Great stuff Jamil. “ They are corrupt or they are incompetent. It’s probably both washed down with a heady mix of hubris and arrogance, which makes it possible for them to literally say whatever they want when justifying their decisions” sums them up perfectly I would say.
I don’t think they are linked with Mafias or getting huge sums of money in paper bags, but there is corruption with these refs. I believe there is regional bias, media influence, but something else, maybe an implicit knowledge of what they have to do to work their way up the ladder, as I am sure Michael Oliver could advise them. I also wonder if there is a belief Arsenal are one of the main protagonists against City in legal terms, perhaps that upsets some of a north west bent. Though the rest of the so-called red cartel don’t get our treatment, though they are north west clubs of course.
I fear we are going to see more of what you describe in the second half against Forest, but would love to be proved wrong.
Was hoping having Richard Garlick on our board, with his knowledge, connections and previous job could help, but if anything, things have got worse for us with the refs.
Great post, slightly to long though. My blood is boiling since I couldn't agree more with you and it so infuriating to feel this way, but I can't ignore what my eyes see when we get these once in a lifetime decisions against us regularly.
"After 11 of the 38 league games, Arsenal have already visited five of the other six sides in last season’s final top seven — a task just six other teams have had since the Premier League era began in the early 1990s.
Manchester United in 2008-09 and neighbours City in 2021-22 are the only teams of the six who went on to win the league that season, though both did so as defending champions. The other sides to experience this are Chelsea in 1992-93 (final position: 11th, but in a 22-team table), West Bromwich Albion in 2002-03 (19th), Southampton in 2016-17 (eighth) and Burnley in 2017-18 (seventh)."
Interesting stats JW1.So of six who’ve had a comparable run of fixtures,only two who were the reigning champions ,have managed to win the title in that season.Shows you what were up against.Margin for error is nearly zero.
Someone at work sent this to me, Mancheaty and Villa owners are business colleagues now and working together to overthrow epl finance rules.
---------------
"Billionaire investor Wes Edens co-owns the only NBA team to win championships ... Known for his bets from US high-speed railways to Premier League soccer clubs, Edens has also been trying for years to revolutionize the industry that produces liquefied natural gas ... Edens co-founded Fortress Investment Group, which is now backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and manages $48 billion in assets."
VAR was supposed to only intervene for clear and obvious errors, made by the on field officials, not counting blades of grass for five minutes to determine an offside.
The problem with that level of interference is the ref can just let a passage of play ride and if something has happened VAR will change the decision. This removes responsibility from the referee and he ends up with far more scope to blow or to ignore.
If the VAR team are his mates they won't drop him in the poo too much and they'll ignore too when it suits and nudge him when they want a bit of extra.
No longer is it acceptable here to lambast half, or thereabouts, decisions going against us, you simply have to be all in, or risk being labeled a ref apologist or worse.
All refs are out to get us, and even if they occasionally make a call or two that might benefit us ( Taylor vs Chelsea FA cup final) it’s probably just a tactical ploy on their part to keep the ref apologists like myself thinking it’s not a complete fix.
I eagerly await the PGMOL apologists,luvvies ,woke brigade & Contrarians to be penning their pieces in absolute fury with regards to this article.
We,without a doubt,have the weirdest set of ‘ fans’( word used very loosely) in football.Who refuse to see the obvious injustices no matter what.would excuse a ref if he pulled a gun out & shot dead one of our players.Theyd look for an excuse to justify or excuse it 😂
Daily Mail - Why Arsenal will hand Leandro Trossard a new deal despite sharp-shooter's costly errors this season
"His five goals in the final eight league games, eerily similar to fellow diminutive winger Freddie Ljungberg's run at the end of the 2001-02 Double-winning season, was not enough to wrest the title away from Manchester City.
But the Belgian's form was crucial in taking the title race to the final day, and is part of the reason why — as my Mail Sport colleague Sami Mokbel reveals today — the 29-year-old is set to be given a new contract."
I'd sell personally. If we can get what we paid for him I'd be very happy. I'd want his minutes to go to a player who is top quality as opposed to a great sub!
Great post and I think you definitely have a point. This is a bone to come to grips with and the Coote business maybe can be used as toll to break up the PGMOL
It's ridiculous there's no ref from London, south, of color, you name it. The Manchester clubs have had a grip of the refs for so long.
