Positivity is contagious and in the end always wins through.

POSITIVITY IS CONTAGIOUS…………………………Don McMahon The recent internecine conflict between Wenger must go and Wenger should stay supporters prompted me to take a closer look at the psychological impact and roles negativity and positivity play both in life and specifically in the football world. One could be excused, based on the constant media attacks, negativism of …

When it comes to the chances of getting a card for a foul, it certainly doesn’t even out in the end.

. IT ALL EVENS OUT IN THE END……………………. By Goonermikey Following on from the superb special ref review of the Chelski v Spuds game by Usama and Walter, I was prompted to have a basic look at how different teams and players might get treated. Now before I start, let’s be clear….yet again….. I AM …

Who is ready to step up from the Arsenal U21s and loanees? The Season End Report – Part 1

by Andrew Crawshaw A year of measurable progress from our U21 team as they gained promotion back to the top tier of football at this level after a couple of years in the second division. It would be churlish to belittle this achievement as being due to the presence of some of the first team …

Football as Opera, tears all round

Football as Opera, tears all round By Tim Charlesworth Last weekend provided us with the moment that posterity might deem to be the iconic moment of the season.  Leicester’s triumph is remarkable in so many ways, but its not easy to pick an on-pitch moment that sums it all up.  There have been a few …

Afterthoughts on Chelsea – Tottenham. What would have happened to Arsenal, if they’d played like this?

By Walter Broeckx As you have probably seen the special on request ref review of the match between Chelsea and Tottenham was published earlier today. Looking back at this all some questions can be asked. Questions about the standard of the PGMO refereeing in the PL but also about being consistent. This really is a …

Special referee review: Chelsea – Tottenham

By Usama & Walter If you are a regular reader you will know that we normally only undertake reviews of Arsenal games – although for one season we did have referees who supported other teams across England undertake reviews of numerous non-Arsenal matches, in order to get some comparisons with our figures.  Those reviews remain …

Arsenal U21s v Aston Villa U21s – Division 2 Play-off Final Preview

by Andrew Crawshaw This evening at the Emirates Arsenal take on Aston Villa at U21 level to decide who joins Derby County in gaining promotion to the first division of U21 Football.  On Sunday afternoon the Senior teams meet with Villa already relegated to the Championship for next year. Last Tuesday Arsenal U21s boosted by Thomas …

Theo to WHU, as Wenger buys Bundesliga megastar duo as Chelsea run into problems.

By Sir Hardly Anyone (and a friend) So that’s it.  Despite the fact that his brief appearance against Man City made it look like he had recovered his notion of how to be … well, Theo, it seems the deal is done and dusted.   “Theo Walcott ‘on the verge’ of sealing £20m West Ham …

State Aid Utd does something odd at Tax Payer Stadium while the media looks elsewhere.

By Tony Attwood Once upon a time newspapers were there to print the news on paper (the clue is in the name).  Now their prime purpose (at least in terms of football) seems to be to insult.  Take this as an example… Thought Manchester City fans were bad? Sheffield United supporter lays into players on …

The great benefit of being a protester.

By Tony Attwood One of the things about protesters is that they are certain of one thing: they are right.  In which case they are probably quite certain that they know exactly what will happen if their protests are not taken note of. Which when you come to think of it, is a fairly good …

Match report : Man City – Arsenal 2-2, one point away from 3rd place

By Walter Broeckx One big surprise when the team sheet came out as Mesut Özil didn’t play as he got a slight hip problem. So a few changes compared to the starting line up from last week. Welbeck came in the place of Özil but I think he will not play in his position. And …

Man City v Arsenal, the match preview, the odds, and the analysis of hindsight

By Bulldog Drummond. “Let’s go back to the start of this season,” said Mr Wenger. “Predictions were: number one Chelsea will win it again. Number two, Man City. In the end any pundit who would have predicted Leicester would have met the response: ‘Stop your job and do something else’. And that is what can …

Managerial farewells: what happens after clubs get rid of their manager. The 2015/16 review.

