Good afternoon Positives,
Got your breath back yet ?
Nor have I – What an afternoon !
Of the game itself ? In contrast to a number of recent games we started well, brisk, with sharp passing and movement and throughout the first half it seemed just a matter of ‘when’ we would crack the Burnley defence and certainly not ‘if’. Ozil looked fitter and more mobile today than he has been in months and Iwobi’s touch on the ball was superb at times. Fair play to our visitors, they did more than put ten men behind the ball but we were clearly a yard faster than them and a split second quicker. They clung on, no doubt slightly relieved to trot into the dressing room still even.
A predictable first half then gave me no clue as to the tumult that was to follow. There was not even a small cloud nor the beat of a butterfly’s wing to alert me to the 45 53 minutes of imminent uproar, to enjoy, endure and finally emerge from bruised but triumphant. It was a game to savour, but only with hindsight. To live through it was to tour the circles of footballing Hell.
The second half had so many pivotal incidents, an almost unique catalogue of controversy and contortion. You could sense after 50+ minutes, and still with no goal, we were beginning to get a bit more desperate, and not in bad way. Events unfolded!
First, we had the Mustafi “penalty”, and then we had the Mustafi goal. A good finish from the influential German and, in the context of the game, what should have been the decisive strike. Burnley’s heads dropped. The visitors appalling away record ( P9 L8 D1) heading for another frustrated notch BUT NO! Within five minutes we had a third twist of the sunlit drama;
Granit, Granit, Granit, Granit, ……………Granit! You can’t do that, you just can’t, without risking the red. My little Swiss chum, the officials have their eye on you. I know Mr Wenger will be discussing the matter with you and your parents this week.
From smoothly controlling the game with a deserved lead we were firmly on the back foot from the 65th minute calamity. The light blues clearly felt they could get something and it required a solid defensive performance hold them at bay. But we did. They never really opened us up. Kosc always had a boot in or Monreal his head in the way, Petr calmed the scene. By the time we got to the 90th minute , and even with 7 minutes added time to suffer, I thought we had the points, a scruffy 1-0.
BUT NO! Two penalties in time added on. Two for goodness sake. Le Coq clipping Barnes’ knee, much to the apparent mortification of Mr Wenger, then Mee’s studs connecting with our French defender’s temple. Both correctly awarded by Moss, both despatched by shots straight down the middle of the goal, with the Chilean’s panenka the work of an artist very sure of his brush strokes.
Of our players? I thought Ramsey was outstanding. the Welshman had been playing well but the departure of Xhaka called for him to put in a decisive performance in midfield, to be the BIG player, and he put in that work. At the front Sanchez had a good afternoon even by his own exacting standard. As referred to above his slotting the winner in the 98th minute in such an important game is the work of a professional with no fear – magnificent.
Of the opposition ? The game ended with Dyche frothing at the mouth, and I admit I felt just a twinge of pity for the ( by then) ashen faced Burnley supremo, so close on two occasions this season, but no cigar at all. He must dream of Laurent Koscielny, poor man.
I am calm again now.
So on to Cup glory on the South Coast after a pleasant week of footballing inactivity. Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday.
Positively Arsenal 
Haven’t they gone past the point of lay, anicoll?
Hens are very susceptible to light, or lack of it, which in turn affects their egg laying – altho perhaps you have them indoors with a light timer switch that would help.
Leave it a couple of months and buy some pullets and they should come into point of lay by May-ish. What do i know? [lol]
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Finsbury,
I think we have exhausted the other matter. It did not really bother me [banned smiley might have shown that better] – but an instant of madness made me consider writing – I have discarded any such notion. [lol]
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The new recruits will by p-o-l Henry, my older girls are reaching the end of the road. I used to have a lamp in the hen house over winter to ensure the eggs popped out but I decided that was a bit pushy so now I leave them in peace over the winter
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Xhaka in the headlines again, it seems he was questioned by the Police over claims he made a racist remark to a Heathrow staff member, it is claimed he called her – a fucking white bitch – he denies the claims.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/f-white-b-arsenal-star-granit-xhaka-accused-racially-abusing-heathrow-staff-1602876
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Positively Arsenal @Blackburngeorge 27m27 minutes ago
Next thing you know you wont be allowed to call a fat bastard, a fat bastard.
