Liverpool had no shots on target. Will Portsmouth do better?
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By Tony Attwood
As for yellow cards, referee Tony Harrington is middle of the road, waving three a game on average. The lowest in the Premier League is Craig Pawson on 1.92 on average per game and the champion card-waver is currently Stuart Attwell with 4.64 cards per game.
Thus, the point remains as ever – how can there be such variation in these major aspects of referees’ games? Is it really all just a case of hit and miss – some you see, some you don’t, sometimes you wave the card, sometimes you can’t be arsed? It certainly looks like it.
But if we do want one spot of relief, it is there, for Harrington is a man who sees 50% of his Premier League games as away wins, only 30% as home wins and 20% as draws. Some comfort can be taken from that, although of course it shouldn’t be. We really should have similar ratios between all referees. Yet as it stands, Peter Bankes has seen 15 PL games this season, and 80% of them have been home wins.
Thomas Bramall on the other hand, sees 58% of his games as draws. It is all a bit bonkers. Or, if you believe in conspiracies rather than cock-ups, biased.
Now it is of course, quite possible to have a sensible debate on the issue of referee variance. We might consider the way in which referees are asked to oversee the same team over and over again and whether that is the right way to do things (Untold consistently argued that it is not, but of course the Premier League and its lackeys in the media won’t touch the subject, seemingloy pursuing the line that if it is never mentioned in the media, any discussions by ourselves will be deemed the work of freaks who have a point to prove.)
Which is ironic, of course, since we are the ones presenting evidence, and the league and the mainstream media are the ones who will never let data sully their reportage with actual data or details.
And maybe they do argue that it is normal for each referee to have significantly different numbers of fouls, penalties, etc., etc, in his games. That would be an argument we could debate, and at least if it were put forward, we could then have a debate, instead of the situation now, in which the subject of referee variance is simply never even mentioned. Although I am dead certain it is mentioned within the clubs as soon as the referees are announced for each game.
But turning back once more to the games between the two sides, there was a time starting in 1954 and running on to 1958 that Portsmouth had the measure of Arsenal. Indeed, if you have been following our series on Arsenal’s 100 seasons in the First Division, you will recognise that all happened in the 1950s – the point we have just reached in that series. If you want to follow the series, the full index is published here and the most recent articles are
But even in that period, Portsmouth never got beyond four matches undefeated when playing Arsenal. Indeed, in the period from 19 April 1954 to 21 January 1956, Portsmouth beat Arsenal four times in the league and the clubs drew once. But then normal service was resumed, although Portsmouth did have one last hoorah with the game Portsmouth 5 Arsenal 4 on 29 March 1958
Since then, there have been 22 games in the Premier League and FA Cup between the two sides. Arsenal have won 14 and eight have been drawn. The Portsmouth victories include a 5-2 in 1959, a 6-0 in 1987, a 1-5 in 2004 and a 4-0 in 2005. So it is possible we might be in for a few goals – although it is also possible that Portsmouth will come for a goalless draw and then try to win on penalties. There are, you may have noticed, no replays nor any extra time in this round.
Oh yes, and it seems the holders have been knocked out already.
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Liverpool had no shots on target. Will Portsmouth do better?
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