have against them. Unfortunately for Arsenal the one in favour is outweighed by the eight against us.
| Team | Second Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Penalties | Goals | Total |
| Leicester City | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| Chelsea | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Manchester United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Stoke City | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Watford | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Crystal Palace | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Liverpool | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Tottenham | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| West Bromwich | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Manchester City | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Southampton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Swansea City | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| West Ham United | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Arsenal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bournemouth | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Burnley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hull City | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Everton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Middlesbrough | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Possible Change in Points Week-by-Week Due To Wrong Major Decisions
| Team | Week #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | Total |
| Arsenal | 0 | +2 | 0 | 0 | +2 |
| Bournemouth | 0 | 0 | +2 | 0 | +2 |
| Burnley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chelsea | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 |
| Crystal Palace | 0 | +1 | -1 | -3 | -3 |
| Everton | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 |
| Hull City | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | +1 |
| Leicester City | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| Manchester City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manchester United | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | -2 |
| Middlesbrough | +2 | 0 | 0 | +3 | +5 |
| Southampton | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 |
| Stoke City | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swansea City | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | +2 |
| Tottenham | -1 | -2 | +2 | 0 | -1 |
| Watford | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| West Bromwich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Ham United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
English Premier League Table Official after match day four
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Manchester City | 12 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 10 |
| 3 | Everton | 10 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 9 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 8 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 7 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 7 |
| 8 | Hull City | 7 |
| 9 | Middlesbrough | 5 |
| 10 | Watford | 4 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 4 |
| 12 | West Bromwich | 4 |
| 13 | Swansea City | 4 |
| 14 | Bournemouth | 4 |
| 15 | Burnley | 4 |
| 16 | Leicester City | 4 |
| 17 | West Ham | 3 |
| 18 | Southampton | 2 |
| 19 | Sunderland | 1 |
| 20 | Stoke City | 1 |
English Premier League Table after match day four adjusted to change in points due to Major Wrong Decisions.
| Rank | Team | Total Change in Points | Points | Difference (in places) from Official table |
| 1 | Manchester C | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 2 | Everton | +2 | 12 | +1 |
| 3 | Middlesbrough | +5 | 10 | +6 |
| 4 | Arsenal | +2 | 9 | +3 |
| 5 | Chelsea | -1 | 9 | -3 |
| 6 | Hull City | +1 | 8 | +2 |
| 7 | Manchester U | -2 | 7 | -3 |
| 8 | Tottenham | -1 | 7 | -3 |
| 9 | Bournemouth | +2 | 6 | +5 |
| 10 | Liverpool | -1 | 6 | -4 |
| 11 | Swansea City | +2 | 6 | +2 |
| 12 | Burnley | 0 | 4 | +3 |
| 13 | Southampton | +2 | 4 | +5 |
| 14 | WBA | 0 | 4 | -2 |
| 15 | Leicester City | -1 | 3 | +1 |
| 16 | Watford | -1 | 3 | -6 |
| 17 | WHU | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Crystal Palace | -3 | 1 | -7 |
| 19 | Sunderland | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Stoke City | -1 | 0 | 0 |
- “Costa received far too little protection from referee Michael Oliver,” and I didn’t make that quote up
- Arsenal – Chelsea: 3-0 for a team without a centre forward
- Arsenal v Chelsea: the teams, the predictions, the fair play league thus far
- Arsenal v Chelsea, groundhog day, oddball referees, injuries and Mr Africa to buy AFC.
Anniversary of the day.
26 September 2002: Arsenal beat Leeds away 4–1 to create record for scoring in 47 consecutive games, and for 22 away league games without defeat.
A wider range of anniversaries of today are shown on the home page and you can find 5000 Arsenal anniversaries arranged day by day on the Arsenal History Society site.
WOW…..big ups to all you guys. great work.
This is absolutely fantastic work lads.
Doing all this in depth analysis, of such a cross section of matches, will surely go a long way to eliminating any accusation of bias being applied in regard to Arsenal.
Why is that, I hear the usual suspects say ?