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Nick Taylor @goonernick 34m34 minutes ago
Looks like the Liverpool defeat and last minute Arsenal victory has left a sour taste in the media’s mouths.
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Given that Xhaka appears fairly white/pinkish to me I don’t quite follow the ‘racist’ angle here ?
It is like me calling someone a fat ugly bastard – or is it different as the involvement of the Metropolitan Police suggests?
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Oi – I just said that !!
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That report sounds strange Ed….from what I can see of Xhaka such insult might lose its effect …unless he is prejudiced against those of his own skin colour or something equally bizarre?
Sounds like they are out to get him, as they are his manager. But I suspect both are made of pretty strong stuff
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This is a hell of a good record
Mental strength
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Rocky#7 @AFC_Forehead83 Jan 23
People are forgetting one thing…. what is the 4th officials main job????? It’s certainly not to be looking at a manager in a tunnel IMO.
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its PC gone mad, it would not be racist if he just called her a fucking bitch, but once he added “white” into it, then this can be called racist.
I would think that the person making the claims, is a bit of a little Englander, and its Xhaka’s foreign accent that is the problem, the only true white is the Anglo Saxon Protestant, any non WASP is not wanted in the UK by these sort.
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I have an admission which hopefully won’t upset any mathematicians (not any more then i already l have!) I have a funny relationship with engineers and programmers.
Spent my college years with friends helping to show that robots and modern engineered and built designs need to retain the craft and skill sets that take generations (sometimes longer!) ) to learn, and happy to say those efforts weren’t wasted. A bit like the Arsenal with their flood lit Art Deco pioneering steel/iron work (hidden by the Art Deco bit), reflected in the beautiful new stadium designed by engineers who I do like, because, well, they love wood too. Lovely curves too, mean calculation as sinuously perfect forms: parameters set to squash in between two railway lines and not upset the planners – definitely one for the mathematicians to appreciate!
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none of these were red cards this season
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Very decent, anicoll.
I gave up keeping chickens long ago, because it is very difficult to be detached when birds or animals reach the end of their life cycle, so I left the flock alone, and bought Spring pullets, but over two seasons the flock increased exponentially – the costs spiralled, the eggs dwindled and it was only a horrible illness that carried off some of them, and the vet insisted they would all have to go.
Too much for me because Knew them all by ‘name’ [hoppy/clucky/greedy/fatso ….. with 40 chickens names soon changed to ‘daft bugger’/cheeky sod and gorgeous etc.
Before you say it — I was not designed to be a self sufficient person or farmer! [lol]
Back to football: I think Xhaka’s girl is not white – he drove her brother, who is not white, to Heathrow and he was allegedly to late to catch the flight – boom!
That is from someone I know who is a 17 y.o. fledgling journo on a tiny local paper — and could be wrong — you know what journos are like. [lol]
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What’s all this talk of chickens? Were did Sooty and Sweep go? I can’t keep up.
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I have just rewatched the burnley highlights and then the Adrian Clarke breakdown. After the discussions on here and on Untold about the ref and refereeing in general there are a few things I would like to add,
Firstly I have admiration for Andy in his defence of the men in black (or yellow, green blue or whatever nowadays) and the point that actually they do make some excellent decisions in a game which is increasing in speed and the skill of the cheats. Being I’m magoo style short sighted, when a ref makes a call like the non pen at swansea I can only applaud at something I couldn’t of spotted myself. It is for this reason that when refs make instant calls on a 50/50 decision through a crowd of players I may be upset they get it wrong but I couldn’t blame them.
