Arsenal and football officiating have been two sides of a coin constantly spinning and never seeming to settle nor manage to find themselves co-existing without a hint of controversy, drama or frustration. The Gunners have been on the end of several questionable calls this season, with Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card against Wolves sparking a quite spectacular fallout which saw a successful appeal follow - but sadly members of the online community aimed plenty of vitriol toward Michael Oliver.

Mikel Arteta has been up front with his views on calls made in games, where he has been able to word them, and other times he has opted instead to keep his thoughts to himself for reasons I will leave to you to interpret. The story continues to develop to the point where Lewis-Skelly’s goal celebration against Manchester City also saw a subsequent report emerge suggesting goal celebrations are going to be looked at more carefully with potential punishments coming the way of those found to have been behaving beyond what is deemed appropriate and within the rules.

It is often easy to fall into a spiral of frustration and anger and difficult to take a step back and look at the wider picture. Seeking some more clarity on the state of officiating in England and also some reaction from those who have worked in the profession to the decisions we have seen go against Arsenal, courtesy of talkSPORT BET, football.london spoke to former Premier League official and television pundit Peter Walton.

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Opening with feelings on the current state of the game in regard to officiating, Walton admitted the challenge of the ageing population of top-level officials and the process of bringing in new blood to the game. Walton hinted toward that the promotion of younger officials has therefore seen an impact on decision-making at the elite level of the game.

"What we're trying to do is to blood an awful lot of the younger element of the refereeing fraternity coming through, as we were faced with an ageing population when Howard Webb took over," Walton told football.london. "And in doing so, I once said it to a chairman, I said, 'You don't walk into a supermarket and grab a can of ready-made referee from off the shelf. It just takes a bit of time.'

"And there is a gulf between refereeing in the Premier League, which is a goldfish bowl, to refereeing anywhere else. And that's without detriment to other leagues and we've seen it with clubs when they come up from the Championship, how hard it is for them to establish themselves in the Premier League.

"Well, that, in fairness, is pretty much where we are with refereeing as well. It's quite difficult to maintain that standard, that very high standard that's required week in, week out in the Premier League, both from an officiating point of view and from a playing point of view.

"So, when you're trying to get new lads coming through the system, it does take a bit of time. So, if you just part that to one side and then add on VAR, which is also pretty new, relatively new in terms of the game itself, you've got this added layer of expertise that's required that is almost in its infancy still.

"And there is, I think, there is quite a stretch of qualified, experienced officials to cover both on-field decisions and off-field decisions at the moment. And that sort of position we find ourselves in. And it's catching us out a few times. Yes."

One of the challenges many have highlighted has been the abuse that referees have suffered as a result of decisions made in high-profile matches, even leading to death threats being made in some cases. Michael Oliver's family were reportedly given police protection in the wake of the red card shown to Arsenal's Lewis-Skelly at Wolves.

Asked if this is an example of where new referees coming through could then be put off the profession as a result, Walton surprisingly hit back against this idea, instead suggesting that those coming into the career now have grown up in a world where, despite it being awful, it is commonplace and will be expectant of it.

He stated: "Well, it clearly won't help the situation and it's a situation that's a relatively modern phenomenon with social media and the access to the Internet and the access to being able to get your opinion out there for all to see and that's something that the modern referee may well have grown up with and may well be more used to it than perhaps some of the older heads around. I can't condone it, but you won't stop it.

"That type of vitriol is bigger than the game, it's bigger than the refereeing and the authorities will recognise that and will have put support in place to at least balance it off. But the issue with Michael and his decision, he's made a decision, and unfortunately, in my opinion, it was the wrong decision.

"But there are an awful lot of people there who sort of jumped on the bandwagon and promoted it to be, you know, a rather bigger error than it actually was, in terms of life-threatening, etc. So that unfortunately will be with us.

"It will affect the recruitment of new officials. Sure, it will. But I think the newer officials will be almost in that world and used to that and provided the support as it was with Michael is in place, then the individual hopefully won't take it to heart.

"Although I'm not so naive as to say that it doesn't affect his mental side of things. Of course, it does. You know, if I got some issues in newspapers before, it made an impression on me.

"So it clearly would make an impression on the individual. And it's something that the authorities need to be aware of that they need to factor the support in going forward because it won't go away."

Further to the abuse that was aimed at Oliver in the wake of the red card came a successful appeal from the club. However, what followed that again sent tempers within the Arsenal fan base into the red once again.

The FA said Arsenal had allegedly failed to ensure their players "did not behave in an improper manner" and charged the club following the aforementioned successful appeal.

At the time, this seemed to completely ignore the context of a situation which was later proven, through the successful appeal, to have been the wrong decision made by Oliver. Walton gave his thoughts when asked whether perhaps situations like this where there should be context applied to when potential charges are brought forward.

