Good afternoon Positive Arsenal fans,
A fine game of football between two high quality sides, both sets of players underlining the professional aspect of their trade, with a display of concentration and controlled physical aggression over 94 minutes. Clearly defeat at the end of the contest is a sour result but I’ve no serious complaint. 1-0 did not flatter them.
Of our brave lads I thought it was an excellent defensive display. Admittedly we were clinging on at times as the Totties cut into us, ragged in the opening ten minutes of the second half which cost us, and Cech made 2-3 good stops. Some of Petr’s footwork was a little alarming today but nothing the matter with his positioning , handling or shot stopping. Bloody hell that 200th clean sheet is proving an albatross for our stopper though. Our defensive unit of Kosc, Shkodran, and Nacho gave 110% and Hector, in my opinion, was our best player.
Further forward was probably the difference between the teams today. It was always likely to be difficult to control the ball, hence our set up in the first half to hit them on the breakaway. But we just did not make enough of the possession we had. It was c. 70 minutes until our first shot or header on goal I think ? That is just not us !
Of the midfield personnel Jack was our most creative player, Granit dependable and did not waste the ball, and Mo made 50 blocks, tackles, half tackles, nudges etc. I thought Mesut had a poor game today by his formidable standards, though he had little time or space to work in as a white swarm settled on him.
The last fifteen minutes we just began to get a modicum of control, and for the first time in the match seemed to have more possession At last we huffed and we puffed a little. But even then the home’s side seemed steady, and held us at arm’s length.
I had probably settled for the defeat by the 90th minute, to everyone’s surprise the 4th official popped up 4 additional minutes. And being football of course we then created two clear cut chances, both of which certainly should at least have drawn a same from Lloris, but neither of which were on target. What a different mood I would be in if either strike from the Frenchman had gone where they should have. I suspect Lacazette feels worse than I do about those two disappointing efforts, but he is a hard man to read, facially speaking.
So there we go – gritted teeth – beaten on the day by the ………….bbbb… bbbbeee….
No I just can’t do it.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Positively Arsenal 
FP, you know I’m saying this with a smile on my face. At least I hope you know that
It’s just, who benefits? Any match fixer worth his salt knows that you want to target amateur or semi-pro sport, for obvious reasons. But that’s one of a catalogue of reasons I can’t come around to this stuff.
I do envy that when we lose there’s that emotional buffer. That must be nice.
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We do our bit bobby – get behind the team, encourage the players, keep optimistic, enjoy the good days and the generally good football, try not to go too mental when we lose !
Tottingham are on a bit of a roll but that is only to be expected as our grip over North London has been historically unprecedented. And in spite of their roll they are 5th in the PL, have nit been serious challengers for a League title since the 60s and the League Cup 10 years ago represents their high pint as far as trophies go. Their new stadium is near, but that project they tried to get started in 2004, an incredible timeline of delay and cock-up.
Funnily enough the cycle may be turning for us and Spurs, but Chelsea seem to be the club who the past 12 months have really turned upside down.
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BK
I imagine that you smile a lot! I’ve had a smiliar conversation with one of my best friends and his gooner family, his uncle felt like me and his cousin did not. We are still and will remain good friends, and we love watching the Arsenal together.
Reading Everton fans declare that they couldn’t be arsed to go watch Allerdyce (not for his football on the pitch) after all the years of entertainment and success that they’ve had, all those Fa cups (yep that is sarcasm!) it doesn’t serve the sport that we love to ignore the rational and reasonable concerns of a great many lovers of the sport.
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<whereas my brothers are both sporting physiotherapists. And they have zero time for Association Football.
Perhaps BK you should be grateful that unlike dear Tim that the rest of us can't be arsed to even mention doping.
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why would it be comedy to say that winning 7 of 26 26 points out of 78 is bad. it is clearly. i just wanna know or talk about how it can change. we a long way off yest and it hurts. The annoying thing is i like us more on paper and i think our boys love our manager just as much they do.
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bobby everything always changes, for good, for bad. If you have ideas, particularly new ideas, as to what the club could be doing or should be doing, or the negative, that is different feel free to put them up.
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For what it is worth I am not that perturbed by losing at the Etihad or at Wembley yesterday. Losing games from winning positions at Watford, at Bournemouth and at Swansea on the other hand – 9 precious points – is the choker. It is also the prime reason why our league season is in such poor shape.
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But now that, thanks to Tim (please don’t blame me!), now that we are even mentioning the topic of doping, my friend who doesn’t agree with me that the pgMOB is rotten, he is adamant that my former dream fantasy signing and eccentric maverick is such a maverick partially as a result of his, ah, um, his diet.
