How random is random at the PGMOL? More questions to be asked. « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
We have said it before that the PGMOL is an organisation that works in a strange way. They want to make us believe that the ref appointments are done randomly. And as I have pointed out the refs should be appointed in an open way with each time getting each ref only 2 times in a season.
And for now Arsenal has had just 15 of the 18 available refs. Now next week we get Taylor for the first time in the EPL this season. And this could mean that we didn’t get 2 refs of the 18 to do an Arsenal game. As a compensation we got Dean 6 times.
That is in fact the highest number of games one ref has done with one team this season. And yet in a question asked by Guy Sinnot from the BBC the spokesman of the PGMOL has said that this is normal at this time of the season. Well then the question can be asked that why only Arsenal has had the privilege of having their worst ref 6 times this season.
There are teams who have had the same ref 5 times. Howard Webb had United 5 games. And will have them again in a way next weekend when he does the game Newcastle – Manchester City.
But so far no other team has had the same ref for 6 games this season but Arsenal with Dean.
In fact having the same ref 5 times is not that common my dear friends from the PGMOL. Only 7 teams of the 20 had the pleasure of having the same ref 5 times. And when you see the names of Howard Webb and Manchester United together you understand what I mean with the world pleasure. How random is it that United get their “lucky” ref 5 times and we get our bogey ref 6 times? What are the chances that this is actually really random? To complete the list I will give you the names of those teams and the ref who have seen each other 5 times.
- Aston Villa – Micheal Oliver
- Chelsea – Mike Dean
- Manchester City – Martin Atkinson
- Manchester United – Howard Webb
- QPR – Martin Atkinson
- Sunderland – Chris Foy
- West Bromwich Albion – Lee Mason
Oh and then I still forget the times that some refs have been involved as 4th official in games with the same team. I think Dean has been involved in around 10 Arsenal games this season. That is more than 25%. A rather unhealthy situation if you ask me.
The possible influence Dean has had on our season is 18 points. Eighteen!. That is a possible 16% of the total points a team can get. How on earth can Arsenal even come close when the PGMOL has such an influence on this?
If you calculate all the refs and the games of Arsenal a ref has on average an influence of 7,2 points in the season. Dean has an influence of 18 points.
I have said it before that the PGMOl should send the refs in such a way that the maximum influence any ref has is 6 points for each team.
Of course the PGMOL will have some excuses. They will say it cannot be done to send each ref two times in a season to the teams. Part of that is true as they don’t have enough refs. But who is to blame for not having enough refs? Yep, the PGMOL.
And yet it can be done. In fact so far this season it has been done. Our next opponent Norwich is a team that has had 18 referees so far this season. And thus the average influence of the refs is exactly 6 points. The maximum times they had the same ref this season is 3. I think even I could live with seeing Dean only 3 times involved in an Arsenal game.
Another team that has got close to the maximum referees is Swansea. So both new teams have been treated very fairly by the appointments of the refs by the PGMOL this season. Fulham also got 17 different refs this season.
So it can be done. But apparently the PGMOL is not appointing the refs random for some games.
And if we look at the way the PGMOL did this week it sure should raise some eyebrows. As the appointments are made public on Monday afternoon they suddenly changed it. Oh there where some appointments but not for the PL. No for some reason they waited. And waited. And waited. And only the next day on Tuesday afternoon the announcement was made of who would do which game.
Now if the appointments are made randomly, why this delay? And is it really just a result of a random appointment that Howard Webb will do the most crucial game of the season? He was absent because of the UEFA training last weekend for the Manchester derby but now he can do his job at the Newcastle – Manchester City game. Totally random of course. And the fact that Foy, who has a great record in United games, will do Manchester United – Swansea will also be the result of the total random draw made out of the hat of Mike Riley. Foy who has had 14 wins, 4 draws and just one defeat in his 19 games of doing United.
Who does still believe that the appointments are made random? In fact they shouldn’t be made random. They should be made like they were done for Norwich. All the refs in a very equal way so that no ref has a massive influence on the total outcome of the league. That is how it should be done.
But certainly not like it is done now.