Still waiting for a final verdict on the charges for misconduct to Rodri (bsky.app/profile/pgmo...). He made his remarks on the 1st of Feb; the FA announced the charges on the 13th, setting the 18th for any appeal. Still nothing, and Rodri has been able to play another 6 games, maybe 7 tonight.

Even when it's only 8 games, PGMOL just can't help it: they had to assign double shifts to referee John Brooks and assistant Con Hatzidakis. www.thefa.com/news/2026/ma... The officials for the Sunderland game will be announced after the rearranged Port Vale-Bristol City match tonight

And yet I am 😊 Thanks for sharing, by the way.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba... At this point, I'm not entirely sure he even watches football games, but I'm not going to comment further

Here is something that will be addressed by the new rules for next season, with VAR checks for corners, though it seems that the Premier League intends to opt out despite several other incidents this season 🤷🏻‍♂️ In #ARSCHE, Sanchez touched the ball once before it went completely out.

So much went wrong in the first Chelsea corner in #ARSCHE, but I will wait to have the full video to talk about it, because there is also a foul on Raya before we even get to the handball. Hopefully MOTD or other shows will have that

Also in #MUNCRY, I can't wait for the day IFAB will announce these will be treated as simulations and produce a yellow card.

While the penalty may be given for the pull in #MUNCRY, the red for DOGSO is likely too harsh. For this to be a goal scoring opportunity, Cunha must be in control of the ball to score, or likely to reach the ball in a favourable position to score, BUT...

All the silly patches introduced to the Law to tackle time-wasting, when one of the main culprits remains VAR. The way it is used here goes against its own purpose: if it takes more than 90 seconds to decide (and I'm being generous), it's neither clear nor obvious 🤷🏻‍♂️

Incoming new changes, but leagues can opt out: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

Interestingly, the "repetition" is not just a PL thing: in the UEL match last night between Red Star Belgrade and Lille, VAR was Michael Salisbury, as he was when the two clubs met in the early stages in November (also, this fixture had all English refs both times)... www.uefa.com/uefaeuropale...

Really appreciated having the ref in the Mic'd Up show rather than Howard Webb: www.skysports.com/football/vid... Also, a few good questions from Owen to help viewers better understand the ref's side of things.

Way too many repeated appointments the following matchweeks, even in the same role (like Bankes as on-field in #LEEMCI, having already officiated #MCILEE as well): bsky.app/profile/pgmo...

In #TOTARS, the biggest controversy has been the disallowed equaliser for Kolo Mouani, ruled a push on Gabriel. Per Law12, the decision is correct: even if soft, Kolo Mouani has no business stretching his arms towards Gabriel's back as it gives the officials something to cling on. Still, ... [1/4]

Match officials for matchweeks 28 (www.premierleague.com/en/news/4593...) and 29 (www.premierleague.com/en/news/4598...) have been announced. As usual, my analyses will be posted later in this thread.

On the goal disallowed to MacAllister in #NFOLIV, there is no doubt that the handball was not intentional, but Law12 clearly states that it is still an offence if a player "scores in the opponents’ goal directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental".

There is a lot of confusion around Dan Burn's disallowed equaliser in #MCINEW. The goal is disallowed because Burn is offside when the free kick is taken, but he is in an offside position because he is pushed into offside by the City defender. So, what does the Law say in this case? [1/7]

When I shared the news about the FA charging Rodri with misconduct (bsky.app/profile/pgmo...), it caused a bit of a stir... The appeal deadline was on the 18th, but it seems the decision will only come AFTER the important #MCINEW game. Rodri may miss Leeds, Forest and West Ham 🤷🏻‍♂️

The match officials for Matchweek 27 have been announced: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4581... As usual, my analysis will follow in this thread 🧵

So, Rodri may face disciplinary consequences after all: www.msn.com/en-gb/news/n... Meanwhile, he was still able to play key matches against Liverpool and the second leg of the cup against Newcastle (and the Fulham game)... Somehow, justice feels slower when City is involved, doesn't it?

Tonight kicks off the fourth round of the FA Cup. These are the match officials (no VAR still): www.thefa.com/news/2026/fe...

The Head of UEFA Referees, Roberto Rosetti, spoke at a recent meeting in Brussels about VAR, among other things. I only found an article in Italian mentioning it (www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/12-02...) but I'll add a screenshot below with an English summary...

[Conspiracy?] When it comes to matchfixing, most people think it unfolds through decisions against one team on the pitch, to benefit the other. While it's certainly one way, there are other subtler ways to benefit a club. Particularly long-term. And that's through fouls and cards management [1/7]

Tony Harrington was uniquely appointed to 3 matches (!) in MW26: - 4th in #CHELEE - VAR in #AVLBHA - Ref in #BREARS (was ref in #ARSBRE too) He has now quietly been removed from 2 of them, only keeping his VAR app. His replacement is John Brooks for both matches.

I talked about Solanke's goal so I shall mention Romero's red in #MUNTOT too. My first reaction was, again, Romero is the one in control of the ball so he is not initiating a challenge, therefore a red was too harsh. It's careless but he was trying to kick the ball that he had control of... But...

Since FBREF is now useless, I am collecting all the historical data from FootballData. So, back to the question, how "boring" is this season (bsky.app/profile/pgmo...)? Well, if the number of 0-0 is the metric (as per social media "stars"), this is the 3rd LEAST boring season in PL history!

