Announcement by Arsenal FC.

[arrgee]

I have attended local league meetings where they preach about having respect for referee's and I have pointed out that that is a two way street, and the reality is that referee's at every level are paid for their time and with that pay should come a right to a certain level of performance - it is the only profession in the world that I know that people are expected to hand over money, and when the person receiving the money has a shocker, there are no consequences and people are expected to accept it.

I would suggest you give it a try. I have done it for a year (unpaid as it happens) and it is very difficult to get it right all the time. Last week I missed a foul as there were players obstructing my view and a goal was scored at the end of the game. No matter the score was 0-4, and I pretty much called everything else right, all anyone was talking about was the fourth goal.
Even more ridiculous is players (and fans) not knowing the laws of the game and disputing decisions that a referee is obliged to make. One example is I had a missed penalty kick retaken because a defender stood on the side of the area in front of the penalty spot. The laws are clear, yet there was an argument about it until someone kindly came up with law in black and white on their phone. The re-taken penalty was scored.
I have no desire to referee at a higher level. Surprised anyone would.

I hear reffing in Dubai or Saudi Arabia can be quite lucrative money

I think I may be too old for that and having worked in the Middle East, I have no desire to return no matter how big the bag of cash is.

[A11M11]

Now De Zerbi is calling them out but he doesn't have the same command of English to make headlines.

[bergkamp10]

We were "Robbed" regardless of what anyone might say or try to infer; I Totally understand and Back Arteta's immediate reaction and I just hope that the club will stand strong and make PGMOL account (publicly) for every occasion they fuck us over - and it WILL happen again.

I've tried to be supportive of Arteta (perhaps half in the hope he will bring us success and perhaps half out of sheer desperation - seeing as not since Wenger first 10 years has there been much to truly believe in and celebrate). Okay so we won 3 FA cups (No mean feat) under the tail end of his tenure, but for me it became "embarrassing" when he would waffle and talk Wenger-bollocks to the media AND sign players who were Never going To Be Good Enough in a Million years. But because he was our manger I; like many other Gooners kept my criticisms of him to discussions with other Gooners and on here.

I too am utterly baffled by the purchase of Havertz; again I thought 'give him time' who knows, perhaps Arteta has seen 'something he can work with' but with each passing appearance Havertz has barely improved; if at all. One thing's for sure he simply doesn't fit in with what I thought our way of playing was / is? - Last season we were a very different team to how we are now and if anything with the inclusion of Rice in the team this season we should be even better, but we are not. That Dynamism we exhibited almost every game last season; with a few exceptions is Missing.

Arteta seems to be getting more and more like TOF in terms of his Arrogance and Refusal to 'change' or 'see where things are going wrong, admit to them and so adapt and progress.

My real worry is that if he is unwilling to admit to his mistakes; and everybody makes them, then we might be looking at another lengthy spell under a manager who whilst keeping us in the higher echelons of the Prem does very little else other than getting to Quarter/Semi-finals with no Trophies to show for it. It was bad enough to have to Endure that under TOF and I really don't want to go through that again. It really is too frustrating and unpleasant.

In what way or to what end onebard ? I understand and agree with el basque's tirade cos I have always believed in speaking up when you feel that something is not right, but I am curious to know what you expect to come from this ? The club stood strong and backed the manager with a statement of their own, but even though I agree with both statements, I am wondering what is it exactly we expect to see come out of all this ? Are we seriously expecting the people/system to improve ? The victims looked for a replay (and we all mocked them), but even though the whole world agreed that it was a disgraceful decision, have we seen any improvements since ? If anything I would argue that we have seen more incidents since the victims v scum debacle The life of a football fan (regardless of what club they support) always seems to centre around a feeling that they are getting screwed by authorities - I must admit that I get pissed off on here sometimes when I read comments suggesting that we are getting picked on, because the reality is that all clubs are getting screwed by incompetent match officials (wolves have had 3 disgraceful decisions against them so far this season), but the reality is that in my opinion that isnt gonna change anytime soon, but getting screwed over by an incompetent referee is much easier to accept than getting screwed over by fools who have the technology but who are either too stupid or corrupt to use it properly

My other feeling coming out of this saga is how the manager, the club and fans will feel justified in protesting this shitfest, but a lot of those same people will be outraged when some fans publicly complain or protest about how their club is being run - we all feel entitled to demand accountability, but this is a slippy path that el basque and the club have gone down now, and imo if you livve by the sword then you should die by the sword. Pep's cone boy is frustrated by continued bad decisions by referee's, but we are also frustrated by his continued selection of havertz and raya (and a few others too) - when the same mistakes keep getting made, why does el basque feel that he is entitled to see changes when he himself is making the same mistakes ? I will be the first to say that the match officials cost us a point on Saturday, but can he say that the performances of havertz, nketieh and raya are not costing us this season too ? If he does say that then he is a fcuking liar cos they have been dogshite. He can come out in his statement saying that when we deserve to lose he comes out and holds his hands up and maybe he does, but it is one thing saying it but another thing showing it, and when he picks those same shit players it is not him acknowledging and correcting his mistakes, but he is doubling down on them and he should be getting some stick on these decisions imo

Absolutely one of the best posts in a long time on here!!! ¬