Calciopoli in the EPL? Who really controls the refs? « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
By L. M.
On this site there has been often referred to the Calciopoli scandal in Italy. In short this was the system where a few top clubs like Juventus had a system where they conspired with the people who decided which ref would get which game.
The reasoning was that they knew/hoped which ref would favour the team involved and thus it would be helpful for the team to win that game.
In the EPL it is the PGMO who decides which games the refs will do. But how this is done remains in the dark a bit. Just like it was in Italy. The PGMO decides and that’s it. Well that is what they try to tell the people. But if one could point at some strange occurances and link this to a club, and then point to some strange types of appointment this could point at some kind of calciopoli in the EPL.
Imagine if a club could call Mike Riley (the current head of the PGMO) and say: “we like to have a certain ref for a certain game.” This would be the same as happened in Italy.
To see if there is anything in this we might take a look at the statistics of the ref that is known worldwide as a Manchester United ref, Howard Webb. And I think I can find a strange pattern in his appointments. And this is all about United games and almost always in top games between the top teams in the league.
| Season | ref |
games |
Won | Lost | Draw |
| 2007-2008 | Webb, H |
5 |
3W | 1L | 1D |
A good result all in all
| 2008-2009 | Webb, H |
6 |
4W | 2L |
Still a fair result for United
| 2009-2010 | Webb, H |
5 |
3w | 2L |
Well the winning ratio goes down a bit at this moment and someone could have been upset a bit and what do we see in the next season…
Only 3 games involving Manchester United. But somehow Howard Webb has understood the message it seems because the winning ratio is going through the roof with all games won by United.
And so it looked as if someone was very satisfied with this and in this season we have so far after half the season done
| 2011-2012 | Webb, H |
3 |
2W | 1L |
Again not really perfect but after having only 3 games in the previous season but proving his worth in those he has already has 3 games and we are only half way the season. So it looks as if SAF will have his favourite ref as the top ref once again. Because apart from the 2010-2011 season it was always Webb who had most of United’s games in each season. A coincidence?
Now a clever guy could say: well Webb is a top ref in the EPL, a Fifa ref so it is obvious that he gets the top teams a lot. Let us see if it really goes like that.
Because what goes up must come down and calciopoli can work in both ways. The most obvious thought in this system relates to having your favourite ref do your matches as often as possible.
But if you can say, “we don’t want that ref because we don’t trust him,” it can also be some kind of calciopoli. And avoiding refs that you think do not really liking your team is at least as easy as putting the ref you want, in place.
Refs that have cost you some points in a game and you want to punish that ref – you tell the PGMO: ban him from my games. If the PGMO were really independent they would say: f*ck you, we send who we want. But does the PGMO have the guts to do this? Well let us try to see if they do…
Let us take Fifa ref Martin Atkinson and Manchester United. How many games did he have?
Then came 08/03/2008 when Portsmouth won at Old Trafford in the FA cup after some dubious incidents.
And in the next season he had the following games of Manchester United
Was he punished? Only one game involving Manchester United and this for a Fifa ref? Strange. But obviously after that season someone thought he was punished enough and look at the next season:
Wow, as many games as Howard Webb. He seemed to be back in some ones Facebook friends I think. And in the next season we have…
And now you might think: what is the matter? Yes something happened in that season. In March he did his third game involving United. At Stamford Bridge and after that game a certain Sir was very upset and angry. And after that day and for the rest of the season Martin Atkinson did no more games involving Manchester United. And up to then he had done 3 games with still one quarter of the season to go. So if we follow the same pattern in appointments he should have had United at least for one more game. After all, as we note, Martin Atkinson is a Fifa ref.
But now the killer statistic. This season after 21 games in the season ref Martin Atkinson has done the astonishing amount of zero games involving United.
So it looks as if a certain Knight of the Realm called a certain Mike and said to him: we don’t want him around anymore. And this Mike bowed and said: of course Sir, your wish is my command. And thus it happened that we can see the reverse calciopoli. Not just getting your favourite refs most of the time but also not getting the one you don’t trust near your football field.
Now one could say, it is understandable that when you get screwed by a ref the PGMO gives a breather for team and ref and keeps him away for a while. Okay very understandable and I could even agree with this principle.
But could someone explain me that although Dean, Dowd and other Proberts have screwed us over and over and over again and yet we get the same Dean, Dowd and other Proberts time and time again with an interval of around 6 games?
Why does one team get the chance to avoid a “screwing them over” ref for almost one year and yet Arsenal get Dean, Dowd et al every 5 or 6 weeks?
It is clear to see that the PGMO is not impartial in their appointments of the refs. One has to dig a bit but their bias is there to see if you want to see it. Mike maybe head of the PGMO on paper but there is always a bigger head somewhere behind the curtains. Someone that maybe once told a certain Mike: I cannot stand the humiliation of a certain team making it 50 games unbeaten in my theatre of dreams, you must stop them. And so he did. And since then it still looks that he still listens to what that the director of that theatre tells him to do.
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