However as I kept reminding him, my former favourite had simply grown up in a lung busting high altitude environment. And that his eccentric tendencies were not indicative of anything other then ‘character’.
ManU and Alexis Sanchez lose the football match against Rafa’s Newcastle
(Hayden on the bench for Newcastle in this one – he had some good games against good opponents playing as a CM, though his best for AFC were very promising at CB. hopefully he’ll make it as a upper level CB later in his career, he’s made it at the PL level as a player!).
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All those people coming out and saying “You can’t blame Laca”
Arsenal pay him 2 Ferrari’s a week money for his talent
He is not a 20/21 year old trying to find his way in the game, he is Top Class striker , those were moments for players with High Technique levels .
Laca has those levels but did not demonstrate them.
This is Arsenal Football Club the expectation levels are high.
At Arsenal EVERY game is a BIG game.
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FP, this proper sub-Pseud’s Corner level bullshit: But I read The Stranger as a teenager and obviously didn’t understand it. But what I think he said about god was that he could look at humans and know that god doesn’t exist: Because we’re scared and weak, there is no god because we’d have to invent him.
Now not to say that anyone’s scared or weak. Just that I believe that this quest for justice, whether for doping or refereeing cabals, isn’t made in good faith or out of a desire for fairness. And that’s because inherently biased football fans are making it. Like fucking Camus (lol), I’d say there is no conspiracy because I know what it’s like to be a fan (irrational and credulous). So I don’t trust other fans who want me to believe there is more to any of this than meets the eye. That’s a scenic route to a banal point.
I’ll leave it there. But I do think this stuff is completely removed from questions of postivity or negativity. And I think a mixture of the medium and my clumsy writing has made me seem a bit more troll-like than I intended to be. Just I found a pleasing symmetry to decisions when I looked back.
–
For what they’ve spent, Man U are a joke. I think we’re underachieving by a place, maybe two this season. But that gap to the top considering what they’ve spent is arguably worse.
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“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
Or the PGMOL
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“Quest for justice”?
Blimey.
the use of this emotive and evocative expression not for the first time reveals more about your thoughts then it does about mine.
I don’t believe Mike Gatling was calling Shakir Rana a “Monster”, that’s not the word he used. the transcript is probably held somewhere at the MCC, it’s a possibility, but there are other contenders that one can imagine to be far more plausible. And realistic.
As above: you are entitled to believe whatever you choose to believe.
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WwwB do you blame Thierry Henry for Arsenal not winning the CL final in 2006, he had two far better chances than Lacazette had yesterday to seal the game for us, and him at the very peak of his game at that time.
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Loan report – Nwakali gets assist; Reine-Adelaide makes Angers debut
cv5juvfwcaevpsi
Kelechi Nwakali provided an assist and was substituted in stoppage time at the end of the second half as MVV Maastricht beat Cambuur 2-0.
Carl Jenkinson played the whole game and was booked as Birmingham City lost 2-0 to Aston Villa. Cohen Bramall was an unused substitute.
Tafari Moore played the full game as Wycombe Wanderers drew 1-1 with Exeter City.
Julio Pleguezuelo played the whole game and was booked as Gimnastic de Tarragona beat Albacete 1-0.
Chuba Akpom started and played 78 minutes as Sint-Truiden lost 3-0 to Gent.
Jeff Reine-Adelaide made his debut for Angers, entering the fray in the 72nd minute of the 4-0 defeat to Monaco.
Emiliano Martinez was an unused substitute as Getafe drew 0-0 with Barcelona.
Takuma Asano wasn’t involved as Stuttgart beat Borussia Monchendgladbach 1-0.
Marc Bola wasn’t involved as Bristol Rovers beat Oxford United 2-1.
Krystian Bielik missed out through injury as Walsall drew 2-2 with Blackpool.
Injury also meant that Ben Sheaf didn’t feature for Stevenage in their 1-1 draw with Luton Town.
Stephy Mavididi is expected to be out for up to eight weeks with a hamstring injury, and, as a consequence, wasn’t involved as Charlton Athletic drew 1-1 with Doncaster Rovers.
Lucas Perez is expected to feature when Deportivo La Coruna host Real Betis tomorrow night, although Joel Campbell still isn’t fully fit for the visitors.
Posted in Uncategorized on February 11, 2018 by Jeorge Bird.
