The laziness of the long distance myth maker and beware managers with guns

By Sir Hardly Anyone. Of course on the day when we have the headline that “Greek football match stopped after team owner invades pitch with a gun” things seem to get a bit fuzzy.  OK I don’t go to matches in Greece, but even so.  This is getting a bit unnerving.  First West Ham after …

When Pochettino sees corruption it’s news, when Arsenal see corruption its childish hysteria

By Tony Attwood I wanted to pick up on the story that Mauricio Pochettino claiming that Juventus are “specialists in football’s dark arts” and that they manipulated the refereeing in their Champions League game with Tottenham, when it happened, but being on the other side of the world, having an 11 hour time difference and wanting to …

Arsenal v Watford, trouble at the London, and the home and away comparisons

By Bulldog Drummond Our piece about West Ham fans and the way they were seen by the media as being split, while Arsenal fans are treated as a unity of anti-Wengerianism, seems to have been apposite as the news broke of violence and protest at the so-called London Stadium.   So the story rattles around the …

How curious that the media reflect a split in the fan base at WHU but not at Arsenal

by Tony Attwood It is interesting to note from afar that West Ham have been having a little local difficulty with different fan groups attacking and fighting each other. True they have had a fairly grotty run of late… Date Game Res Score Competition 27 Jan Wigan Athletic v West Ham United L 2-0 FA …

Arsenal transfer rumours: another 10 unbelievable stories (literally).

by Sir Hardly Anyone The attacks on Arsene Wenger continue of course.  The guy says that he has had a hard time personally over the recent defeats, and the response of The Transfer Tavern web site is to publish a handful of tweets abusing him.  That’s probably par for the course these days.   As Tony …

38 players joining Arsenal, 8 leaving and five new managers. it will be quite a summer!!!

By Sir Hardly Anyone.  Our man who counts the numbers… Here is the update on players coming and going… and we know it is all true because every single one of these stories has been verified by a football journalist. Those who are leaving No Player Going To Source What’s the story  Update Bellering Barcelona …

It’s all too easy to be a fan after a win. It’s being a fan ALWAYS that really counts

By Tony Attwood, still in Australia. Of course they would have to wait until I was in Australia to get back to form, but I’d settle for a fine win against a Milan team that has improved greatly of late, even if I was on the outer moon of Pluto – which incidentally I am …

An away day in Milan: time to pop into the cemetery.

by Bulldog Drummond Milan has multiple attractions: the San Siro stadium, La Scala, and Cimitero Monumentale di Milano – the cemetery.  If I had to nominate which one stays in my memory it would be the latter.  If you have ever been there you will know why.  If you haven’t, you just can’t imagine what it …

World Cup 2018 – a focus on the three favourites

World Cup 2018 – a focus on the three favourites After suffering through the regularly frustrating four year wait, another World Cup is almost upon us, and it’s time to consider who looks like the most likely candidate to be crowned tournament winners. The World Cup is such a gigantic competition, where even those who …

Why is refereeing in England so different from rest of Europe?

By Tony Attwood Recently I read the story that a junior referee was “badly let down” by FA officials after he reported being verbally abused by adult coaches. In this report (one of many of the type) a campaigner for better refereeing reported that Max Ormesher, a 15 year old brave enough to take on refereeing, …

Milan v Arsenal. What it is like under new management?

By Bulldog Drummond Milan have had a resurgence of late and after an unbeaten run lie seventh, just outside next season’s Europa positions… # Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts 1 Napoli 27 22 3 2 62 19 43 69 2 Juventus 26 22 2 2 63 15 48 68 3 Roma …

Who exactly controls law and order in world football? We might be about to find out.

 By Tony Attwood It has taken one hell of a time to reach a decision, but it looks like a decision is almost there.  And it is a decision of importance, because it will tell us whether The City Group – the conglomeration of clubs across the world that includes Manchester City, New York City, …

How to invent history: blog uses disgraceful tactics to undermine Arsenal

By Tony Attwood Just how low do you need to go, how many tall tales do you need to tell, how many downright lies do you need to publish, in order to knock Arsenal? These are not the questions most people interested in the club are asking, but even so they are indeed questions that …

The ten men crazy enough to take over at Arsenal… plus six new purchases the club are making.