Re the red cards, it would be more accurate to say that both Rice and Trossard were given 2 very soft yellows that were conveniently their 2nd yellow that turned red.
And I must correct you that a yellow card was finally given for time wasting to a Chelski player during our game against them. I concede that it was only after their 3rd or 4th attempts at doing so, but it was so blatant that Oliver had to give it.
That table makes for horrific viewing showing yellow and red cards accrued. How we are number 1 for most yellow and red cards given tells a tale of its own. You would really think that we are some ultra violent team that refuses to play by the rules with these numbers.
It must be said that referees and the football league hating us has been going on for decades. It's nothing new.
We have always been seen as some posh Southern team who are richer than other clubs. We weren't given the moniker Bank of England Club back on the 20's/ 30's for nothing. Back then we had a habit of paying more to players and to buy players
The funny bit in all this is, as hated as we may be, we are also the club that modernised football. You just need to look at Chapman introducing clocks and flood lights or Wenger pushing high performance diets to make players more athletic as another reason for clubs and supporters to be jealous of us yet they all implemented these changes anyway.
So as you say, we all must stick together and be proud of supporting the fantastic club that is The Arsenal.
Dont forget that Chapman also put numbers on the back of the shirts and the club got fined for that. First radio broadcast and first television broadcast also if I'm not mistaken.
Great read there lad cheers, really insightful and eye opening 👍🏽 enjoyed it.
More of the same please.
And f*ckin’ el we’re up against it as Arsenal fans ay 🤨😅
Great stuff Jamil. “ They are corrupt or they are incompetent. It’s probably both washed down with a heady mix of hubris and arrogance, which makes it possible for them to literally say whatever they want when justifying their decisions” sums them up perfectly I would say.
I don’t think they are linked with Mafias or getting huge sums of money in paper bags, but there is corruption with these refs. I believe there is regional bias, media influence, but something else, maybe an implicit knowledge of what they have to do to work their way up the ladder, as I am sure Michael Oliver could advise them. I also wonder if there is a belief Arsenal are one of the main protagonists against City in legal terms, perhaps that upsets some of a north west bent. Though the rest of the so-called red cartel don’t get our treatment, though they are north west clubs of course.
I fear we are going to see more of what you describe in the second half against Forest, but would love to be proved wrong.
Was hoping having Richard Garlick on our board, with his knowledge, connections and previous job could help, but if anything, things have got worse for us with the refs.
The club need to find a way to act.
Great post, slightly to long though. My blood is boiling since I couldn't agree more with you and it so infuriating to feel this way, but I can't ignore what my eyes see when we get these once in a lifetime decisions against us regularly.
thank you very much! and yes was supposed to be spliced in two but there's a lot of matchday comment on the way...
Also Jamil, your long-form piece from a couple days ago-- is supported nicely by this article from Art de Roche at The Athletic--
'Arsenal’s start has been unusually tough, so is this the moment their season really begins?'
https://archive.is/EXuOb
Interesting bit:
"After 11 of the 38 league games, Arsenal have already visited five of the other six sides in last season’s final top seven — a task just six other teams have had since the Premier League era began in the early 1990s.
Manchester United in 2008-09 and neighbours City in 2021-22 are the only teams of the six who went on to win the league that season, though both did so as defending champions. The other sides to experience this are Chelsea in 1992-93 (final position: 11th, but in a 22-team table), West Bromwich Albion in 2002-03 (19th), Southampton in 2016-17 (eighth) and Burnley in 2017-18 (seventh)."
Interesting stats JW1.So of six who’ve had a comparable run of fixtures,only two who were the reigning champions ,have managed to win the title in that season.Shows you what were up against.Margin for error is nearly zero.
Someone at work sent this to me, Mancheaty and Villa owners are business colleagues now and working together to overthrow epl finance rules.
---------------
"Billionaire investor Wes Edens co-owns the only NBA team to win championships ... Known for his bets from US high-speed railways to Premier League soccer clubs, Edens has also been trying for years to revolutionize the industry that produces liquefied natural gas ... Edens co-founded Fortress Investment Group, which is now backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and manages $48 billion in assets."
https://archive.ph/7s3JO
KT3 appearing in training ground photos today, I forgot he existed. I wish injuries didn't wreck his career he was my fav for a couple of seasons.
VAR was supposed to only intervene for clear and obvious errors, made by the on field officials, not counting blades of grass for five minutes to determine an offside.
