by Andrew Crawshaw
A quick preview this week as I still don’t have the usual time available (Cancer is a bitch).
Here courtesy of Premierleague.com are the Week 33 matches and officials
Friday, 5 April
20:00 Southampton v Liverpool
- Referee: Paul Tierney
- Assistants: Stuart Burt, Darren Cann
- Fourth official: Graham Scott
Saturday, 6 April (all matches 15:00 kickoff)
- Referee: Martin Atkinson
- Assistants: Stephen Child, Harry Lennard
- Fourth official: Simon Hooper
- Referee: David Coote
- Assistants: Marc Perry, Peter Kirkup
- Fourth official: Jonathan Moss
- Referee: Stuart Attwell
- Assistants: Simon Long, Richard West
- Fourth official: Craig Pawson
Sunday, 7 April
14:05 Everton v Arsenal
- Referee: Kevin Friend
- Assistants: Matthew Wilkes, Adrian Holmes
- Fourth official: Mike Dean
Monday, 8 April
20:00 Chelsea v West Ham
- Referee: Chris Kavanagh
- Assistants: Daniel Cook, Constantine Hatzidakis
- Fourth official: Jonathan Moss
It’s a light fixture list this weekend due to the FA Cup Semi-finals. I am also sure that last Monday’s match between Wolves and Fulham was a Week 33 game, but the official site listed it with the Week 32 matches (mind you they also listed some Week 31 matches as well and there is still one Week 30 match outstanding)
With last Week’s appearance by Anthony Taylor we became the first team this season to have a referee for 6 matches. He has done 28 in total so far (the most of all the referees) and I would love to know officially why 21% of his workload has involved a single club. It’s not that he is a good referee because manifestly he isn’t. He’s not even able to engineer a loss in our home games because we are too good. I just hope that we have seen the last of him but with 7 matches to go the odds have to say we will have him again at some point.
Other multiple appearances have come from Jonathan Moss (4) and Martin Atkinson, Chris Kavanagh and Graham Scott with three each.
Chelsea have had Craig Pawson 5 times, Liverpool have had both Martin Atkinson and Michael Oliver 5 times, City have had no-one more than 4 times (Andre Marriner, Kevin Friend and Paul Tierney, United have Mike Dean and Jonathan Moss 5 times and Spurs have also had Mike Dean 5 times but we are the only ones so far to have had six visits.
City have had the fewest referees with 11, Liverpool, United and Spurs have each had 12, We have had 13 and Chelsea the most of the top six with 15 different referees. Outside the top six, Everton and West Ham have each had 16 and Brighton and Watford the most different referees with 17.
On Sunday we are away at Everton and we have Kevin Friend, who you all know I regard as one of the least objectionable of the bunch. Unfortunately I have to temper that with the thought that Mike Dean is the Fourth Official and his appearance is always a concern. His one other Fourth Official appearance for us was in our away game at Fulham which we won 5 – 1, but against a team now relegated I am not going to take any comfort from that result.
It will only be our second match with Mr Friend, he was in charge in our game against Burnley which we won 3 – 1 on 22 December. We got two yellow cards (min 41 and 59) from 10 fouls, Burnley got 4 yellows (Min 36, 48, 60 and 60) from 14 fouls.
Funny how we get Anthony Taylor six times and Kevin Friend only twice.
This will be Everton’s fourth game under Mr Friend, previously:-
Chelsea v Everton 11 Nov (0 – 0) Chelsea 3 bookings (min 3, 14 and 81) from 12 fouls, Everton one booking (min 50) from 12 fouls.
Everton v Watford 10 Dec (2 – 2) Everton one booking from 13 fouls, Watford one booking (min 81) from 13 fouls.
Cardiff v Everton 26 Feb (0 – 3) Cardiff 3 bookings (min 7, 14 and 81) from 12 fouls, Everton one booking (min 50) from 12 fouls
We should still look out for all of the usual crap decisions, hopefully just fewer of them.
Everton are managing remarkably few bookings (3) for the number of fouls committed (37) under Mr Friend. The League average is a card per 6.5 fouls or halfof what Everton have got under Mr Friend.
COYG
Up next: Which team is penalised for the most (and least) fouls and which club gets the most fouled players?
Okay. Because of his being friendly to both teams in a match in the PL and not showing prejudice to any of them in action, but does his refereeing work adhering strictly to the rules and laws guiding the game. However, the appointment of referee Kevin Friend to referee the match between Everton and Arsenal at Goodison Park on Sunday in the PL could turnout to be a ploy after all by the PGMO to deceive to enable them have Arsenal subverted in the game unsuspectingly. Because referee Kevin Friend is known to not be in the group of the 5 senior referees of: Mike Dean, Anthony Taylor, Andrie Marriner, Jonathan Moss and Michael Oliver at the PGMO who have been mostly used and are still being used by the PGMO Headmaster, Mike Riley to pigmob Arsenal in the PL consistently for the past 15 seasons. Thus denying them with impunity to win the title since the Arsenal Invincibles last won it in 2004.
Therefore, I implore the Gunners to seriously be on their guard to not be carried away in seeing referee Kevin Friend is the appointed centre referee that will referee their away match to Everton. For, in as much as referee Kevin Friend is known to be a neutral referee refereeing in the PL could this time around be on orders from Mike Riley to cause damage to Arsenal from regaining the 3rd spot from Spurs with a win over Everton on Sunday.
Just win, baby! Play our game – 90 min worth – and we’ll be OK.
sad that Ramsey may not make the squad on sunday
Sorry to hear you are not well, Andrew. Sending best wishes.
Pat
It is Andrew’s wife who has cancer.
Oh, thanks, Gord. Sorry to hear that, Andrew. I’m a bit out of touch.
Andrew,
Never underestimate the value of prayer.
Your family and your many friends on this site have you in thought and prayer.