One more chart in this series: appointment of "local" referees since the Introduction of VAR. Obviously, refs are professionals and unbiased (until they aren't: Coote, Clattenburg, Dean...), but it makes you appreciate the efforts in the title race of Liverpool and Arsenal even more, doesn't it?

I regularly read posts on refs' forums to better understand how they think in games and how they rate their officiating. It's always great to have a view of "the other side", rather than only see through the biased filter of my own bubble, but anyway... On the possible penalty in #ARSCHE... [1/5]

An update to my refs' territorial conflicts chart. that now includes all appointments up to MW26. My notes are in the next posts of this thread [1/5]

[Non-PGMOL] Yesterday was the third time this season that a team entered the Top10 of the lowest xG in a PL match: - #TOTCHE 0-1, 01/11/25, Tottenham, 0.03 - #ARSTOT 4-1, 21/11/25, Tottenham, 0.05 - #SUNBUR 3-0, 02/02/26, Burnley, 0.06 Lowest ever was Leicester in 2023, #LEIARS 0-1, with 0.02

As teased last week, here is my infographic for this season's pairing of match officials with each club, as of the latest announced appointments. It's going to look tiny on screen, so you're better off saving it on your device and zooming in. It's a visual indication of my weekly analyses 😅

Match officials' appointments for Matchweek 25 (www.premierleague.com/en/news/4572...) and 26 (www.premierleague.com/en/news/4579...). Farai Hallam returns to the PL in #CRYBUR. I will update this thread with my findings in the coming days, starting with MW25.

I am leaning towards agreeing with the general consensus on Solanke's first goal in #MCITOT, but I still have some doubts. When you look at it in slow motion and out of context, as VAR does, the contact is clear and looks 100% a foul. But deciding this way is exactly why VAR is so divisive [1/8]

In #AVLBRE, from this angle, I have no doubts that the ball was out and therefore the VAR decision was correct. Per VAR protocol, with every goal, the APP (Attacking Possession Phase) that led to it must be checked, and as you can read here there is no time limit for how far back they can go [1/6]

Small teaser of a matrix I will share here sometime next week. Finding the data for all those tiny dots is sooooo time-consuming, but I think you will enjoy it ☺️ Can you guess what this all means? 😅

The match officials for the second leg of the Carabao Cup: www.efl.com/news/2026/ja... In #MCINEW the ref is Harrington who is registered in County Durham (close to Newcastle). And VAR Paul Howard is from London, with the other semifinalists being from the capital. Nothing to note in #ARSCHE

Next weekend's match officials announced: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4570... There are already odd or policy-violating appointments that stand out, and I will keep updating this thread in the next days

To my latest post on the #ARSMUN violent conduct, many of the Evertonians here are mentioning the hair pull in #EVEWOL. I probably need to comment on that then... Technically, if you look up "hair pull" in the Law, you won't find anything, so this will always be argued against. But... [1/6]

In #ARSMUN, how does Martinez get away with this, and how did VAR not check it? Not even worthy of a comment on TV. Per Law12: "A player who punches an opponent when the ball is out of play is guilty of violent conduct, resulting in a mandatory red card (sending-off)"... [1/4].

Well, congratulations to Farai Hallam for his brave decision to stick with his call and go against VAR (the walking disaster Darren England), despite the pressure of his PL debut. Hopefully, he won't have to regret it (as maybe Gillett)

To reiterate my position on the Premier League being competitive rather than "boring" (bsky.app/profile/pgmo...), 5 English clubs are currently in the Top8 of the UCL (with City on the same points as PSG). On this account, I try to analyse whether PGMOL can keep up with this competitiveness 😓

Unfortunately, my data analysis has taken a substantial hit with what is effectively the "death" of FBREF: www.sports-reference.com/blog/2026/01... That's sad.

As part of my personal project to draft a proposal for the FA and PGMOL, I asked an AI to help me create a realistic model for the appointments of match officials. The main question is obviously about territorial conflict, as here I have been banging against such appointments many times [1/3]

I need to rewrite and repost this because BlueSky made a mess with my additions to the thread, sorry. Appointments for Matchweek 23: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4553... I will update this thread with my analysis (workload, conflicts, etc)

[Not PGMOL] Looking at data for another analysis, I thought this was still worth sharing... Now, Arsenal have the best defence, by some margin: 14 goals conceded (City 2nd have 20) and 11 clean sheets (2 more than MCI, CHE and EVE). So Raya is on course for a 3rd consecutive Golden Glove... [1/5]

With the full list of appointments to UEFA games, I can look at the refs' workload. 3 referees are on a triple shift with little rest: - England: UEL, #MCIWOL, #CRYCHE - Gillett: UCL, UEL, #BRENFO - Salisbury: 2xUCL, #BOULIV Error-prone England has the least rest 🫣 bsky.app/profile/pgmo...

One benefit of not being a pundit or a creator is that I don't have to abide by the "rules" of engagement and jump on the latest trend... I look at data. The most recent narrative is about the PL being "boring" this season, because there's been 17 0-0 compared to the whole of last season's 16

Appointments for Matchweek 23: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4553... I will update this thread with my analysis (workload, conflicts, etc)

We are reaching a point where I can't keep up with all the terrible decisions the match officials make every weekend. The pen in #NFOARS, the red cards to Dalot (United) and Wilson (Fulham), disallowed goals and missed second yellows... I mean, WTF? www.espn.co.uk/football/sto...

Replying to @goodysonx74.bsky.social Lots to talk about the disallowed goal in #AVLEVE, and I have issues with the decision, not all in your favour. But you have every right to be angry. [1/6]