Well, the biggest obstacle the reviewers have to overcome is the inherent nature of so many decisions, and that is that there is often are large element of personal ‘interpretation’ or ‘subjectivity’ involved.
Firstly, the fact that a ‘team’ are working on them lessens the impact of one individuals ‘interpretation’.
Secondly, covering such a cross section of matches, most of which do not involve Arsenal, will hopefully show how ‘interpretation’ and ‘subjectivity’ are applied evenly across the board to every team.
In other words it will openly show Arsenal being assessed in the exact same way everyone else is assessed. In other words, if there is a referee bias against Spurs it should show up in the same way it will if there is a referee bias against Arsenal.
But don’t worry lads, even with all this I just know some people will still accuse you all of being biased towards Arsenal.
But as far as I’m concerned, brilliant work lads, brilliant.
–Now that being said, it doesn’t mean everybody will agree with every conclusion, because as I said, with the ‘subjective’ nature of many decisions, and humans being humans, that would be impossible.
And with that in mind, right off, I want to raise my own question, and it involves Arsenal, and is regarding this decision:
5: List of Major Errors on Match Day #04
1. No Penalty For Arsenal (Min 91) – Koscienly was kicked in the face by Fonte in the box. [Ref – Robert Madley] Last Minute Fonte kick Koscinely
I asked this question at the time, and it was, isn’t there an argument that Koscielny, with his head down at around hip height, was contravening the law regarding ‘dangerous play’ ?
The relevant law being:
DANGEROUS PLAY: RECOGNITION AND APPLICATION OF THE RULE:
The opposite of a high kick is the low header. This is the situation when a defender dives with his/her head in a low position to contact the ball but is close to an opponent who may be trying to kick the ball. This is clearly dangerous play, but the Referee should always allow an exception for the goalkeeper who is attempting to dive on the ball.
–I’m not saying it was or wasn’t dangerous play from Koscielny, I don’t know.
But as far as I could see his head was down to a height at which I would consider swinging a boot to kick the ball was a perfectly legitimate act.
Koscielny, either by design or accident, ended up with his head in a dangerous place, and he got a kick to it.
Unfortunate and painful no doubt, but surely an accident in which both players where just attempting to play the ball.
Dangerous play by Koscielny ?
Dangerous play by Fonte ?
I think both are equally at fault under the ‘dangerous play’ law.
Why am I wrong ? Please explain.
Incredible work has gone into this.
Starting to see patterns of individuals, and teams who appear to get away with it
Great work lads. Thanks.
@Jambug,
For me it is a matter of timing, the kick to the head is late, the ball had gone by the time the kick arrived. So in the same way that a late tackle is a foul a late kick is a foul and contact with a players head is always dangerous play.
Andrew
Yep, I see the logic to that.
Thanks.
Impressive work indeed. Should go a long way towards dispelling the notion of a pro-Arsenal bias.
On another ref-related matter, the BBC reported that Uefa had Forest-Anderlecht referee bribe evidence for four years. Worth an article from Untold?
Excellent work Walter, Usama, and the Untold team! The only recommendation that I would make is to include at the end of article a link to another page that lists the comprehensive referee reviews from each matchweek.
For example, Comprehensive reviews for prior match weeks can be found here.
That would help new people to the site understand the adjusted points table.
Thanks Jerry. Note taken.
Jambug, the question you asked has been very well answered by Andrew about the Fonte/Koscielny incident.
If let us say Fonte would have been standing upright (he wasn’t but just suppose) and Koscielny diving in and Fonte kicking ball and then the head it would be dangerous play from Koscielny.
But Fonte didn’t kick the ball at all. The ball hit Fonte on the chest, not his foot. And it was at the time when the ball hit his chest he kicked Koscielny against his face. And as Fonte was also bending through his knees he was lowering his reach lower to the ground also. So the area to make a dangerous header also was closer to the ground than it would have been if he had been standing upright.
A question for all readers, should we also include the links for ‘Correct Major Decisions’ or not?
Jerry provided us with one suggestion, any more are welcomed.
Walter
Thanks for the explanation.
