Match Reaction v Wolves (away)

[IBK]

I'm sure it can be technically justified as a red, but Oliver has really had to dig deep here to come up with something that would work!

Was Martinelli really so much of a danger to his fellow players or such an outrageous cheat that he needed to be removed from the field of play with that much urgency?

Bottom line: if that was Harry Kane or Marcus Rashford or Sadio Mane (or pretty much anyone except one of our players) would that have been a red? Would it have even been a booking? Would it have even been a talking to?

This. For me, our bad disciplinary record is just as much due to Refs unconscious bias against us as our players overstepping the mark.

[I am invisible]

Happy with this result. A win away from home against the EPL form team (aside from Citeh) that won four out of five before the winter break, including against Manure. This was a test, and we passed it. We are in 5th place in the table, having placed 1 game less than Manure behind us and 2 less than West Ham - 1 point in front. 2 home games coming up. Let's not focus on our strikers or Martinelli's red.

I actually think the manner of this result will do us more good than a 3 or 4 nil mauling - game one back after the break and there's already no question that this is going to be anything other than a fight.

[I am invisible]

This. For me, our bad disciplinary record is just as much due to Refs unconscious bias against us as our players overstepping the mark.

Maybe it's conscious, maybe it's unconscious? Refs take a lot of shit, and the impression I get is that a lot of the weaker ones take their accumulated frustrations from all their games out on us, so it's probably a little of both. Like everyone else, they see us as a soft touch - someone they feel safe to make an example of because we never defend ourselves and because, culturally, in the wider football world, it’s become acceptable to do this to Arsenal. There’s an element of conscious bias, but not in the conspiratorial way people think - i think they’d do it to anyone if they thought they could get away with it.

We're fighting against reputation here, and the reputation we should be trying to shake isn't that we're ill-disciplined, it's that we're weak. It's that we're an easy meal. It'll stop when we start making ourselves more trouble than we're worth.

[Chippy]

If we do get 4th, no doubt this should be looked at as a key result, especially as we were down to 10.

Well done lads.

Martinelli.
The lack of discipline is getting ridiculous now.

The situation up front is horrific but we’ve made our own bed on that. Let’s hope the defence can pull us through.

It seems that no one else wants fourth, especially after this weekends results (thank you Wolves by the way).
We could get fourth, but we probably won't. An Arteta or Xhaka brain fart will put paid to it.

[IBK]

Maybe it's conscious, maybe it's unconscious? Refs take a lot of shit, and the impression I get is that a lot of the weaker ones take their accumulated frustrations from all their games out on us, so it's probably a little of both. Like everyone else, they see us as a soft touch - someone they feel safe to make an example of because we never defend ourselves and because, culturally, in the wider football world, it’s become acceptable to do this to Arsenal. There’s an element of conscious bias, but not in the conspiratorial way people think - i think they’d do it to anyone if they thought they could get away with it.

We're fighting against reputation here, and the reputation we should be trying to shake isn't that we're ill-disciplined, it's that we're weak. It's that we're an easy meal. It'll stop when we start making ourselves more trouble than we're worth.

Problem is that (on the pitch at least) we are into a spiral here - I can see us getting even more cards if our players try to stand up to this shit. For me, we need Tim Lewis to put together a legal type case to take to that twat Mike Riley and the PGMOL, and it needs to happen behind closed doors so those twats don;t lose face. The case needs to focus not on our cards (for which refs will always back themselves and find justification) but the egregious anomalies between our treatment and that of other EPL clubs...

[Mac76]

Problem is that (on the pitch at least) we are into a spiral here - I can see us getting even more cards if our players try to stand up to this shit. For me, we need Tim Lewis to put together a legal type case to take to that twat Mike Riley and the PGMOL, and it needs to happen behind closed doors so those twats don;t lose face. The case needs to focus not on our cards (for which refs will always back themselves and find justification) but the egregious anomalies between our treatment and that of other EPL clubs...

completely agree we need a dossier of all these incidents, along with comparable cases where other clubs get away with it