However having said all that I do believe there is something very wrong with the officialdom ruling and running our game. Take the walker push on stirling the other day, the ref and the lino had only one place to look, two players to concerntrate on and to have missed the incident is inconceivable from two different angles with no obstacles in the way. When things like that happen and regulary, it is difficult not to question either the ability or the integrety of the men in the middle, round the sides and in technical areas (and down the tunnel)
The data on Untold will highlight the high level of incorrect calls are made, but like I said some of these I dont have a problem with, however its the way some of these decisions are arrived at which are suspect. When anyone is reviewing an incident and says “by the letter of the law the decision was correct” you can bet your life that it was highly irregular and in the majority of cases would have been given the other way. When you see Xhaka’s challenge in isolation it is very easy to suggest there is no space for anyone to make a case for a different outcome however when you take it in context with the rest of the season’s officiating it actually is a bad decison and by the way I totally support this rule and its implementation but not its application.
The refs are suppose to be a team and the rule book has constantly changed to create more cohesion and less deviation in decision making and yet season after season we are seeing greater and more discrepencies between refs and between how teams are refereed.
As I said incidents cannot be taken in isolation they need to be taken within the context of the game or indeed the context of how the refereeing team are officiating that season. We have all seen the games where our players are constantly hacked and then the first foul we make our player goes into the book, On seeing this regulary why would you not logically question the honesty of the whisle and flag team. The biggest example of this has to be Xhaka’s first red which was a tap tackle in the opponents half which after nearly 50 years of watching football, live and on tv, have never seen a decision like it before or since. Once again as a logical thinker why wouldn’t I suspect foul play.
I have heard people suggest that because were England, the football could not be corrupted but I think this is naive. In a “Business” where so much money and presteige is at stake it would be normal for the wrong’ens in the world to try and gain an advantage. There is also the foreign thing, once again the media have gone to town on the fact that Arsenal play more totally non-english teams than anyone else. This is strange because I dont remember any media outlets reporting the first English club to win a trophy without fielding any English players being Liverpool, in fact they just said they were rather good.
The point is when people report the same thing differently or ref the same incidents differently, then as a man who was told to question everthing, the warning lights go on.
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Positively Arsenal @Blackburngeorge 3h3 hours ago
We should call Xhaka “Le Blanc” from now on.
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THE 17 ARSENAL YOUNGSTERS SET TO FIND OUT IF THEY’VE BEEN OFFERED SCHOLARSHIP TERMS
It’s that time of year when the considerably difficult decisions are made regarding which Arsenal youngsters should be offered scholarship deals for next season. Here’s an assessment of the players in contention.
With regards to goalkeepers it seems likely that one of Daniel Barden and Arthur Okonkwo will be offered a contract. Barden appears to be in pole position having been more prominently involved with the U18s this season.
There are several defenders in this group. Centre-back Mark McGuinness has been involved fleetingly with the U18s, with Vontae Daley-Campbell, Shae Hutchinson, Bayli Spencer-Adams, Joshua Dawodu and Matthew Smith also striving for scholarships.
With regards to midfielders, Trae Coyle will certainly be offered a deal with the England youth international already a mainstay of the U18 squad while training full time at London Colney.
Those hoping to join him include Xavier Amaechi, Folarin Balogun, Harrison Clarke, James Olayinka, Joshua Rusoke, Zak Swanson and Jayden Onen.
The only attacker in contention is Tyreece John-Jules, who would appear to have a good chance of getting a scholarship given the lack of the strikers amongst the current first-years.
As ever players who have been selected are free to move elsewhere before their scholarship deal commences on July 1st. Meanwhile the club can make a late decision to offer deals to previously rejected players and there may well be some arrivals from other clubs.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 24, 2017 by Jeorge Bird. Leave a comment
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WENGER – WHAT I RATE MOST ABOUT BENNACER
Ismael Bennacer may be disappointed to have been knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations, but Arsène Wenger believes he has a very promising future.
The young midfielder was a late call-up to the Algeria squad for the tournament, and while he did not play as the Greens were eliminated in the group stage, he will have gained useful experience.
Wenger is a big admirer of Bennacer and says he has all the attributes needed to make a big career in the game.
“He’s a player who is not spectacular, but a very efficient player,” the manager told Arsenal Player. “He’s the kind of player who, once you put him in the team, you don’t take him out anymore.