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FP, I don’t know how to say this without it sounding like I’m protesting too much. But I’m really not all that invested in this topic, beyond chatting about it online. You said something about “it all evens out” so I picked up on it.
Talking about my emotive language makes me worry you think I’m trying to wind you up again. I was just shooting the breeze on a quiet Sunday. The moment I cite Camus in earnestness is when I need to be carted off.
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apropos of nowt : wonder if a fair part of the extra anger and misery around football is because of the effect it has on the ‘other’ matches a person might watch that weekend?
I know that for me a painful (hell, any) loss typically means no match of the day and could wipe out any desire to watch a number of other games that weekend. (Can be tentatively lured back if, say, utd are in trouble; then be gripped by the end)
This changes through the season depending on where you are in the league. The title dream was killed early this year and now, for a while, there’s mostly been a gap to top 4. All the same, the difference between a win and a loss on your other football habits is still likely to be dramatic.
A bit of reasonable self-reflection would tell a person that doesn’t make the result that ’caused’ it any worse, but if you’re not in the habit of doing that…
Seems plausible that though the disappointment (agony! Misery! Despair!) of the loss authentically feels like it 100% belongs to our game only, in a roundabout way it is related to a loss of anticipated pleasure in other games.
Then there’s the Internet and social media aspects of it all. Where to begin with wondering what effects changes there have had!
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Some annoying large spud woman will try to score points tomorrow, ain’t letting it happen. We won 2-1 on aggregate so there. Oh, and I wasn’t even born in 1961 either and I’m 55
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eduardo792
Yes
TH14 is at fault for that final in 2006, he scores either of those chances Arsenal are champions.
Those were worse than the chances in the 2002 cup final and 2000 UEFA cup final as he was more experienced in 2006.
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Bk
All good, if my comments seem terse I’m also not interested in the topic! – wanting more refs on the roster etc. more likely to see something like safe standing then any change there, it’s not a controversial topic/big deal at least not for me.
Of more interest to me are your thoughts on Ainsley Maitland Niles, Mustafi and Kolasinic.
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< and following on from earlier in the season Iwobi?
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The two academy players have got a lot of potential as far as I can tell. The LB has had this injury, needs a few games? Mustafi ironing out the kinks, getting in the minuets at CB, too similar in temperament to someone like Luiz (also a good player!)?
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Tbf to Henry I had the impression he lost his legs and was running on fumes for some of those chances in 06. Taking Pires off was a tough but correct call. Who’d be a manager!
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Fins
I would have taken off Freddie as Bobby scored in more big games , he could make the last pass plus the link between Pires,Cole and Henry
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freddie was left on as it was felt he would do more defensively, cover more ground
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I get that Ed
but Pires was an underated defender, especially passing lane defending.
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L’ etranger. Camus. Goodness, what books do furnish the rooms of these gooners!
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WWB i speculate that a slightly younger Pires would’ve stayed on the pitch.
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No post from me this week guys. My research is going into a somewhat new direction and I need more time. Did I tell you I love data? Figures never lie but liars figure.
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Look forward to your next analysis Shotta.
Must admit, I don’t get this season. Home, pretty good, away, as poor as I have seen a Wenger team. I am getting a horrible feeling the players are getting seriously affected by the negativity over the status of the manager, the media, the fans that buy into it, the PGMOL. And this manifests itself away, when we go behind, get a bad decision, make a mistake, whereas at home, things generally go well.
Just been reading bits from Kieran Dyers book, about how the pressure of the England shirt had a negative impact on players,as well as massive gambling on tours, but that’s another issue. Is the pressure of the Arsenal shirt, with a divided fanbase, a less than popular manager in some quarters, media and PGMOL bias doing the same?
The answer, pander to the masses and get rid of the manager, or even better, lets just get one of the, trophies under our belts , a difficult task, but very possible if these players can be made to believe.
But, ultimately this,club is being attacked by those with an agenda, and they are turning the screws. And at the moment, some of the teams away performances are greatly helping their cause.
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I have been on twitter on-and-off making the point that this whole offside call vs Aubameyang yesterday stinks to high heavens. There were two decisive calls by the PGMOL mafia in yesterdays games: (1) Kane’s goal when he could have been called for climbing on Koscielny (I agreed with the ref’s judgment no foul but I have seen the opposite call made by other refs); (2) Aubameyang being called offside when he broke the offside trap. Despite slo-mo replays which showed he was marginally if even offside, I made the point on twitter, how come the official could be so sure to flag up offside when FIFA rules are very clear if it is a marginal call the benefit goes to the attacking player. My initial question: Why are we unwilling to question to question the official’s judgment.
