By Tony Attwood
The Guardian, looking forward says
“Tottenham Hotspur host Burnley in Sunday’s midday kick-off, a match of of (sic) massive importance for both sides. Burnley fans who cannot afford to (sic) an overnight stay in London but wish to travel by rail on the day will arrive in London mid-way through half-time if they take the first available train from Manchester Road Station on Sunday morning and it arrives on time. BT Sport’s decision, taken in conjunction with the Premier League, to stage a noon kick-off for a match of such significance provides the latest in a long line of examples which showcase the almost total disregard and borderline contempt which broadcasters and the Premier League continue to show for match-going fans.”
And of course there is no arguing with that. The management committee of the Premier League is an utter disgrace at every level, from this point about the way it handles kick off times, through to the way it eternally kowtows to the almighty PGMO.
As for our next game they say,
“The more upbeat Newcastle fans may even fancy that a charge for the top six is not out of the question, and a rare win against a side from the top bracket would fuel their optimism.”
It’s an interesting point considering the league positions of the two
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Arsenal | 36 | 21 | 3 | 12 | 56 | 45 | 11 | 66 |
| 14 | Newcastle United | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 40 | 61 | -21 | 43 |
but that of course is a fairly typical piece of journalism.
As if what the Mirror did this morning, well, if you read their commentary on the match there is no mention of, or dealing with, Mr Arteta’s comment that
“If I say what I think I’m suspended for six months. I’m allowed to give my interpretation on the game but I don’t like to lie so I’d prefer not to say.
“With my players, I’m so proud of my players. You can ask the referee to come in front of the camera and explain his decisions. I make mine. That’s his decision. A beautiful game was destroyed today.”
By omitting any reference to the manager’s comment, the entire Mirror review of the game is deliberately warped. As always. Five times a day.
The Telegraph took a different angle by laying all the blame on Arteta and none on the referees and their ludicrous demands (to which the Telegraph bow down in a most obsequious manner) that referees cannot be questioned in terms of bias or errors. Their headline is “Yet another Mikel Arteta moan left Antonio Conte to have the last word” followed by the commentary, “Arsenal manager complaining has become a theme of the season and he is picking battles he cannot win.”
I seem to recall them making the same comments about Arsene Wenger, George Graham…
But of course, if one picks up on the context of the way in which the referee treated Arsenal, not as a matter of personal opinion, but in terms of statistics, Arsenal’s case against the referee becomes obvious. And so the media refuses to deal in the statistics.
The Mirror is always up to all sorts of trickery, as it came out with another headline, “Arsenal fans direct chant at Mikel Arteta after Tottenham score third in derby” which implies through the use of the phrase “the chant at” that the supporters had turned on the manager.
But in fact the chant (as the Mirror admits) was in favour of the manager, showing that many fans, as the correspondents on Untold also showed, were fully aware of what was going on, in relation to the referee and the game.
So it is up to Untold and other blogs not bending the knee to media opinion provided without evidence, to consider what progress is being made through our usual chart.
| Pos | Year | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2022 | 36 | 21 | 3 | 12 | 56 | 45 | 11 | 66 |
| 9 | 2021 | 36 | 16 | 7 | 13 | 50 | 38 | 12 | 55 |
| 9 | 2020 | 36 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 53 | 45 | 8 | 53 |
| 5 | 2019 | 36 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 69 | 49 | 20 | 66 |
| 6 | 2018 | 36 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 72 | 48 | 24 | 60 |
| 5 | 2017 | 36 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 72 | 43 | 29 | 69 |
| 3 | 2016 | 36 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 59 | 34 | 25 | 67 |
After 36 games we are only one point behind where we were in 2016, and clearly the policy thus far is to re-establish the long-running Wenger tradition of getting into the top four while attempting to win the FA Cup.
We are very clearly out of the slump of the last two seasons when the rebuilding process was going on, and we have moved up to the previous level.
Irrespective of where we finish, we will need to ensure that we maintain the drive toward the three targets:
- 70+ goals scored in the league each season
- Under 45 goals conceded each season
- Over 70 points achieved each season.
We are not there yet on any of these measures, but we are on the way.
- 25 players leaving Arsenal and 70 incoming transfers, according to the media
- How much have Arsenal improved, and what we have to do in the last 3 games…
Listen frankly speaking just fuck off with your pro Arteta pro KSE agenda. Is m highly convinced you work for KSE.
Arteta is a bang average manger who whenever we have faced any well drilled team we have lost. That’s 12 fucking gam we we have lost this season so we have lost apprx 1/3 of our games this PL campaign. Yet.you mufs support this horrendous joke of manager. He is fraud and so you
Why wasnt Son show a yc for his elbow on Holding while they were wrestling on
the ground?What was the var doing if the ref had missed it.
