Arsenal have not had the rub of the green when it comes to decisions this season. There have been some questionable calls, strange red cards and as a result a successful appeal when an independent panel had their chance to overrule a sending-off for Myles Lewis-Skelly.

This is hardly the first season where instances have gone against the club, from Gabriel Martinelli receiving back-to-back yellow cards in the same phase of play, Brentford being granted an offside goal that VAR official Lee Mason missed and of course a number of red cards and penalties in big matches that have occurred again and again.

It has let to many supporters alleging some kind of conspiracy against the club. To get the view of a referee who has taken charge of matches involving the Gunners, courtesy of talkSPORT BET, football.london spoke to former Premier League official and television pundit Peter Walton. Walton provided a categoric answer from his point of view on the matter.

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However, he also revealed this is not a recent accusation. In fact, from his own personal experience, he recounts the time for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger spoke to him directly to make reference of a conspiracy against the Gunners.

"So if I cast my mind back, when I was officiating, I did a pre-season tournament in Arsenal," Walton told football.london. "It's called the Emirates Cup or something like that, and I can remember having a good, long conversation with Arsene Wenger. Arsene Wenger was convinced that there was a conspiracy against Arsenal in the refereeing world because of decisions that he perceived to go against Arsenal.

"So I don't know if this is an Arsenal thing or not, but it seems to have continued now into the Mikel Arteta reign that there seems to be this conspiracy against Arsenal. Maybe it's because of the style of football play, that Arsenal play.

"Maybe it may be some of the individuals, but they haven't had the rub of the green for sure this season. I agree with that on various decisions, on individual decisions.

"But I could categorically say there's no conspiracy against Arsenal. But you find the more successful clubs, your Manchester Uniteds of yesteryear, your Liverpools and Arsenals, Chelseas, they seem to have more decisions go against them when they're winning things because they are looking for every sense of decision-making and so it goes hand in hand.

"I don't think you have the same issues faced in teams who probably are not even struggling in the relegation zone. So let's just say Fulham, for example. I don't think Fulham will be complaining too much.

"But it goes with the position that Arsenal are in at the moment. They are in a magnificent position in terms of the playing side. They are going for various trophies, and small incidents are a big concern for them and those small incidents mount up, and publicity has afforded them.

"So sometimes it's where you are as a club. But I can say that when I was refereeing in Arsenal, let's say it works in their favour because you'd almost go overboard to make sure you didn't get decisions wrong."

I am not sure that the answer will sate all Arsenal fans, nor will it convince every supporter that any alleged conspiracy does or does not exist. The line from Walton is strong, as you would expect.

Again, for this notion to evaporate, consistency across clubs in terms of decisions in the Premier League needs to be upheld; so far, that simply has not been the case. Some decisions that have gone against Arsenal have simply not been seen in many cases again and fans rightfully ask why.

For that view to change, the officiating needs to improve. The introduction of new, young officials naturally will see mistakes: they're human. But it is when the most senior, and experienced referees make consistent errors against particular clubs, these labels become harder to shift.