Arsenal 1 Brighton 1 Kavanagh won
An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective
Dear Howard Webb,
This is not reactionary. I’ve intentionally waited 2 days before writing this and watched the game twice without emotion.
On behalf of Arsenal fans and confused football fans in general, I would like you to answer these questions about the Arsenal v Brighton game and the influence of Chris Kavanagh.
Decisions
- How did Hinslewood not get one yellow card when he could have been sent off twice? He pulled back Saka to stop him penetrating the box. Easy yellow. A few minutes later he looks at Saka and hits him twice in the face. Easy yellow, possibly red. At this point he should’ve been sent off. Then for the second time, he pulls Saka back on the half way line. According to this referee, pulling a player back in a less dangerous attacking situation gets Partey a yellow card. Is that because Joao Pedro was screaming at the referee the entire game? Should Saka have screamed at him? I thought that players aren’t allowed to approach the referee like Pedro did? At this point Hinslewood should’ve been on his third yellow card but still has no yellow cards. Then in the last few minutes, Hinslewood, knowing he has immunity, elbows Martinelli on the halfway line. Is there a punishment for 4 yellow cards or are you going to ban the referee for the 2 games that 4 yellow cards equal?
- We’ve only played 2 home games. In these 2 home games Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard have had players put their hands around their neck. On Saturday, Veltman did this, but had a photocopy of the immunity pass that Hinslewood had. Should we instruct Saka, Kai and Leo to scream and roll around to show your referees what they are missing? We can do that but we are trying to follow your new rules. Are your referees following them or just when they want to?
- Ben White’s shot was going in. Not savable. It hit Dunk’s arm stopping a certain goal. I personally don’t like handballs for accidental incidents but penalties are routinely given when the ball isn’t even a shot or not going in. Can you clarify as your referees make it up based on their personal tweaks of your rules?
The Rice incident
- The incident started with Veltman taking a throw in 10 yards from where the ball went out. The referee did nothing. Is this a mistake?
- Did Rice even foul Veltman? It looked like Veltman flopped.
- When Veltman gets up he moves the ball 5 yards from the spot of the foul. Is that allowed?
- Players don’t put the ball in the free kick position by kicking it. Veltman did. Does that mean he had already taken the free kick and therefore Rice is actually tackling him?
- If Veltman had already taken the free kick, then why is he allowed to wallop Rice without getting a straight red card? If he hadn’t taken the free kick wasn’t him swinging too high to kick it and actually trying to hurt Rice or get him riled up to react?
- Are you allowed to now take a free kick with a rolling ball?
- If you aren’t then how is Rice sent off for delaying an illegal restart?
- These aren’t just my thoughts. Social media ‘community noted’ the Premier League Match Day account.
9. It has now been discovered that the ref actually didn’t see Rice kicking the ball away. The rules state that a referee cannot consult VAR on a second yellow card. Only on a potential straight red card. Who told him about the situation? Did he send off Rice based on Danny Welbeck’s advice? Did he get VAR involved illegally? Can you release the VAR recording?
10. I thought there was a new rule about players surrounding the referee. Is there?
11. Danny Welbeck was also waving his hand and asking for a yellow card. Is that allowed or is this another new rule that is implemented whenever the referee feels like it?
12. It seemed like the referee officiated the game based on feelings. This is being kind. It was either this or intentional bias. This is no more evidenced than Rice tapping a ball away two yards and Joao Pedro walloping it 40 yards. That was a far easier decision. Also, in injury time Saka throws the ball away. Was he not punished because it was too late for the referee to send him off like he did Rice? Same game, different standards. Interestingly, Rice was allowed to kick the ball away and not get booked the last time he came to The Emirates as a West Ham player.
Chris Kavanagh
- Arsenal have a 72.6 win ratio in the last 3 years in games reffed by all of the other refs. it is now 50% when Kavanagh is in charge. A 50% win percentage for a team accruing nearly 90 points. Does that sound like a large discrepancy? It gets even worse.
- Like over half of the PL referees, he is from the Manchester area. Not just that, but he lives within 3 miles of Manchester City’s training ground. Now he may support Utd but it doesn’t look good especially when the PL refused to release who the referees support this summer.
4. He has history against Arsenal in the last two years. He saw nothing wrong with Robert Sanchez missing the ball and wiping out Gabby Jesus and denying him a chance to score at Stamford Bridge last season.
5. The season previous, when the whole football world was enjoying Reiss Nelson’s last minute winner against AFCB, Kavanagh wanted to again steal the headlines and decided to attempt to charge Arsenal for their celebrations.
6. Maybe he isn’t biased towards Arsenal. Maybe he’s just crap. Do you know what he was doing last week? He was not allowing the last minute winner for AFCB when the ball went in off Newcastle’s Dan Burn’s arm and he decided that Joelinton clotheslining new Arsenal signing Neto, was not a red card. Perhaps he knew that Neto was going to be a Gooner?
How does a referee get away with days like these? Well, they are clever. They never make it so obvious that you could prove it 100% because they will give decisions for your team too, but they do it in non-threatening areas so they can say that they called the game both ways.