Guys please sign this petition
https://www.change.org/p/josé-mourinho-marouane-fellaini-back-in-the-starting-line?recruiter=602077418&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=whatsapp
A reference to where the Laws & their recommended interpretations (note to referees) can be found. This will allow initial questions to be answered.
dan – ha ha ha ha ha! club, player & manager can all fail with no sympathy from me.
Menace, noted down ☑.
dan
Very funny.
How about one for Rooney ?
If only for the referees sake. How they must miss all there ‘little chats’ when he’s not playing.
Thanks for this. The video helps immensely, and the Gifs allow us to re-see incidents quickly to see what we need to see.
Come on people, sign it
Lets do it
@ Usama
I was think it whilst reading the article but your question has prompted me to say that what I would like to see is a table showing the percentage of major decisions correctly/incorrectly called.
The table showing correct major decisions makes it look like Clattenburg is head and shoulders above the others. This may or may not be the case (I haven’t had time to check) but the his nine major correct decisions can only really be viewed in the context of the total number of major decisions he had to make. His actual percentage of major decisions correct is 64%. Compare this to Tierney who has only got three correct but this is actually 100%.
PS A fantastic job. WELL DONE!
Goonermikey
Good point about percentages.
Ok, when the overall number of decisions made by any particular individual is small, like over just one weekend, it’s not so revealing.
But over time it would give a very graphic indication of a referees performance in what is the most important part of his job.
I have a feeling some marks will end up being very low.
Goonermikey,
Thanks, point taken in to notice.
===================
Arsenal vs Basel will have refs from Nederlands.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Kevin Blom (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)
Fourth Official: Jan de Vries (NED)
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Ronald Zimmermann (GER)
Really impressive work Usama et.al. Are you guys retired or gentlemen of leisure?
@omg,
I’m retired, Walter and Usama both work. None of us are gentlemen of leisure!
I will only retire in some 8-10 years… but I gather by then the video ref has taken up our place…. 😉 So I will be fully retired then 🙂
Just noticed something- they seem to have taken away the facility on the premier league website to check through a referee’s history.
I found that very useful when digging to see how many games a ref had done in the current and previous years, how many games with particular teams, etc. Also where I looked when checking if refs had been given any time off after not screwing us in a game.
Unless I’m mistaken…pgmol have become a little less open. Marvellous stuff! Now they just have a list of their names with didley squat else to look at.
Wanted to check if either Madley or East had missed any games after Saints and Hull.
A superb piece of work, well done guys.
@Rich,
That’s disappointing, I used that same referee index from the premier league website in my article comparing the unequal match distribution of premier league refs compared to the other Top 5 European leagues last season.
Jerry
Definitely disappointing. I can’t see any reason for doing it other than to make it even harder to keep track of pgmol activities.
One of those things which makes me think they keep an eye on what we talk about here on Untold.
@Rich&Jerry
Search for desired Referee on transfermarkt(dot)co(dot)uk website. Should give you the info you’re after(previous appointments, scorelines, no. red/yellow cards awarded, penalties awarded and “results according to club”.
example
www(dot)transfermarkt(dot)co(dot)uk/mike-dean/bilanz/schiedsrichter/379
Premier League – Referees 16/17
www(dot)transfermarkt(dot)co(dot)uk/premier-league/schiedsrichter/wettbewerb/GB1
Fantastic work chaps. Whilst it can be argued that secondary consequences are less than certain (penalty=goal, 10 men concede, booked player would have committed same offence if not booked, the same scenario would have happened irrespective of the first) there is a clear methodology which when applied consistently, as it is, gives the results high validity and should help the cause.
It would be interesting to share this with the referees fraternity to see if they agree and if not why not. If they can disagree.
Hopefully there is growing acceptance that video assistance is necessary not least to prevent the howlers that are simply embarrassing for the ref involved (ie fact not opinion) and affect the match in which they happen.
I noticed that Leicester were reportedly moaning that they were being hit by the clampdown on dark arts and rugby techniques. Let’s just hope it is not just this year. No need to mention why stoke are where they are?
Thanks for the info Gunz
Cheers Gunz