“He can defend very well, he’s a fighter, a left-footed player and very efficient going forward. He’s a real box-to-box player.
“He can do all kinds of jobs. He is still young, still lacks a little bit of experience, but is a very promising player.”
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170124/wenger-what-i-rate-most-about-bennacer#YABLQRsiJQ4Pht6j.99
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Well said arse or brain
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the team went out for a meal together – ozil not there as he had other appointment in Sweden
who is the guy to alexis’s left
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is it gibbs
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reports in Holland say Gedion Zelalem has signed a contract extension with Arsenal and is joining VVV-Venlo on loan for the rest of the season.
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Eduardo @ 22:26.
It’s definitely Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, what do you mean you can’t tell????
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Haha!
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isn’t it so very odd the treatment Wenger is receiving in the media for what amounted to the slightest of touches, community service, ref parks football, 10 game touchline ban, 5 game stadium man, etc etc.
Now that is odd enough, but not as odd as the reaction to it from a section of Arsenal fans, bloggers and twatteratti. At any other club, if their manager was on the end of a full on attack from the media, for such a spat with Anthony Taylor, (who had history of bad decisions against their club), it would be a uniting factor, it would be us against them, it would be all out defense, man the barricades and rally the troops. No such reaction at Arsenal, no, the malcontents have sided with the media, maybe we should not be surprised, after all much of their thought process is dictated by the media, they constantly get their soundbite arguments from their lead. Also many of them have been banging a wenger out drum for 10 years or more and are so far entrenched in that online persona that they are just too far gone to do the right thing at this stage. Sideline or even stadium ban, might very well be the difference in Arsenal winning the title and Wenger signing a contract extension, or missing out on the title and Wenger deciding he can no longer battle the forces of corruption in our game and walk away. It’s what the malcontents want, as they would no doubt claim victory.
Tony Cascarino was talking about Wenger and Arsenal and its fans – match going fans – the other day on Irish radio (today fm), and he said that he has been at the Emirates a few times recently and that the Arsenal fans reaction to even the slightest of mistakes from the players was awful, it was full on moan fest, and that even when Match Officials make mistakes, the AFC fans turn on the players and manager. He said that in some of the games, it did not even take a mistake, just the scoreline being 0-0, twenty minutes in, and some fans were on the players backs. He said it was almost toxic, and that it must be very hard for the Arsenal players to play their best, when not getting proper support from the fans.
He said that at any other ground if ref makes a mistake or an opponent is a “bit naughty” with a bad tackle, the home fans will be on the refs back and will get behind their team, but that at Arsenal it takes a “shed load” of mistakes from the officials or something awful from an opponent for the Arsenal fans to really give it some. TS said that having seen how the fans react in the stadium, he is not surprised that some Arsenal fans on-line have sided with the media against wenger on this incident.
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on a slightly different topic, Tony Cascarino talked about how awful the behaviour of parents has become at schoolboy level of football. From non stop abuse of the officials, to parents and even coaches tripping up opposing players, and worst of all parents/coaches telling their kids “to do” the good players on the opposing team. TS said he recently, at a game his son was playing in, had a head to head full on argument, with another parent. A lad was running the game, dictating the game, he was by far the best player in the game, when a father beside Tony, told his lad “to do” the no.4, take him out of it. TS says he went mad at the man, telling him that such instructions was just not on and was a disgrace.
TS said that parents behavior at kids games has got out of hand, and that its getting to the point that the kids are no longer able to play free, and enjoy the game and develop their skills. That too many parents had the short sighted view of win at all costs. Be that through cheating or thuggery, it did not matter.
What TS said, echoed the things Johnny Giles and Liam Brady have been saying for years, that the standard of young player being produced is being badly affected by schoolboy team managers/coaches and parents of the kids, being in it for the wrong reasons. The win at all costs mentality and the kick the talented kid, is the reason why English football is lagging behind in technique and why ultimately England are failing at the top level of the game.