The problem with that level of interference is the ref can just let a passage of play ride and if something has happened VAR will change the decision. This removes responsibility from the referee and he ends up with far more scope to blow or to ignore.
If the VAR team are his mates they won't drop him in the poo too much and they'll ignore too when it suits and nudge him when they want a bit of extra.
I think that covers just about all of it Jamil-- thanks again for the read.
(Sadly, you've dented Christmas for many of us... 😁)
Untold was ridiculed on this blog not so long ago
Untold it is.
No longer is it acceptable here to lambast half, or thereabouts, decisions going against us, you simply have to be all in, or risk being labeled a ref apologist or worse.
All refs are out to get us, and even if they occasionally make a call or two that might benefit us ( Taylor vs Chelsea FA cup final) it’s probably just a tactical ploy on their part to keep the ref apologists like myself thinking it’s not a complete fix.
Which, of course, it is.
See what you did there Tom.Covered your back.Nice one,😉
I eagerly await the PGMOL apologists,luvvies ,woke brigade & Contrarians to be penning their pieces in absolute fury with regards to this article.
We,without a doubt,have the weirdest set of ‘ fans’( word used very loosely) in football.Who refuse to see the obvious injustices no matter what.would excuse a ref if he pulled a gun out & shot dead one of our players.Theyd look for an excuse to justify or excuse it 😂
Daily Mail - Why Arsenal will hand Leandro Trossard a new deal despite sharp-shooter's costly errors this season
"His five goals in the final eight league games, eerily similar to fellow diminutive winger Freddie Ljungberg's run at the end of the 2001-02 Double-winning season, was not enough to wrest the title away from Manchester City.
But the Belgian's form was crucial in taking the title race to the final day, and is part of the reason why — as my Mail Sport colleague Sami Mokbel reveals today — the 29-year-old is set to be given a new contract."
https://archive.ph/TAVsu
I'd sell personally. If we can get what we paid for him I'd be very happy. I'd want his minutes to go to a player who is top quality as opposed to a great sub!
Seen it so many times you forget just how truly special that goal was
Vs the biggest most expensive and best team in the league
The behemoth
Our biggest rivals
To have the audacity to try it and the skill vision and technique to execute it
Thierry was the king
I’ve never seen a better player in the premier league
That goal was 23 years ago
And still there is no one who can match how good Thierry Henry was back then. Nobody
That goal was special, no doubt.
How special?
He never scored another just like it.
Conclusion.
Even best players who ever played the game score some incredible goals based on 50% luck.
I’d take one of his mazy runs past a handful of dumbfounded defenders over this one solely because they exhibit what a full package he was.
One of a kind.
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/5oEUUj2pLgQ
Very well written and sums it up perfectly. Rational and concise.
bob, Corgi-- good to see you both!
Great post and I think you definitely have a point. This is a bone to come to grips with and the Coote business maybe can be used as toll to break up the PGMOL
It's ridiculous there's no ref from London, south, of color, you name it. The Manchester clubs have had a grip of the refs for so long.
bob, Corgi-- good to see you both!
Great post Jamil!!!
Re the red cards, it would be more accurate to say that both Rice and Trossard were given 2 very soft yellows that were conveniently their 2nd yellow that turned red.
And I must correct you that a yellow card was finally given for time wasting to a Chelski player during our game against them. I concede that it was only after their 3rd or 4th attempts at doing so, but it was so blatant that Oliver had to give it.
That table makes for horrific viewing showing yellow and red cards accrued. How we are number 1 for most yellow and red cards given tells a tale of its own. You would really think that we are some ultra violent team that refuses to play by the rules with these numbers.
It must be said that referees and the football league hating us has been going on for decades. It's nothing new.
We have always been seen as some posh Southern team who are richer than other clubs. We weren't given the moniker Bank of England Club back on the 20's/ 30's for nothing. Back then we had a habit of paying more to players and to buy players
The funny bit in all this is, as hated as we may be, we are also the club that modernised football. You just need to look at Chapman introducing clocks and flood lights or Wenger pushing high performance diets to make players more athletic as another reason for clubs and supporters to be jealous of us yet they all implemented these changes anyway.
So as you say, we all must stick together and be proud of supporting the fantastic club that is The Arsenal.
glad you enjoyed it!
Dont forget that Chapman also put numbers on the back of the shirts and the club got fined for that. First radio broadcast and first television broadcast also if I'm not mistaken.