By Sir Hardly Anyone I’m certainly not going to turn Untold into a political forum, but if you can spare me one minute I’d like to show you what to me is an interesting parallel.  So if you don’t have a minute to spare, and can’t bare to read anything other than football for the …

Can Wenger fit two world-class strikers into one effective first eleven?

By Jerry Jones The Gunners have spent £105m this season on two centre-forwards of real world-class quality. Alexandre Lacazette finally secured his move abroad after leaving Lyon in the summer, before being joined by Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January. The only issue now is how to get the best from both players at the same …

That annoying little thing called Video Assisted Refereeing; where has it all gone so wrong?

By Tony Attwood Watching the newspapers and UK media outlets discuss VAR while I am in Australia has been illuminating to say the least. Two days go the BBC announced that the Premier League clubs were not expected to announce that VAR is being introduced next season. The next day the Daily Express announced that …

Arsenal’s decline offers a real chance to see what’s going on

  By Tony Attwood My headline above is not meant to suggest that I think there is a conspiracy of some kind – I certainly don’t think that people are plotting in dark corners how to attack Arsenal, how to undermine the club, how to do damage to its manager or anything like that.   …

Brighton v Arsenal: the games gone by and the team today

By Bulldog Drummond Arsenal have played Brighton just 16 times across the centuries, so for once I can give the complete run down. Date Match Result Score Competition 12 Jan 1935 Brighton and Hove v Arsenal W 0-2 FA Cup 18 Aug 1979 Brighton and Hove v Arsenal W 0-4 Division One 30 Oct 1979 …

Who believes he could outsmart the media and become the next Arsenal manager?

By Sir Hardly Anyone The media always knows when it is on to a winner, and that is certainly the mood at the moment with the feeling that with enough pressure Arsenal can be laid to waste in such a bad state that it will take a decade for the club to recover.   This is …

Why in terms of Arsenal, the transfer rumour has become a thing of the past.

By Sir Hardly Anyone We’ve had one clear piece of proof of the imaginary nature of transfers for quite some time, after discovering that if all the transfer rumours of the summer are added together then it turns out that only three in every 100 rumours actually manifests itself in a transfer.  A figure that …

Sometimes the world can take you by surprise.  As long as you are not looking the wrong way

  By Tony Attwood When the media en mass ignores a particular point of view (such as the one that asks why our refereeing system is so secretive, and is organised in a way that is different from most of the rest of Europe) I am on safe ground.  I know where I stand.  For …

Arsenal in confusion. No money and the canon has come loose.

By Sir Hardly Anyone. These are indeed tough days for the media as they desperately try to find more and more problems that are inherent in Arsenal.  Take for example 1: The huge problem that scuppers everything or doesn’t depending on forgetting what you said last time around. The Star tells us that Arsenal want THREE …

Arsenal v Man City: the comparison of results and the teams

Into by Tony Attwood I left England as the Beast from the East was a few scattered snow showers, the motorways were clear and there was no disruption to air traffic.  I’ve read there might be a threat of disruption to this game – you’ll know better than I since I’m about as far from …

A howling comes across the sky. Reworking the past and laughing at Arsenal fans.

By Tony Attwood And now, something of a first.   This little piece comes from Seoul, Korea, as I await a flight south.  I know it’s a first because although I generally write as I travel I ain’t been to Korea before so it must be a first.  (Just checked, yes it’s Wednesday, so it is …

Why Thierry Henry won’t get the Arsenal manager’s job

By Sir Hardly Anyone Interesting note from Tony, who is at Heathrow airport awaiting his plane.  Apparently the Virgin Media internet connection has barred Untold from public viewing throughout Heathrow Airport as not being suitable for those passing through the airport.   Anyway, he’s smuggled a note to me, asking me to take over for a …