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Positively Arsenal @Blackburngeorge 10h10 hours ago
Ethos, values and class are all > results.Results are variables, the other three things need to be constants.
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Ben Sheaf has signed a new contract
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170119/sheaf-contract-announcement
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Sniper @clockendsniper 13h13 hours ago
Games played/lost in all comps
City 33/7
Utd 33/5
AFC 32/4
Spurs 31/6
Liv 29/4
Chelsea 26/4
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Steve Gooner @Merse10 13h13 hours ago
Hearing an unnamed Arsenal player abused an Easyjet worker calling her “a fucking orange bitch”.
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http://arseblog.com/2017/01/wenger-charged-punished-lets-stop-ignoring-dreadful-refereeing/
along the lines of the link above, I watched a rugby game the other evening, CASTRES OLYMPIQUE v LEINSTER, and I was rooting for the Irish team, with the game finally balanced Leinster looked to have scored a perfectly good try, ball in behind, a race between two players, the Leinster player looked to have touched it down, he was away celebrating it. Whats this, Ref looking for Video Replay, a TMO to review it. There it was up on the screen, first sighting it looked a try, even second angle it looked a try, but whats this, the French player had got his boot to the ball, he had saved the try. the TMO told the ref, it was no try, the REF and Linesman had a word, and this led to the ref asking the TMO about the rules, as kicking the ball out of a players hands is not allowed. The TMO then showed that the player did not have the ball under control, and in the goal area kicking it away in such circumstances is allowed, but not out the field. Ref asked him if that was correct, TMO said yes, and try was ruled out.
So just a couple of points on that incident.
firstly we had a player convinced he had scored, but with video replays and the ref and tmo explaining the decision he could accept the decision easily.
secondly the ref not only got assistance on what could have been a match deciding incident, he had no big ego like the refs in the bpl, he was not afraid to ask for clarification of the actual rule. could you imagine a bpl ref admit, by asking about it, that he did not fully know the rule.
last thing, refs in rugby are miked up, what they say to other officials is normally broadcast, what the say to the players is also broadcast, and not one word of dissent is accepted from the players, the captain and the offending player can respectfully ask “WHY”, but no argument is tolerated, and any foul language is harshly punished.
One other thing, the captain can during the game ask the ref to watch out for infringements he feels the opposition are getting away with. the ref will either explain that he has seen it and deems it ok, or he will if he has not noticed it, keep an eye out for it. – compare that to the response by a soccer ref to a striker at a corner asking the ref to watch for his jersey being half pulled off him, ref will tell him to button it, and let him be pulled and dragged all over the place. “How dare he point out that I’m missing something, does he not know I’m in charge”
two other great things in rugby that need to be brought into football are
punishment for team fouling, if the ref sees teams rotational fouling, the get a warning, and next foul there is a player penalized, it can be his first touch of the game, and he could be off, its a team game, its a ream punishment
players can be cited after the game. so if you feel the ref missed a bit of foul play you can ask the governing body to look at the incident, and they will, and if proven the player gets punished.
The introduction to refs being miked up and having a TMO has brought Rugby coverage to new levels. Fans get properly informed on why decisions were made the way they were.
now don’t get me wrong, refs still makes mistakes in rugby, and there is still a bit of a difference in how some interpret the rules but overall the standard of reffing is lights years ahead of football.
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find this slightly odd, Arsenal.com changed the photo in their add for the u23 game on Friday, they have taken Cohen Bramall out of the first picture and replaced him with Akpom,
https://i1.wp.com/www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/scaled/696×392/jan_17/gun__1485171047_Unknown.jpeg?zoom=2
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Martin Lipton arguing that kos is offside on this goal, almost as bad as the idiot journo yesterday claiming mustafi did not get a penalty cos it was outside the box.
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Interesting comparison with rugby. Almost as if those who run the game, yet resist technology, which includes the PGMOL dont actually want correct decisions …..at least on occasion.
But what else would one expect from a game run by FIFA, and it’s poodle organisations
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“Once again as a logical thinker why wouldn’t I suspect foul play.
