Manchester United yesterday secured the Opening Championship in the Premiership after Arsenal were physically intimidated without the protection of the match officials for the third consecutive away match. When we projected this scenario earlier in the season, there were those who doubted our assessment. Its humble pie all round as we demonstrate below that the title has already been wrenched from the Gooner's hands.
In late 2006 and earlier this year, Dietrological had a series of interactions with Arsène Wenger regarding the negative officiating that his side were receiving at the hands of the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB). We were after a consultancy but couldn't reach an agreement and we undertook some parallel work with an Arsenal board member instead. Fair dinkum. Wenger utilised our analysis of Arsenal matches to approach the PGMOB and, with a seasonal lo and behold, the PGMOB exercised a preference reversal for the relatively meaningless end of season events. This bias in favour of Arsenal continued into the early stages of this season - indeed there was a window where 85% of the key match decisions went in favour of the north Londoners. Over the last couple of months, however, the momentum against Arsenal on the pitch has been extensive with precisely 100% of the key match decisions being to their detriment. The powers-that-be in the English game may adjust their hidden agenda under pressure but the template returns to normality as soon as is feasibly possible. Why so?
Arsenal are the only leading side in England who have not yet sold out to the major betting concerns that control their competitors. This is anathema to the Premier League, the PGMOB, the FA and, most importantly, the bookmakers. Cartel structures develop their solidity through a total inclusion of the leading protagonists - think OPEC. Indeed, the oil cartel shares many similarities with the football gambling sector. Arsenal's refusal to sell ownership to the likes of Kroenke and the baby boiling smack importing rapist from Uzbekistan is costing the betting industry oodles of cash. The comparison with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea is startling. The massively rigged game at the weekend between Man Utd and Everton could never occur for an Arsenal event for one simple reason - Arsenal will not be a part of it and it is much more difficult to corrupt a game using only one team and the match officials as experienced observers are able to detect the machinations at play.
The impact of Arsenal's refusal to become involved in this massive corruption has a far greater influence on the bookmaker's bottom line than you would think. The mathematics of a solid cartel versus a fragmented one are revealing and, as global betting liquidity spirals out of control, the negative impact on the profits of the psychopaths is marked. It remains the view of our traders that Arsenal will not be allowed a sniff of the Premiership title until they do the decent thing and welcome the bookmakers into the boardroom.
But Arsenal are only one of the teams selected for focus by the PGMOB on behalf of their crooked bosses at the Premier League. Below, we reveal the Premiership table as it would appear this morning WITHOUT the negative input of the PGMOB match officials. The most tedious part of trading football markets is undoubtedly the amount of time that one has to spend watching the behavioural aspects of the match officials during matches - for very key games, we are required to send a representative to monitor the officials in-running. But the data is massive. By running these analyses through one of our pieces of software, we are able to determine the authentic outcomes for every match in the season to date. Inevitably, there are some grey areas. For example, when the PGMOB representative invalidates the game in the very early phases, it is virtually impossible to project what the remaining 80 minutes might have produced on a level playing field. But, such qualifications aside, the data is still mightily interesting. So, here we go. The table below is what you should be seeing this morning. The figures in parentheses relate to the inverse points differentials due to the corrupt influence of the PGMOB match officials ie Man Utd have been "given" a handicap start of nine points over Arsenal in the first half of the season or, to put it another way, Newcastle have been given a 6 point handicap start so far this season.
1. Arsenal 19 games - 46 points (+2)
2. Manchester United 19 - 38 (-7)
3. Manchester City 18 - 36 (+2)
4. Everton 19 - 36 (+3)
5. Liverpool 18 - 35 (-1)
6. Chelsea 19 - 33 (-5)
7. Blackburn Rovers 18 - 30 (+4)
8. Portsmouth 19 - 30 (-1)
9. Aston Villa 19 - 28 (-2)
10. Tottenham Hotspur 19 - 26 (+5)
11. Reading 19 - 24 (+2)
12. West Ham United 18 - 23 (-3)
13. Fulham 19 - 23 (+9)
14. Wigan Athletic 19 - 20 (+4)
15. Bolton Wanderers 19 - 20 (+3)
16. Newcastle United 19 - 20 (-6)
17. Birmingham City 19 - 19 (+1)
18. Middlesbrough 19 - 15 (-2)
19. Sunderland 19 - 14 (0)
20. Derby County 19 - 7 (0)
* It is little surprise that Man Utd and Chelsea are aided and abetted by the bookmakers but the bias in favour of Newcastle is more entertaining. As may be seen from the data, the north east are crap at football. With the additional absence of any Yorkshire representatives, there is a very real possibility that the whole of eastern England stretching down to Reading will be without a team to support if the bottom three above were to be relegated.
* Mohamed al-Fayed will be visiting Swansea and Carlisle next season as Fulham are being hammered by the PGMOB - that will teach him to object to the murdering of his son by the English establishment. Furthermore, Lawrie Sanchez has a case against the PGMOB over his dismissal as the Cottagers have been denied a rightful mid-table position. The same statement, with reservations, could be applied to Martin Jol at Spurs.
* The battle at the top is more intriguing. Manchester United have been given the title as both Chelsea and Liverpool have been targeting the Champions League since Day One and Arsenal are carrying excessive handicap weights. So the glory hunting prawn sandwich brigade from anywhere-other-than-Manchester will be able to rejoice in the futility of their success. More interesting will be how the Premier League manage to achieve their targets in positions 2 to 5. Obviously, Everton will have to go and the four Champions League slots will be handed to the Big 4. But, due to the machinations involving the G14(18) and the UEFA Strategy Group, fifth place is critical this season as the team finishing fifth will be invited to join the top table of clubs within UEFA. In fact, fifth place is all that is left to play for and we haven't even reached the New Year!
* And this last point encompasses the real problem with corruption in football from the perspective of a fan. If the season is merely being played out to a Premier League, G14(18) and bookmaker hidden agenda then what is the point in going to cheer on, say, Blackburn or Everton?
In conclusion, no matter how many branded Mega Saturdays, Super Sundays and Grand Slam Wednesday afternoons that Sky peddle in our direction, there is nothing left to play for. All those column inches relating to Liverpool still being in the title race could be better filled with something real. Like news, for example. We opposed Liverpool as soon as the markets opened up in the summer and we would now willingly offer 50's on a scouse Premiership triumph next May.
So long as the Premier League, under the criminal stewardship of Richard Scudamore, bows down at the feet of the bookmaking industry, this will be our footballing reality in this country. You better get used to it...
© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological
