UK government increases its active involvement in football, but is that good?

By Tony Attwood According to an article in the Guardian, the UK government did indeed encourage Premier League to approve Newcastle even though the Prime Minister has said repeatedly that the government had no role in the affair at any point.  Presumably, this was done to increase investment in the UK and to smooth the …

Saka and the world cup: a worrying scenario

A ten point penalty for each club whose fans invade the pitch? Arsenal Women 2021/22 Review Part 4: Player of the Season and where do we go from here In the Premier League 2021/2, 50% of refs showed signs of persistent bias By Sir Hardly Anyone A report in the Telegraph newspaper tells us that …

A ten point penalty for each club whose fans invade the pitch?

By Sir Hardly Anyone https://youtu.be/WN3KkC5E2nY For many years employers (including of course football clubs) have been responsible for ensuring the health and safety of players at work (ie for football that means in training and in playing in matches).  Health and safety is widely accepted as meaning being free from threats of abuse as well …

In the Premier League 2021/2, 50% of refs showed signs of persistent bias

By Sir Hardly Anyone Mike Dean, Jonathan Moss and Martin Atkinson all retire after the last round of games in the Premier League this season.   But are they biased referees, or the ones who can ignore the crowd and referee the game without crowd interference? That has become the prime question but not a new …

What does Europe think of the Premier League? Less and less it seems

By Tony Attwood Of course most of the time – indeed we might say almost all of the time – most football fans in England don’t spare a moment to think about how the rest of the world sees us.  We are told by our own media that the Premier League is the best in …

So did Arsenal make progress this season? And what of the rest.

By Sir Hardly Anyone and a slide rule Arsenal Women 2021-22 Season Review: Part 2 WSL Match by Match highs and lows The ten things we really learned from the 2021/2 season When people talk about teams making progress they tend to talk in generalisations without giving any statistics to justify what are often preposterous …

The ten things we really learned from the 2021/2 season

The worry for those who attend games is what will happen in the summer 1: We have by far the best song in football, ever. The choreography was perfect – which is not something you often hear in relation to Arsenal.  But it was.  At the final moment just before kickoff when we thought the …

Arsenal v Everton: looking back at the videos from earlier years…

By Tony Attwood As a final look at the Arsenal v Everton game today, we take a quick look back at the past through historic videos. On the Arsenal History Society website we have collected together videos of Arsenal games, sorted by the teams played against as well as by date.  Below are the details …

Arsenal v Everton: the big worries about the referee, and the team

Today we celebrate the short life of one of Arsenal’s greatest ever goalscorers. By Bulldog Drummond So here we are with the last team preview of the season… The referee is Andre Marriner.  And that is not good news for Arsenal for while the vast majority of the referees have reverted since the pandemic to …

Arsenal v Everton: A game with a grand tradition, plus a tradition of accuracy lost

By Bulldog Drummond Arsenal have beaten Everton 98 times in the 1st Division and Premier League – a record for one club against the same opponent. Everton have the most seasons in the top level of English football in part because they joined the football league when it was just a northern and west midlands …

Arsenal injuries and suspensions, Evertonian violence, lunatic predictions

By Bulldog Drummond Without those opening 3 defeats, Arsenal would be fine. AFC v Everton preview Rob Holding has served his suspension and so will be available for the final game of the season. Kieran Tierney has undergone surgery and so is obviously out as is Thomas Partey. Takehiro Tomiyasu suffered from a muscular strain …

Without those opening 3 defeats, Arsenal would be fine. AFC v Everton preview

By Tony Attwood The question, as we approach the final game, is this: are Arsenal making progress?   And the answer is yes.  Not at first, but now, yes.   We have obviously done better this season than in the last two seasons under Mike Arteta, and are on a level once again with 2019 – Unai …

The worry for those who attend games is what will happen in the summer

By Tony Attwood If clubs cannot control their fans, their stadiums should be closed proclaims the Telegraph The rise of disorder at football: why is it happening and what can be done?  asks the Guardian commenting on a “shocking rise in disorder” Football arrests ‘highest in years’ & disorder on the rise – police  announces …

