With claims that phonecalls were made to instruct pundits to tone down their criticism of match officials following Arsenal’s recent defeat to Newcastle United, the Daily Mail’s media machine has kicked into gear.
Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen, and Alan Shearer have all made it known that they are firmly behind PGMOL as they continue to generate outrage on the back of Mikel Arteta‘s accurate description of what happened at St James’ Park.
While they praise Ange Postegoclou for saying ‘mate’ a lot, comparisons have been drawn between both managers and how they talked to the media after their respective defeats.
Ex-ref claims TV pundits instructed to back officials on Arsenal errors
Of course, both defeats were not even remotely similar, with Arsenal robbed by a goal that most right-minded people agree should have been ruled out while Tottenham lost after having two men rightfully sent off who should have been sent off even earlier.
What, exactly, has the Tottenham manager got to be mad about? That loads of Chelsea’s goals were ruled out so they were only beaten 4-1? That Udogie and Romero weren’t sent off earlier?
It’s all a nonsense.
Which brings me to the Daily Mail media machine which has kicked into gear.
In the print edition, we had a full page from Oliver Holt, with a headline crying “Arsenal are meant to be a bastion of class. Doubling down on Arteta’s emotional incontinence is shameful.”
In what is a quite spectacular rant in which he has the cheek to accuse Arsenal of playing to the gallery, Holt accuses Arsenal of making self-serving statements that undermine the authority of match officials and encourage conspiracy theories among fans.
The club’s recent statement, which discussed “unacceptable refereeing and VAR errors,” is portrayed as irresponsible and unfounded. Holt argues that a calm analysis of the decisions in question reveals that there were, in fact, no errors made by the officials.
Most former referees who have spoken on the matter disagree with him.
He then goes on about Mikel Arteta, who he says may not handle pressure well. Arteta is depicted as a manager who tends to deflect blame onto referees and VAR when faced with defeat rather than taking responsibility for his team’s performance, despite Arteta frequently taking responsibility for Arsenal’s performances, including the one against Newcastle.
Arsenal will never win the title, Holt says, until Arteta sorts himself out.
Other pieces published by the Mail in the last few days:
This is what it looks like when the media are trying to establish one narrative to silence another.
They aren’t even subtle about it any more.