Apparently some of us are still under the illusion the PGMO is acting in an unbiased manner despite data to the contrary. Do people not realize that if officials are able to get away with violating FIFA rules on offsides they will simply use that to arbitrarily victimize Aubameyang whose primary threat to the opposition is his ability to play on the shoulder of the last defender. Given all we know about the PGMOL, why are we willing to let them go scot-free when they make such blatant misjudgements? Have we been brainwashed so long about the supposed virtues of our officials to think they will stop victimizing Arsenal by keeping our mouths shut.
If this kind of officiating is allowed to stand, we can forget Aubameyang being a potent force in the PL and there will be no one to blame but our naive, impotent selves.
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I expect more of this PGMOL agenda against the team, the media , the world of agents, super agents, illegal bookies and corrupt self interested elements within the football establishment do not approve of Wenger, and would see him gone ( despite the FA offering him the England job in the past).
If Arsenal finish the season badly, there are those who probably figure it could see Wenger gone, for all I know they may be correct in their assumption.
Wait and see the refereeing we get at OT, most likely the team deemed designated for second place who are faltering a bit.
Hope Raul S can use his contacts ,,inflence and very powerful mates to get to the bottom of this, but I suspect Wenger being here is part of it, under him, we will never play their little games.
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The big irony is that whenever AW leaves he’ll probably be moved “upstairs” and would have even more time to squeeze the living 2cents out of every pound spent on transfers. The beef the leeching agents have against him is actually against the club but nothing will change in the club’s modus operandi.
So they can keep destabilizing the team as much as they want.
Doing things the right way is more important @ Arsenal FC than overpaying for silverware.
Pep, Man U, Real Madrid, Barca, Chelski, PSG etc can keep leading the entitled and the blind disciples towards the cliff’s edge…someone’s got to be there to save football.
The game goes on…
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Haha. Sorry. I don’t know you birdkamp, but now I’ve heard it all. To want and demand fairness/justice, is inherently unjust. Does Camus talk about original sin too? I mean what hope is there for any improvement when people laugh off your view because..shock horror…you are invested and interested in something!
Imagine how trials would go. You Mr prosecutor, only want to prove the defendant guilty and so cannot be trusted. Also everyone is innocent until proven guilty, hence we have no choice but to let this man go free. It’s not like I have much of an interest in this. I mean there’s robberies and murders happening all over. There’s no pattern here. (regardless of statistics – who cares ’bout those)
Also, on the topic of ‘match-fixing’. You assume that the objective is only to make money off betting. There is that, and I suppose more likely to infect the lower leagues where players/refs/managers/doctors get paid much less money and are more easily bought. But how about the interests of the brand image of the PL? The promotion/relegation/protection of referees? (Riley with Game 50 and Busacca after giving RVP the red got promoted). Or the interests of owners who use their clubs as little else than vehicles for money laundering or advertisement. Or simply to boost share price in preparation for the next sale or even purchase.
Nope? Nothing? No interest? Cool. I do envy the cover of believing power is never abused.
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Shard; ( holding a book in his right hand) “I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.
Judge; “Thank you Mr Shard. Please sit down. Counsel may wish to ask you a number of questions. Please speak up as I am a little hard of hearing” (syrupy smile)
Man in wig; “Mr Shard, thank you for attending today. Could you tell M’lud did you watch on a television a game of soccer known as the ‘North London Derby’ on Saturday the 11th of February 2018. ?”
Shard; “I did”
MiW; “And in the course of that game did you see Mr Harold Kane, footballer for Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club, score a goal ?”
Shard; “Yes – It was a header, just a few minutes after the start of the second half”.
MiW; “That is the goal I am referring to. Your recollection of the incident is clear Mr Shard? ”
Shard; “It is”
MiW; “And on seeing that goal at the time Mr Shard did you consider it a goal that had been fairly scored, or a goal that had been unfairly scored or was the result of a foul ?”
Shard; “…………………………………………………….?”
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“It was a goal I do not consider as standing out as unusually awarded in the context of the League that this particular match existed in”
MiW: I am not interested in the pattern, but thank you for confirming the goal was correctly awa…….
Shard (Interruptin): “But if I did think it was unfairly awarded according to the pattern of this setting, you would discount me as a credible witness on account of my affiliations, would you not?.”
MiW; Hey, I’m asking the questions here!
Shard: Not the right ones!
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MiW and Shard glare at each other (muttering).