I have heard people suggest that because were England, the football could not be corrupted but I think this is naive. In a “Business” where so much money and prestige is at stake it would be normal for the wrong’ens in the world to try and gain an advantage.”
An entirely unarguable point AoB and it would be entirely naive to consider that the huge sums of money that are available in football would not attract those for whom rules are merely an inconvenience to be navigated.
The difficulty is though I cannot see the purpose in mucking about with refereeing decisions or red cards or penalties or the minutiae of games. I appreciate that I might fiddle a few quid out of the bookmakers with some judicious bribery of officials but is it really worth my while doing that in a top PL game when I can achieve exactly the same gambling coup in a minor match in Greece or the German 3rd division (both of which have had betting corruption cases in recent years)?
No if I was going to be corrupt it would have to be worthwhile, to ensure a very significant return. It would have to be the difference of millions and millions of £.
And that brings me to an incident I have always felt required far more scrutiny than it ever received at the time, the great Spurs Lasagnagate debacle. How on earth did a club manage to poison its own players on a trip across London, then manage to lose a game against opposition who had nothing to play for, even decide to play the game with players who were obviously unfit, and manage to throw away a Champions League place and the £millions that entry to the competition would bring.
“A buffet dinner was laid out in a specially booked room at the Marriott”
The PL were approached for a delay or a postponement, as one might expect if a club had multiple sick players, but were unsympathetic.
“Colonel Mustard in the library with the lead pipe”
And for Spurs to commit this inexplicable footballing suicide at exactly the same time as our own great club was moving from Highbury to the new stadium and whose finances were on a knife edge, and for whom the additional income from the Champions League in the following season ( and every season since) may have been the difference between success and financial calamity.
Poisoning Spurs that weekend would definitely have been a strategic masterstroke worthy of Sir Henry Norris – thee was fork in the road – and we took it – it was an outcome worth £ millions, tens of £millions, probably 000s of £millions over the next decade to Arsenal football club.
We shall never know. Eleven years on I can do no more than speculate idly.
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anicoll,
You are correct – it is inarguably the case that ‘summat ‘appened to that there lasaggney stuff that made players coppit ant lose the beeg game like’.
Of course it could be argued [crikey, I am now contradicting myself] that the Spuds were just crap and had to blame someone or something, and Arsene had a very good reason for bing in the kitchen putting dollops of mouse droppings in the food — not that anyone saw him do any such thing. Obviously!! [lol]
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Have to say, find the pictures being circulated of the squad enjoying a meal out quiet sickening, in the context it needed an offside penalty to get a win against little Burnley
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Incidentally, anicoll, for someone who is clearly not corrupt, you have put a very strong price on what it would take for you to be corrupted; — “No if I was going to be corrupt it would have to be worthwhile, to ensure a very significant return. It would have to be the difference of millions and millions of £s.’
You are an impeccably honest and stirling fellow – now I might have something for you near the end of the season, should the need arise. [lol]
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I think you are missing the point that while I may or may not be corrupt H, and very kind of you to choose the latter than the former, I am unquestionably very greedy indeed.
No, I cant see my kidnaping the family of chef of the Canary Wharf Marriott for comparative ‘buttons’.
PS (regarding the business proposition- ssshhh – my people can speak to your people )
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I too have always admired Andy’s stance on referees even if I haven’t always agreed with him.
For the record I also admire the courage of any one lunatic enough to be a ref, an impossible job played out in front of millions.
The betting industry is clearly making huge sums out of the game, one way or another.
The introduction of meaningful technology into the game continues to be resisted despite universal adoption in all/most other high profile sports.
Whilst most observers can accept (with a grumble) referees getting things wrong, the inconsistency in decision making plus the steady stream of ‘odd’ decisions lead many to join up the dots that link the size of the betting industry to the absence of technology. When these ‘odd’ results occur, the bookies make £millions from countless failed accumulator bets.
I have (admittedly very predictably) been banging the technology drum for longer than I have been commenting on blogs. But until vid tech is introduced, the ‘odd’ decisions will continue to be viewed, rightly or wrongly’ with immense suspicion by the majority of observers.
