Ex-Referee Graham Scott Admits He Let Arteta Get Away With Too Much

• Former Premier League referee Graham Scott says Mikel Arteta is the hardest manager he dealt with in a decade in the league, per the Mirror.
• Scott says officials need to be a bit tighter with the Arsenal manager and admits he was one of those who let him push the limits.
• Arteta has said other managers are far worse offenders and that he is clipping the evidence.

The Fourth Official Who Says Arteta Made His Life Extremely Difficult

Graham Scott spent a decade in the Premier League, and when he talks about Mikel Arteta he starts by predicting the answer. Whatever he says, Scott expects to be told he hates the Arsenal manager. He said it first himself, then made his case anyway: Arteta is the hardest manager he dealt with, and he gets away with rather too much. Scott also put himself in the story. He was one of the officials who let him. The verdict lands on a manager who has led Arsenal to the Premier League title, their first in 22 years.

What Scott Said About the Hardest Manager

Scott opened with the objection he knew was coming.

“I know whatever I say at this point just gets me pelters and it will be ‘well that’s because you hate him’ but it is Arteta. He is the hardest work and he really does push all of the limits all of the time. I don’t mind that in many ways, he’s trying to get a competitive advantage for his team. That’s fine. It is part of his job, and he’s entitled to push those limits and it is for us to police them.”

Scott calls pushing the limits part of a manager’s job and says the policing belongs to the officials. His complaint is about what that policing looks like from the fourth official’s seat.

The Everton Touchline and the Fourth Official’s Dilemma

Scott gave a recent example. He watched Arsenal play Everton, and Arteta was on the touchline whenever Everton had the ball on his side.

“But he does make your life extremely difficult. He’s out of his box all the time. I watched him recently in their game against Everton, and every time Everton had the ball anywhere near the touchline on his side, he was joining in the press! His toes were on the touchline and as a fourth official that’s a nightmare.”

Arteta is regularly called out for how often he leaves his technical area, and Scott says it happens most when opposition players are close to him. The trouble, in Scott’s telling, is timing. An official who steps in looks fussy, and by the time he arrives the moment has gone.

“Because if you step forward and do anything about it you’re being pedantic, you’re being petty, but the time you get there the ball’s moved on, it looks like nothing’s going on here. But he does get away with rather too much. The officials do need to be a bit tighter, and I was one of them who let him do that, I’m not going to deny that.”

Arteta Has Made His Own Case Before

Arteta has spoken about the same subject. He has accepted that he steps over the line on occasion and has maintained that other managers are far worse and are rarely, if ever, punished. The remarks below are earlier ones, made before Scott’s comments. He has also said he keeps a library of clips as evidence.

“I do have to be careful. They should put sensors there,” he said.

“There are managers who have the record in the league, 36 times in 10 minutes [they] leave the touchline – no yellows. I am clipping all of that so I have now a massive storage of images, so if somebody comes to me I can say, ‘I am not in the record yet’. Somebody else has the record so let’s see.”

Where the Argument Stands

The two accounts do not sit far apart. Arteta says he has to be careful and that others cross the line more often than he does. Scott says Arteta crosses it often and that officials, himself included, let it pass. Arteta’s answer to the criticism is his habit of clipping images of rival managers, which he says shows who else steps out of the area.

A former fourth official says the touchline should be policed more tightly, and he puts his own name on the list of those who did not do it.