Mugged by Poll last night and by Webb (and his assistants) on Sunday and robbed of 15 points through refereeing decisions in the Premiership this season (see numerous previous posts detailed below), Arsène Wenger is correct to be reaching the end of his tether. To quote:
"I don't agree with the report of the linesman because, for me, he lies. Adebayor didn't punch anybody. So when the linesman says he punches someone, he lies."
"We could make a good tape [of similar incidents] since the beginning of the season. I can point out plenty of other games too when we have had bad luck like this. Tonight we had two reasonable claims and in the first game [against Blackburn] we had one that was 100 per cent. We shouldn't even be here at Ewood Park because it was so clear in the first game. I'm not a referee. But I just want the right decisions to be made, whether it's us or somebody else".
Couldn't agree more...
As we have stated historically, Arsenal are being directly targeted on a range of levels this season. We have no particular affinity with the Londoners, we merely observe market realities.
So what is the hidden agenda? Let's look at what Arsenal represent plus recent breakpoints and I'll leave it up to you to determine which of these factors play a part.
* Arsenal represent a local competitor to Abramovich's Chelsea.
* Arsenal are not controlled by nor closely linked to bookmakers and market makers.
* We have absolutely no evidence that Arsenal trade on their own events - this is unusual in the Premiership.
* The Arsenal team is a global village of footballing talent. The younger players now reaching their prime offer the Gooners the prospect of a window of considerable silverware ahead. All without having to buy success.
* By some distance, Arsène Wenger is the most strategically adept manager in the English game.
* David Dein is current bossman at both Arsenal and the G14(18).
* The Emirates Stadium is the largest club stadium in the capital.
* Arsenal reached the Champions League Final prior to the blossoming of the products of the youth system.
One other matter of concern is related to PGMOB official Howard Webb. The man appears, subconsciously or not, to have developed a racial element to his match officiating. Webb has sent off 8 players this season - 7 are Black players and the other is Senderos. In fact, one needs to go back to January 2006 to find the last occasion where Webb dismissed a white English player. The selective sendings off after the Chelsea v Arsenal mêlée emphasise this apparent racism. Why wasn't white English Lampard dismissed when he was evidently a key perpetrator?
Below are some of the posts relating to the manipulation of Arsenal games against their interest since we started this blog.
http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2006/12/breaking-news.html
http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/01/six-three-to-arsenal.html
http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/01/non-gooner-london-bias.html
http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/01/dont-criticise-refs-and-other.html
http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/01/weekend-premiership-round-up.html
http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/02/riley-wiley-make-bookmakers-smiley.html
http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/02/magic-of-fa-cup-revisited.html