As I’ve said recently, I believe football is in the grip of an existential crisis with falling satellite subscriber levels, empty seats and growing disenchantment with the game at all levels, from all quarters.
So I think change will be introduced very rapidly as too much is at stake to allow the current disintegration to continue.
Talk Sport radio are today reporting that referees are being gathered for training in the use of video assistant referees. I noticed during the coverage of the weekend’s live football, Sky repeatedly – and pointedly – going over to Howard Webb for an instant verdict following all the key incidents. It was almost like watching a rehearsal and a demonstration of how fast and reliable the technology is. To cap it all Mr Webb offered up views consistent with a recommendation for the rapid adoption of technology.
Change is upon us, and not a moment too soon.
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AA,
That is a very interesting comment.
I do not bet, and neither do many of my buddies, so the dodgy bookmakers are discriminating against you betters. [lol]
I do not mean to seem argumentative, but I just find it difficult to believe there is any existential crisis within football when you look at the astronomical sums that are kicked around by sponsors, players, agents and all the other weasels trying to grab their piece of the pie. That is not going to change anytime soon – in the meantime we fans still fork out on our TV subscriptions and overinflated ticket costs – however much it bugs us. Addiction?? [lol]
I also have some difficulty with the view that all referees are members of a corrupt cabal determining who is and who is not going to win or lose specific matches, and thereby trophies. Many of them are on the other hand rather inept on occasions especially when dealing with cheating players and managing earnest but starstruck assistant referees.
I would put the number of top class refs available for Premier League games at 2 or 3 — the rest? meh.
The above is simply an opinion and if I am honest is not really argumentative as I do not know any facts on any of these matters – so I am probably wrong on all counts, but it is how I see it at the present.
[Serves you right for presenting an eye catching comment!!] lol
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anicoll, @ 4:25
We have hit a snag already : “I cant see me kidnaping the family of the chef of the Canary Wharf Marriott for comparative ‘buttons’.” — umm, buttons were what I had in mind actually – white chocolate, milk chocolate – any sort of button you like – but bear in mind I only have 24 fingers and toes to count on!. lol
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Henry B – all entirely speculative by me so feel free!
Worth bearing in mind that Sky and BT are reporting substantial reductions in subscriptions and the empty seats in pretty much every stadium are telling a story likely to cause the blood of the money men to run cold.
I also understand the Bundisliga are at a very advanced stage with their trials of video tech and are close to go on that.
So it would appear to me that, like it or not, the (old) game is up and football will take a mighty leap into the 20th Century within a couple of years – or sooner.
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AA,
I understand and you may well prove to be right.
My final comment on the dropping of attendances that you are concerned about must be slightly mollified by the news today that Manure are investigating the possibility of increasing their stadium by another 12,000 seats bring it to approx 87,000.
It is this sort of thing, together with the obscene swirl of money in the game that has formed my opinion.
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http://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/noblmd-bundesliga-plans-for-video-assistant-referees-in-2017-18-430690.jsp
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https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/24/sky-sports-bt-sport-people-switching-football-off?client=safari
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There’s no need to sign up to a belief in cabals or anything else in order to understand that betting syndicates operate in morn sport. I wouldn’t want to stop anyone making that or any other assumption, but:
All you have to do is look at other sports. That aren’t as rich as Football.
One could also supply hundreds of millions of reasons (in the transfer market ratios) why the arsenal get a poor press (ignoring the officials just reflecting upon a feasible rational to explain he observable media bias), and that is also a fairly simple statement free of any parochialisms.
As Alan Suger says:
“Wenger knows the market”
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Henry, Man U decided against any further expansion.
Too expensive, not forgetting post brexit increases in construction costs of approx. 15% on average. All of which means that THFC couldn’t have built their stadium at less convenient moment.
Levy. He’s a comic genius and it’s hard not to appreciate his work.
I’ll always remember him sat in the directors box in n5, whilst AFC went behind his back with Madrid to sign Özil. What a time to an arsenal fan! Great days.
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