Judge; “Thank you for that, most illuminating. Just so I have it clear, and please follow my pen, Mr Shard. You thought Mr Kane scored a ‘fair’ goal. Thank you. Aaah – The clock is inching its way round to lunchtime, we shall start again at 2″
Usher : Court will rise”
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Aaaaannnd SCENE!
But what did this scene achieve? Apart from showing that I didn’t have a problem with the Kane goal specifically?
I’ll tell you what. I understand there is no ‘objectivity’ in football apart from line calls, and that this can lead to confusion and disagreement. I am not asking for objectivity. I am asking for consistency, and THAT can be determined with a reliable measure, over a period of time. You already see this countered by the assertion that decisions even themselves out! By which, of course, people mean the errors do. Well they should if they are all random errors (rather than random decisions, which seems highly likely at this point). Though a season may not be a statistically significant length of time, and as such it should be a worry, but I get why it’s not. The thing is they don’t even themselves out.
And if football is so highly subjective that it can’t be narrowed down to right or wrong calls except in the opinion of the referee, then why do the FA/Pgmo have ref assessors and issue (private) ref reports? On what basis do they promote or relegate refs?
I really do not want to scream conspiracy at everything. The only thing I want is to be able to enjoy a game of football where I don’t have to worry about these things. That’s why I get the attraction of simply ignoring it all. Unfortunately, for me, a game of football doesn’t involve external factors (such as the ref) deciding the contest. Especially when this happens repeatedly, and even more when this follows a recognisable pattern, which suggests not simply incompetence, but intention. I also get why this offends people who would rather shut their eyes and go to their happy place.
And the reason this started? Because shooting the breeze involved calling out all dissent as motivated (correct) and hence unfair in intent (incorrect). I’m sorry, but that isn’t something I can just pass off. In the larger context, this would create an absurd world where no one could discuss anything without being accused of being unjust, unless they knew absolutely nothing about the thing under discussion.
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I agree with Shard, and as supreme justice, I’m ordering a retrial
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shotta 12.25am
on the Aubameyang offside call, well I had the feeling that due to the media coverage of his offside goal v Everton, that it “would be evened out” v spurs, and it was. You see every time i seen a rerun of his goal v Everton it included a freeze frame with a line showing he was offside, one might say nothing unusual about this being shown, well maybe on the day of the game, in the highlights show etc, maybe even the next day on match of the day 2, but all week, on all of the channels showing football, Sky, BT, BBC, I found it very odd, in fact I can not recall seeing any offside goal ever getting this treatment in the past, let alone a 4th goal in a 5-1 win.
Now it was done very well by them all, no big fuss made about it being offside, just mentioned in passing, dismissed as having no effect on the game or result, and there in lies the rub, it had little effect on the game, was mainly meaningless overall, so why each and every time did they mention it, why did the feel the need to add in the freeze frame with the line on it, why did all of Sky, BT and BBC indulge in this practice, all singing off the same hymn sheet, very odd indeed.
But they all got what the set out to achieve, “it all evens out in the end”,
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I see Wenger has suggested that he will field his strongest team on Thursday, I doubt it very much, I would say at least 3 changes to the team that started v spurs
aubameyang is cup tied, so is out
opsina likely will come in for cech
with it expected to be -5 I would expect koscielny with his achilles problems to be left out too.
I doubt, even if fit, that Ramsey would be risked either.
I think we may also see Kolasinac start, iwboi might come back in too, Lacazette almost certain to start, and possibly that Welbeck will start too.
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But there is no question of errors evening themselves out Shard, that is a fallacy. There is no reason why they should. If errors are random, and my view is that errors are random, then it is entirely possible that a single club in a season will benefit from 20 wrong calls, and never suffer the consequence of one bad call themselves.
What we probably both see and woulds acknowledge is that all clubs sometimes have the benefit of errors in their favour, and sometimes get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.
My good friend Shotts seeks to identify a pattern in these events, and feels he has evidence not just of a pattern but of the reason that the pattern exists.
I have no such certainty and regard the pattern of good and bad calls as random. I do not for a single moment say that it is not possible that bias exists, or that thee ay be dark forces at work in the background that seek, successfully or unsuccessfully, to influence the outcome of matches. For years I have read about the overwhelming and malign influence of Manchester United on the PL. Yet for the past 4 seasons he have won bugger all and have been gash in spite of spending vast sums. Where is the influence ?
It is simply the evidence I have seen, and which is relied on by others, is too weak to sustain that as a probability in my mind.
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I don’t recall reading people moan about the malign influence of Manchester United, but of their former manager, of his son/agent/manager.
