Arsenal v Everton: Sat 3 Feb 2018 – The Match Officials: beware bias, rogue penalties and old age.

by Andrew Crawshaw

Our officials are :-

  • Referee – Neil Swarbrick  age 52 from Lancashire
  • Assistant Referee 1 – Constantine Hatzidakis  from Kent and FIFA accredited
  • Assistant Referee 2 – Daniel Cook  from Hampshire
  • Fourth Official – Craig Pawson  age 38 from South Yorkshire and FIFA accredited

The first thing to say is that with speedy players on both teams, I hope that Mr Swarbrick has the ability to keep up with play for the whole 90 minutes.

This is the second time this season that Mr Swarbrick will have refereed an Arsenal Game, he was previously in charge of our away game at Watford on 14 October.  Here is my summary from the preview to that game :-

  1. Mr Swarbrick hasn’t always displayed an adequate knowledge of the rules of the game which is worrying for a referee at the highest level.  I hope he has now learned them otherwise we could be in for a troubling afternoon.
  2. His bias figures against Arsenal are at the extreme end of the spectrum (83%, 87% and 100% against in the last three games we analysed.  I hope for a good referee, but can cope with a bad one providing the mistakes are reasonably evenhanded.  When every wrong decision by a referee in a game is against Arsenal I have a major issue with the officials – particularly when two result in wrongly awarded goals against Arsenal and the third is a non awarded penalty for Arsenal.
  3. It is extremely unlikely that Arsenal will be awarded a penalty – Mr Swarbrick doesn’t award many and it is quite likely that a Watford player who should be carded won’t be.
  4. As ever though the best approach for Arsenal will be to start quickly and get an early goal or two to remove the possibility of the Officials influencing the game.

You will probably recall that this was a game that we lost 2 – 1.  In my opinion this loss was decided by Mr Swarbrick.

Firstly there were two penalty decisions the first where he failed to award a penalty against Holebas when he fouled Wellbeck (clip 12 in Usama’s clips – see link below), the second when he wrongly gave one against Bellerin when Richarlison dived (clip 12).  Naturally they scored their penalty.

Their second goal should also have been disallowed as Deeney was offside in the buildup (clip 14).  So we scored one good goal from open play and were denied a chance of a second when not awarded a penalty.  Watford were wrongly awarded a penalty from which they scored and then were allowed an offside goal.  Just about sums up our away season really.

Usama’s video clips can be found on this twitter web log.  https://twitter.com/mrarsenal93/status/899035664997548034

Summary

  1. I therefore see no need to alter my predictions for Mr Swarbrick in this game.  He is a typical PGMO employee therefore as ever we should expect the worst.
  2. Based on past experience, we won’t be awarded any 50/50 call – in fact I will be surprised if we get many 70/30 calls.
  3. The chance of an Arsenal penalty is verging on non-existant, whereas the chance of an Everton penalty is probably odds on.
  4. Everton players will be allowed to get away with challenges that would be penalised if committed by an Arsenal Player.
  5. As always we should watch out for the ‘phantom foul’ routine – a stoppage for no valid reason but calculated to relieve pressure on Everton or to allow them to increase pressure on Arsenal.

COYG

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11 Replies to “Arsenal v Everton: Sat 3 Feb 2018 – The Match Officials: beware bias, rogue penalties and old age.”

  1. Another way past it official. (That black boot polish on his hair looks ridiculous.) Fear the worst for our guys with Williams piling in and no protection. Really looking forward to the game though and watching our new signings. So brilliant to have Mesut on board. I’m hoping that Mo gets a run as DM – he’s done enough to show his discipline in that role. COYG!

  2. Sorry to go off topic but I just caught 2 mins of Football Focus on BBC 1 and I couldn’t believe what I was listening to.

    For some reason the BBC actually believe the series of disgraceful assaults on Man City players we have all witnessed these last few weeks are for some strange reason an acceptable part of the game.

    First off I have to say it is kind of a double edge sword for me, because on the one hand it makes a refreshing change to see another teams grievances treated with the same contempt ours are treated, but on the other hand, I don’t care who it is, being on the receiving end of those kind of challenges is simply unacceptable.