It seems there is a separate law for the gu erz.No wond er Arsenal are struggling
O dear another person who whole argument is to tell the manager and any fans who can see with there own eyes the improvement in our team to fuck off
Fantastic well thought out post Fred
Kane has scored 7 penalties in 8 seasons playing Arsenal. This is a suspicious statistic why do referees give so many penalties for Spurs when they play Arsenal?interesting to see if any other regular fixtures produce such facts? Kane is a brilliant player and superb penalty taker. It is even more depressing knowing that he started in the Arsenal academy!
Mr Free – That’s constructive. A semi-literate rant interspersed with an obscenity or two. No issue with your expressing a differing opinion but is that the way you normally communicate to your family and colleagues at work?
been watching this video for 10 hours straight (the very same that VAR-appointed Dean is supposed to have checked):
https://twitter.com/i/status/1524862512293941249
you don’t want to know what i’ve been thinking
This has been a theme all through isnt it. The refereeing is poor across the board. And when its ARSENAL, its always against us. The VAR was supposed to improve situation and trasparency, but this hasnt changed the situation one bit. Why dont we have referees explain their decision post game??.
Very poor refereeing in that game, we were really up against it.
I know I shouldn’t be surprised at this stage, but I never ceased to be amazed by supposed Arsenal supporters refusing to acknowledge the refereeing handicap this team constantly face, choosing instead to blame Cedric, Holding , Arteta, Wenger or whoever, or at least that’s when they are not praising Spurs and their manager to an extent that defies belief and reality.
Some Arsenal fans are the most masochistic going , they seem desperate for rivals ( mainly Spurs and Chelsea) to succeed so they can take it out on their own team, the refs help in this, hence a refusal of said supporters to acknowledge the role of the PGMOL.
Must be some really weird psychology going on there , is this unique to some who follow Arsenal? Can’t see Athletico fans in a Real love in , or similar in Milan , Buenos Aires or Rio
LE GALL – best view I’ve seen. Thanks! Was Dean doing his little celebratory hop in the replay booth?
Mandy Dodd – – good to have you back on UA, your comments are always welcome. I agree with what you’re saying about ‘supporters’. A fickle lot. I don’t think it’s restricted to AFC supporters but certainly the media in England doesn’t help. And groups like Arsenal TV. They actually think THEY are the show. Certainly more important than anything on the pitch, as you will learn from their comments.
But I don’t like supporters looking through claret coloured glasses also. On a previous thread some were saying that Son ran into Holding’s elbow! Let’s be as unbiased as possible please or we’re no better than the critics. I still feel the same as I did at the time and posted. Holding tried to rearrange Son’s face. Full stop. I know Son got away with an elbow prior but does that mean Holding didn’t hit him? Can’t understand that thinking. I try to convince myself these ‘supporters’ are probably kids and getting carried away but I remain unconvinced. 2 matches to go, 6 points to win and it’s done. How can anyone criticise a team of young kids sitting 4th after 36 matches when AFC sat 9th at this point the last two seasons (with thanks to Bulldog). Whatever the result of the last two matches it’s been a terrific, entertaining season. Credit to the lads, Arteta and Edu. COYG!!
I am sorry. I do believe that Son ran into Holding’s elbow and that his fall was choreographed, just as when he “won” the penalty.
This is typical practice by Son and Kane, who do it too often for it to be innocent.
You shouldn’t forget the fact that Harry Kane fouled Gabriel Magalhães in a far more aggressive manner when Arsenal beat Totts 2-1 in March 2021. He wasn’t carded, of course. The purpose of PL refereeing is not rule-enforcement, but result-management. Michael Oliver was tilting the pitch on that occasion.
I think the only way we can solve this problem is for some untolders to apply and become referees. Make sure they don’t say they’re arsenal fans when filling out the forms. I believe it won’t take long for them to get promoted to the EPL select seeing as we’re all better than the best pgmol have to offer. This way such guys will get to ref a few arsenal matches, I’m very certain we’ll never drop points in the matches they’ll ref because it seems everytime we drop points it’s always the refs fault. Once these guys get to do arsenal matches I’m sure it’ll be 3pts in the bag. Or is it? I remember untold calling out arsenal legends on pundit duty for being turncoats, sell outs, AAAs. When Henry was signed up to sky there was rejoicing that now a true gunner to have our backs. I doubt it was up to a month the story of Henry changed, it became, he’s sold out because of the money. He’s being told to follow the script or get booted out. Since then Arsene Wenger has been sacked, been on pundit duty in some arsenal matches, said the same thing about us that the other guys were vilified for. So I think since only untold know and can tell the truth about arsenal, we have to not only take over refereeing of arsenal matches, but also the reporting of arsenal matters
No chance of any London/South East Arsenal fans becoming referees, only certain England areas need apply.
Why that internal PGMO ruling exists you could try writing to Mike Riley for an answer.
The fact that referees are not from London / South-East doesn’t stop them favouring Spurs,with the obligatory dubious penalty awards