Is anyone else beginning to lose interest in Premier League football?
I was chatting to an old mate over the weekend. Big Man U fan (I know, I know) who has a season ticket at Old Trafford and back when we were both much younger and free of the expense that are children, used to go to loads of away games too. He was a proper died-in-the-wool fan, but is someone who now is so disillusioned with the way the game has gone, is considering giving up his season ticket. And he never bothers with away games any more.
And it got me thinking. I mean, I think I’m a pretty staunch Arsenal supporter. I used to travel down to Highbury for every weekend home game and some midweek too, which from Cheshire is no short journey. And after a few years of what felt like purgatory, I can now really invest emotionally again into a team that has been seriously on the up for the past couple of years. We’re now serious Title contenders, and believe me, that should feel amazing. I’ve always felt that the thrill of football supporting was not necessarily winning, but being competitive. That old Wenger/Ferguson era rivalry between the two Clubs was petrifying, exhilarating, demoralising (when losing) and yet capable of putting me on a high for weeks (when winning). Depending on whether winning or losing, I felt elation or real pain. It was bloody marvellous.
And yet, despite Arsenal’s recent renaissance, I just can’t fully let myself go and enjoy it. VAR has, in my opinion, done nothing but bad to the game. The inability to be able to completely let yourself go when your team scores an important goal because you have to wait to see if someone was offside by a millimetre (and I have no time for anyone who says offside is offside – the law was introduced to prevent gaining an unfair advantage by goal hanging…being offside to such a narrow extent as it takes ten minutes for lines to be drawn and images analysed means that the spirit of that law has definitely not been infringed and the attacker really hasn’t gained any conceivable advantage!!! – so do one!).
And the other major issue I have with VAR? That it has shone a very bright and uncompromising light on the incompetence and inability to act consistently, of our referees and the PGMOL. Seriously, they are so incompetent it makes me wince, and then wonder if there’s anything more sinister going on.
I’m not saying that referees are taking bungs or that they’re bent in any way. But we do know that spot fixing and dodgy betting patterns are a thing in top level sport (cricket and tennis have seen well publicised and proven spot fixing controversies). And here’s the thing. Whereas both cricket and tennis set up fully transparent and accountable, independently governed units to investigate and expose suspicious betting patterns and to tackle the problem of spot fixing, football and the body that “regulates” football referees in this country, is about as transparent and accountable as, err…something that isn’t either transparent or accountable.
And so the optics aren’t good. It’s only very recently been decided by the PGMOL that their leading referees can’t moonlight by reffing matches in the Saudi Pro League and the UAE League, when two leading Premier League clubs are owned by the Vice President of the UAE and the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia? Talk about a conflict of interest!
And then on Saturday we have a referee on VAR who is not allowed to officiate Liverpool matches because he is a fan, influencing the on-pitch ref’s decision to give a yellow card and instead issue a red and so send off one of Arsenal’s best player meaning he misses the next match through suspension. Which team is that next match against? Liverpool.
Again, not saying this is corrupt. But what “governing” body worth its salt creates a situation where this is even a thing? An incompetent one, that’s what.
I’ve come away from the original point a little. And what’s all this got to do with betting anyway!?!
Not a lot truth be told. Was wondering if it’s just me who is no longer really finding the beautiful game to be that beautiful any more?
Just one thing to note though, and worth checking out if you haven’t already.
Ted Knutson is a former professional bettor, who in an interesting career to date also played a large part in developing Pinnacle Sports as a major global bookmaking firm, and worked with FC Midtjylland and Brentford as a Data Analyst. He has been very much at the forefront of the development and use of sports analytics within the top levels of the professional game.
Anyway, he has recently launched a free, daily newsletter which is such a refreshing read. It’s insightful, entertaining, and provides an intelligent assessment of aspects of the game that the likes of pundits on Sky and Talksport could only dream of providing. He has also launched to go with it, a betting service concentrating on the Premier League, the Championship and the Champions’ League. This was initially free, and I signed up to it. I didn’t follow with money, but found the breakdown and angles being explored each week fascinating to read.
As it happens, the results weren’t that great, but I believe have really picked up over the last couple of weeks or so. I didn’t subscribe when it went down the subscription route (although it’s pretty cheap at about £15/month). I’m not for one moment recommending you sign up to this and devote a betting bank to it. But the free newsletter, I couldn’t recommend more strongly. You can find it at The Transfer Flow.
Back soon.