    Nobody, Arsenal, Man City, or anyone else for that matter, should have players careers put at risk simply on the basis that they are ‘too good’ for the opposition, which seems to be the defence being put up by Lawrenson and co.

    He actually believes that no player goes out to hurt another. BOLLOCKS.

    I’m not saying they go out to deliberately end a career, but does he truly believe there is no intent to ‘hurt’ in those challenges?

    Yes, I have issues with Man City’s spending and where that money comes from, but that is not the players, or even the managers fault, and it certainly doesn’t validate the montage of disgraceful assaults I just saw.

    The kind of bollocks I just heard from Lawrence is just one of many reasons why our native players are still technically way behind our continental counterparts.

    To defend the sort of tackles that have seen our players careers ended, and that will eventually do the same to a City player, is disgraceful, and the likes of Lawrenson should hang their heads in shame.

    Sorry for the rant but I just couldn’t believe what I was listening to.

  3. We have to start playing in a way that makes any ref “mistakes” obvious, but we sometimes let them have a too easy time of it by helping them.

    I do hope the team is ready to defend the home ground, Big Sam has got the better of AW before, so he knows how to play Arsenal, so we should be aware.

    Our players need to look forward to the times when the sickness at Arsenal is eradicated and Arsenal becomes a healthy team again.

    This will be done at the end of this season i personally think, good signs have started to materialise that signify a great change then.

    So today, the team needs to show they are ready for the change and perform like an Arsenal team, the New Arsenal.

    I was very optimistic the last game, but they let us down, let us see if today is a different Arsenal, an Arsenal that mutinies and get back to playing the game as needed to win.

    Come on Arsenal, come on. We have been waiting for too long now.

  4. Nitram
    “He actually believes that no player goes out to hurt another. BOLLOCKS.”

    I agree with you 100% man.

    They tend to spout the Media mantra “everything is alright” in order to project the premise that football is a game where little “angels” play and it is all hunky dory. They tend to forget the horrific incidents that have happened over the years, and the fact that they love to see a “rough and tumble” shows their mental state.

    I wonder why they do not go and join the forces if they love to fight. Probably too cowardly, preferring to watch rather than do.

  5. “Come on Arsenal, come on. We have been waiting for too long now.”

    For what?

    A Trophy?

    Sure I saw us win 3 FA Cups.

  6. Para

    “They tend to spout the Media mantra “everything is alright” in order to project the premise that football is a game where little “angels” play and it is all hunky dory. They tend to forget the horrific incidents that have happened over the years, and the fact that they love to see a “rough and tumble” shows their mental state.”

    Absolutely.

  7. By and large, the players lack the knowledge of physics or of medicine to understand how likely it is for the person receiving the “tackle” to become injured. Especially for injuries that are potentially career ending. The person most guilty in terms of “intent”, is the manager or coach who teaches players to act like this. They are the ones who should understand the possible consequences of those actions. Next most guilty of “intent”, are the managers and coaches who have observed _their_ player performing these acts, and who have not made an effort to educate the player out of these actions.

    Of course, there are players who have actually seriously injured opponents, and they continue to act in the same way. They are stupid beyond all belief. And they should receive lifetime bans.

  8. Interesting to see Man$ity is collecting goals, and Burnley is collecting yellows. Another upset would be nice however.

    Go Burnley and Huddersfield!

  9. Interesting injury story in the news.

    I have a problem with woodpeckers. Well, not Hairy or Downy Woodpeckers, but with Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers.

    The CBC has a story (http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/woodpecker-brain-damage-protein-1.4514281) about a recent article in PLOS ONE on woodpeckers and concussions. Woodpecker brains sustain accelerations of 1200 to 1400G on the order of 1 million times in their lifetimes, and don’t seem to suffer concussions. Human brains see accelerations of 60-100G, and we suffer concussions. It seems like humans, woodpeckers have a protein called ‘tau’ in their brains. Maybe the form of tau in the woodpecker brain protects them from concussions?

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