. Please note we’ve change our approach to how we handle comments – details are at the end. Managerial farewells by Tony Attwood Pep Guardiola accuses dressing room mole of ‘damaging’ Bayern Munich At least that had the merit of being a different type of complaint about a club from a leaving manager – but …

Sánchez unhappy at Arsenal reminds us of the others who left

by Tony Attwood When it is time to knock Arsenal in the media (which it is most of the time) then all the standard ploys are used – one of which of course is the fact that all the star players want to leave because they are so fed up with Arsène Wenger. So we …

THE BRICKFIELDS GUNNERS BLOG, presents rules for “them” on Untold Arsenal

——————–     THE  BRICKFIELDS GUNNERS BLOG ,  PRESENTS RULES  FOR  ‘them’   ON UNTOLD ARSENAL . “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”   ― Nicolas Chamfort After posting this link  about  THE RULES FOR ALWAYS BEING A GENTLEMAN – on the comments section  of  Don’s fine article, ‘The Illusion of change,’  it struck me …

Manchester City v Arsenal Sunday 8 May – The Match Officials

by Andrew Crawshaw Following the review of Roger East in the Palace game Here is the updated Table of Shame Wrong Important Decisions Favouring Arsenal Favouring Opponents 2nd Yellow Cards 1 44 Red Cards 2 16 Penalties 3 30 Goals 1 11 Total 7 101 Possible Cost in Points 0 29 Only one wrong Important …

They don’t half say some funny things in the press. Latest headlines from a wandering media.

By Tony Attwood Much of the time the press work as one.  They find an enemy and go for it.  Or him.  If this can be linked with a solid bit of doom mongering and some praise of Liverpool!!! so much the better. Thus Jonathan Liew of the Telegraph, always one for a good bit …

Why the debate about Arsenal and its future is getting nowhere and is ultimately utterly pointless.

By Tony Attwood There is something going on that I really don’t understand. Most Arsenal supporters (not quite all, but most Arsenal supporters) want the same thing – for the club to win lots of trophies.   And most Arsenal supporters want to achieve this result by changing things.  The only difference between us is …

FA set to lose another £30m of state aid as they donate more money to Fifa.

By Tony Attwood The FA, as we all know, has financial problems.  In October 2011 it was revealed (through a study of the FA’s accounts) that England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup (for which they got two votes, one of those being their own) cost £21m – £6m more than they had previously, misleadingly, …

The Illusion of change

. By ………..Don McMahon Following recent comical attempts by a few hundred plastic fanboys (mostly kids) to agitate for an alternate reality at AFC, it became apparent to most true Gooners that change for the sake of Russian Roulette style improvements is comical at best and tragically shortsighted at worst! These fickle fairweather, moaning plastic fanboys want …

The shocking figures revealed when fouls, penalties and cards are compared.

By Mike I shall start by making it clear that I’m 99% behind Usama , Walter et al in their referee analyses (well nobody’s perfect) and the article on the Crystal Palace game triggered me into doing a little more research. In that article, the question was asked, “But still has there ever been a …

The task facing the next Arsenal manager. Candidate Group 3: Joachim Löw, Diego Pablo Simeone, Thomas Tuchel, Frank de Boer, Laurent Blanc

By Josif We have been running an occasional series about the task facing the next manager of Arsenal, whenever he might take over. First we looked at the overall problem and presented the first group of candidates: Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman, Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini This was continued in the second article which continued …

Arsenal under 21’s progress to play off final, Leicester contemplating relegation

By Andrew and Tony Arsenal beat Blackburn 2-1 to progress through to the Under 21 play off final in a game which saw Santi Cazorla make his comeback as Arsene Wenger, Ivan Gazidis and Petr Cech all looked on. Santi was indeed, by a distance, the best player on the pitch even though he was …

Ref Review: Arsenal – Crystal Palace: again no penalty for Arsenal

By Usama & Walter ARSENAL vs. CRYSTAL PALACE COMPETITION: English Premier League MATCH NO. 33 DATE: 17th April 2016 VENUE: Emirates Stadium (London, England) MATCH OFFICIALS: REFEREE: Roger East 1st LINESMAN: Richard West 2nd LINESMAN: Mark Scholes 4th OFFICIAL: Mike Dean First Half Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties Time Foul by Foul For Description & …