Who didn’t laught when Clatters gave that generous pelanty call in favour of Vardy at OT?
It stood out because it’d been over a decade since anyone could remember such an error in favour of an Away team at OT. (When we say error we’re not talking about a richochet from half a yard off someone’s elbow, because that’s not an error, but the kind of error that sees an official indicate a raised arm when all could see that wasn’t the case, you know…).
Vardy who was playing Away unlike poor Laca who got clumped and clearly taken out in the six yard area at Home against Palace and Everton, if you don’t get those calls no wonder he didn’t dive on Saturday nevermind the fouls he’s seen not given against Welbeck etc.
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< I believe it was dear old Aunty Bleeb who once carried a documentary on Clan Ferguson and as a result the great man refused to talk to the BBC for several years in spite of his contractual obligations. For which he wasn't critiqued.
(This is not an opinion, but an account of what happened).
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I can accept that Andy. I can also accept that eliminating all mistakes is not worth the associated ‘cost’. (Efficiency always carries a cost)
However, even the proponents of there being lack of evidence/pattern of foul play, only bring up more mistakes as evidence that there is no pattern. At the least this shows up a pattern of random mistakes. A chaos theory of sorts.
This should, in my mind, lead to a question of how do we reduce mistakes (without exceeding the cost).
From there I get to, so why don’t the authorities use the tools at their display to better enforce the rules? Why don’t they have more referees? Why do they prevent the refs from speaking to the media, even after retirement, linking their ‘pension’ and continued employment to their silence? Why don’t they let us hear the communication between the officials, and them and players like Rugby? Why don’t they put up sample videos to illustrate how certain calls are supposed to be judged?
The simple answer is, because they don’t want to and have no reason to. Why would they, when they have a thriving business worth billions of dollars and the consumers of their ‘product’ not just don’t demand, but actively oppose calls for, any transparency and accountability?
From there, it is but a small step to consider that in an industry overflowing with money, with a ‘flexible’ valuation of assets, where individuals, corporations, and even states from all around the globe are involved, having no transparency is a very bad idea and easily open to abuse.
So I do not accept that any football fan, by which I mean someone who likes the game rather than just the glitz, would not support calls for greater transparency, regardless of there being a pattern to the mistakes or not.
In fact, since this demand does not in any way increase the ‘costs’ that say a VAR brings, I can only think that those who oppose this demand of the refs/FA, do it because, subconsciously, they are afraid that greater transparency would reveal something which would radically impact on their enjoyment of the game.
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Ferguson may have even have threatened to sure the BBC.
But in the end he never took his case before the judges…
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I’m confused at the last few posts,
Ref errors, officials making mistakes,
can’t be, and we know this cos the PGMOL can prove that they get over 98% of all decisions correct,
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98% ? Sounds about right although I have never seen the statistics.
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Correction: clear fouls on Laca in the six yard area were against Palace and the last Chelsea home I think – against Everton it was the head lock on Auba
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You can’t see those stats as unlike say the 160 games in one season assesed using standardised measures elsewhere these clowns publish their results minus the data and outline of their method.
Some would say that is a comical way to present information, others would say “misguided”.
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“Why don’t they have more referees?”
Because nobody in their right mind wants to be a football referee.
“Why do they prevent the refs from speaking to the media, even after retirement, linking their ‘pension’ and continued employment to their silence? ”
I have no idea if “they” do prevent referees from speaking to the media before or after retirement or it is a decision taken by referees to protect their independence and stop the media playing X referee off against Y. I would certainly be very reluctant to discuss the decision making of any other practitioner in my line of business and i’d be surprised if anyone else in a difficult job expects someone else to. We were joking about Judges and Courts earlier but no Judge ever comments on a case while they are on the bench or retired. They do their job, take their wage, and shut up. And they adopt that approach not because they have been bought off or are scared of he Ministry of Justice but because they respect the efforts their colleagues make and what a difficult job it is.
“Why don’t they let us hear the communication between the officials, and them and players like Rugby?”
I woulds hazard a guess it is because footballers are perceived by broadcasters as foul mouthed morons for the most part, although that is part of the wider problem of absence of self discipline in the game among players.
“Why don’t they put up sample videos to illustrate how certain calls are supposed to be judged?”
I anticipate that referees do refer to sample videos as part of their regular training. I’d have no problem in looking at them. Whether a wider access to why decisions are made on the basis of samples of action would clarify why certain decisions are taken by referees and linesmen is less clear on any particular day though.
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