I believe that Chris Kavanagh knows that Arsenal play Spurs in the next game and that he achieved his pre-meditated goal of impacting that game in favour of Spurs and City. I acknowledge I could be wrong, but I sit here living in a world riddled by corruption and lack of appropriate accountability or any accountability at all. So, excuse me for being highly suspicious.
I think Chris Kavanagh’s actions were based on bias and therefore I think he is corrupt.
Convince me otherwise.
The rest of my blog will be out tomorrow. This took a lot of research and is long enough.
Cheers!
Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.
Great post Mike and thanks for highlighting the ‘old boy’ sportsmanship of Danny Welbeck – he’s no friend of our club and doesn’t deserve an ovation from the crowd when being substituted.
The PGMOL and Premier League are desperate not to see a narrative arise around certain referees favouring certain clubs whilst unfairly penalising other clubs, because it would damage the product and in turn damage it’s integrity and especially damage it’s earning capacity.
It’s all about the Premier League being the biggest show in town and we see an extension of this in the sports media who ‘play the game’ and never seriously question an officials bias.
I mean has nobody on the BBC or Sky ever commented on the amount of referees coming from one particular part of England and why referees coming from areas of major opponents regularly gets crucial games that affect those competitors.
This never happened in days gone by it simply was never allowed – now nobody mentions it in the media and it’s ignored even after questionable refereeing performances.
Nobody is allowed to comment adversely on ‘The Product’
And let’s not forget the 115 charges…
These never came about because of some internal investigations they came about because of the revelations of a German publication forcing the hand of the PL.
The Premier League really want the 115 charges to just go away.
The whiff of bias, favouritism and even rank corruption are stinking the place out, but nobody really cares because it’s Arsenal and nobody really likes us outside of our fan base.
Completely agree. The worst part is that when this things happen (more than a couple of times per season) I feel so alienated…
You have got it spot on there mate unlike the ref… I thought VAR was supposed to be there to correct wrong decisions or help make right decisions… Not to back up a ref who has made the wrong decision… If VAR saw nothing wrong with any of those decisions you’ve pointed out then they are at fault as much as the ref…. The refs association are a closed shop run in secrecy and they don’t have to account publicly for anything which in a time when everything is supposed to be open is wrong… The masons have become more open than they are… The decisions made during that game and the conversations had about those decisions should be made public and explained… The game has 3 officials for the game.. One spare one for the substitutions and 3 I believe for the VAR decisions so that’s 7 officials and none saw any thing wrong with any of those decisions… Its scandalous if this sort of thing was to do with the players there would be investigations made including checking betting records but because it’s the refs and they are beyond reproach nothing will happen and the ref will carry on being biased against any of the clubs he dosent want to do well….. Tezzer
Egregiously bad and incompetent refereeing by Kavanagh. It’s pointless to speculate about his motivations in my opinion but the evidence of his incompetence is plain for all to see. Thank you Mike for laying it out all so clearly and plainly for all to see.
I know I am just a nobody. But I feel angry, and sad, and hurt to see someone as Rice get kicked, intentionally, in front of many people.
Dont tell me it is unintentional. It is impossible to fail to recognize someone as big as rice in front of you. Fast restart or not, football is never more important than respecting people in front of us.
The fact that the authority let that culprit free, without a merely warning, amaze me. I have no words.
Furthermore, his teammate, and his club support his action and making a joke of it on social media, it disgust me evenmore. Have no shame.
Yo Rice, I know you would not read these. But you did nothing wrong. We side with you.
Your team will take care the next game. Just return stronger for us; we need you against City.
Coyg
A trenchant post that asks all the right questions about PGMOL and Kavanagh’s performance on Saturday. Generally, in debates about incompetence vs conspiracy, my default position is incompetence until proven otherwise. You say, ‘Maybe [Kavanagh] isn’t biased towards Arsenal. Maybe he’s just crap.’ Undoubtedly guilty as charged on the second point, even if the first one is what the Scottish legal system calls ‘not proven’. The more significant point is that the PGMOL’s lack of accountability and transparency allows such crappiness to thrive uncorrected. It provides fertile soil for all the little implicit and subconscious biases that are part of human nature to flourish into something pernicious rather than to be disinfected by the sunlight of openness.
Brilliant stuff Mike. I’m still trying to calm down after Saturday.
It’s so plain to see why they’re trying to do to us.
Thanks Mike for taking the time it obviously took to put this together, the effort is much appreciated as are your regular reports.
Personally, I think the PGMOL isn’t fit for purpose and hasn’t been for a number of years. Whether the corruption is institutional or is just engrained within a certain group doesn’t really matter any more, root and branch reform is the first action I want to see.
Great read. I believe over the last 3 days I’ve said much of what you wrote. Lol. I believe var intervened as side official was further away than referee. How the contact/kick on Rice was missed by var is beyond me. That’s potential red. Hmmm. Pgmol is hurting PL football and no one seems to care. Ughhhhh
Good points Mike, well made as always but hasn’t this always been? Admittedly not in the last few years of Wengers reign as he didn’t threaten the northern monopoly but in his successful years, in the successful years of George Graham we were always getting dodgy red cards given against us. Look at the Martinelli sending off a couple of seasons ago. Hopefully at the end of the season we can be singing something similar to “you can stick your two points up your arse.” as we did in 1991.