The Transfers Arsenal Need To Make In Summer 2022

The Transfers Arsenal Need To Make In Summer 2022 By Jonathan Strange It’s looking like a bitter end to the season for Arsenal but many fans seem to be forgetting just how promising this emotional rollercoaster of a year has been. Sure, it’s not looking like we’re going to finish in fourth place, but it …

The incredible lengths the media will go to, to avoid blaming the FA for anything

What Arsenal really need now is a new image maker The two faced approach of football regulators to corruption By Tony Attwood There is an article on the Telegraph website today about pitch invasions, which has the headline, “If clubs cannot control their fans, their stadiums should be closed.”    And I suspect anyone who …

What Arsenal really need now is a new image maker

By Tony Attwood The two faced approach of football regulators to corruption It’s the same old problems at Arsenal. But what are the same old problems? PR and advertising have for many a long year been dirty words in England with the notion that both trades aim to turn things into what they are not …

The two faced approach of football regulators to corruption

To cover up its acceptance of Russia, Fifa expands its powerbase still further. by Tony Attwood As we have often noted, it is a prime mantra of Fifa that football authorities should not be subject to the demands of national governments but should in fact be utterly independent except that they are answerable to the …

It’s the same old problems at Arsenal. But what are the same old problems?

By Tony Attwood The benefits of the Europa League, plus Chelsea sale on the edge of collapse There is an article in the Telegraph that has the headline “New-look Arsenal have been undone by the same old problems during late-season stumble” which I have read with some interest, as I was hoping the piece would …

78 players now tipped to join Arsenal this summer – the full list

By Sir Hardly Anyone It is being said that Arsenal’s almost certain failure to make it to the Champions League has scuppered many of their transfer plans, but the Telegraph in an article “Arsenal to significantly invest in squad even if they suffer Champions League disappointment”  have suggested that the Europa League was the ambition …

How the Premier League is copying the German League – but missing a key element

by Tony Attwood Is the notion there is something wrong with refereeing, a conspiracy theory? Uefa goes its own way, but the route is still the same: more money for the big clubs It is getting harder to win the Premier League.  Over the past five seasons the average number of points needed to win …

The benefits of the Europa League, plus Chelsea sale on the edge of collapse

Arteta highlights appalling referee decisions, and control of PGMO over the media Arteta shows he is with us, and knows exactly what is going on By Tony Attwood Of course it is not over until the final whistle of the last game, but it would be extraordinary if Tottenham really could do something as dramatic …

Newcastle v Arsenal: predicted line ups; Saka told to move on from Arsenal

By Bulldog Drummond The Evening Standard predict the line up to be: Ramsdale, Cedric, Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Tavares, Elneny, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli Nketiah The Mirror however has decided to turn the game into a bickering battle by citing Antonio Conte’s comment about Mikel Arteta that “I listen to him complain a lot.”   Quite why Conte …

Newcastle v Arsenal: ludicrous predictions and brilliant videos

Newcastle v Arsenal. Injuries and how much does a club have to spend each summer? Newcastle v Arsenal: the influence this referee will have on the game by Tony Attwood (Author’s note: if you don’t want to read my latest ramble, you can skim down to the videos which follow further down the page.  I …

Newcastle v Arsenal. Injuries and how much does a club have to spend each summer?

By Bulldog Drummond Newcastle v Arsenal: the influence this referee will have on the game Is the notion there is something wrong with refereeing, a conspiracy theory? The latest report on the injuries at Arsenal is that we have a real problem in central defence.  When asked yesterday which central defenders are fit, the manager …

Newcastle v Arsenal: the influence this referee will have on the game

By Bulldog Drummond Is the notion there is something wrong with refereeing, a conspiracy theory? Uefa goes its own way, but the route is still the same: more money for the big clubs So we approach the last away game of the season at Newcastle, and as ever can compare their home form with our …