"It's a good question because you have to take the context in mind and look clearly the Arsenal players were aggrieved at that decision and it was subsequently proved to be the wrong decision in a lot of people’s eyes and maybe they should have been afforded some kind of leeway," Walton said.

"But that's a slippery surface to go down and the utopia is the referee gives a decision, and the players accept it good, bad or indifferent. That's what the FA want because we go back to your previous question about public image, about respect for the game, respect for the individual and the players and the referees in this instance, and the image that's portrayed around to, you know, the younger elements of our, you know, people who watch the games.

"So, yeah, in a perfect world, you wouldn't want a reaction, and I think the FA and their charge have looked at it through that perfect world. I think, in layman's terms, you would also want to add on a layer of context and understanding.

"But then that becomes very subjective. And where do you go from there? Is the next one: 'Oh, that was only a reactional abuse. It wasn't meant to have a personal nature'?

"Well, you can't have it both ways. So, whilst, again, from an individual, you know, I feel almost a little bit sorry for the Arsenal players who were charged. It is what it is in terms of you give a decision and let the authorities sort the decision out, not the players on the field.

"I always found that players on the field were not necessarily reacting to that decision but making a scene so that they influence the next decision. And that's part of the makeup of a lot of competitive players.

"They know they're not going to change the decision. They just want to sow a seed for the next decision. And maybe that's in the thought of Arsenal.

"Maybe that's what the FA want to stamp out. But, you know, if you want a bland answer there, yeah, you would factor in the context. But I can understand the FA still charged them because they did what they did. They can't undo what they've done.

"It's also a wider picture, by the way, as well. It's not just that particular instance. So, yeah, it's unfortunate, but that's the way, that's the life that the players lead. They have to remain composed and calm at all times, if possible."

He added: "And that's the trouble, of course, yeah. And we all have our own views as well. So, you know, you have to sometimes keep those views under control. And when it manifests itself the way it did with the Arsenal players, the FA have to act because it's the wider picture they're looking at. They're not just looking at that particular decision."

Lastly, and again in the wake of that red card reports have claimed that the Premier League is looking into the idea of curbing provocative celebrations. Lewis-Skelly imitated Erling Haaland when scoring against Manchester City, and days later, this report emerged.

Walton said that while indeed these are a bit of fun and in some cases it might seem ridiculous for a punishment to come out, he provided an example of where one player's celebration had endangered younger supporters in the crowd and as a result he had sent a player off for a second yellow card. I am not sure necessarily how this translates to simply imitating another player's known celebration like Lewis-Skelly did, but there was an aspect provided to the debate I had not initially considered.

"Yeah, it can be perceived as a bit of fun, and I'm sure it's meant as a bit of fun, but the people on the receiving end of it may not see it as funny as you and I do, you know, from watching from afar," Walton said.

"And in the law itself, it does say about the celebration of goals, such as the shirt removal because of maybe political slogans or some religious sayings on the vest and things about going over to their own fans to incite some safety issue.

"I can remember refereeing Everton and West Ham, and Freddie Piquionne played for West Ham and scored the winner away at Everton, glorious three points for West Ham. He'd already been cautioned, and he went over to the West Ham fans who are in a real small pen in Goodison, and there was a surge.

"And I cautioned Freddie Piquionne because it created that surge in the crowd because there were some youngsters at the front, and I ended up sending off as a second caution. Now, maybe I was the villain of the piece in that particular instance, but even Freddie realised what he did and just sort of shrugged his shoulders to me and said, yeah, I get it. I understand. And off he went.

"Now, when you extrapolate that and say about choreographed goal-scoring celebrations, I think they're great. I think they're great, and it shows a bit of a human side to players, and it shows a bit of gimmickry to players.

"But just again, have to be careful that it's not going to incite some unease in the crowd itself. And I can understand the authorities wanting to clamp down on celebrations that are perceived to be a bit near the mark when it comes to the opposition whom it's aimed at.

"So, you know, celebrate a goal, I mean, you know, I've played amateur football and you score a goal, that's the pinnacle of playing a game. It's fantastic. And, of course, that's the players themselves.

"But again, it's about that image. It's about safety. It's about security. You know, be really, again, bland about it.

"Players have a duty there, and they should; they just should think about, or if they're choreographing it, you know, on a training field, just make sure that they probably do it towards their own fans and not opposition fans."

I still have, myself, deeper concerns about the particular scrutiny of celebrations or actions of some players over others and that rightfully needs to be monitored as these suggested sanctions could come into place. There is so much that is subjective when it comes to officiating in the sport; fans long for consistency, and that is, at present, very far from being commonplace.

Thanks to talkSPORT BET for helping make this interview happen.