On malevolent Dean Untold Arsenal is leading the way, as media follows years behind

Posted on by WalterBroeckx

By Walter Broeckx

When we look at the last years Arsenal has been hit by a few leg or ankle breaks on the field.

A quick summary gives us this

Diaby leg break : Sunderland – Arsenal –  01/05/2006 – Ref Dermot Gallagher – career of Diaby since then hampered going from injury to injury. No red card

Eduardo leg break : Birmingham  city– Arsenal – Ref Mike Dean – career never really picked up. Red card

Ramsey leg break : Stoke City – Arsenal – Ref Peter Walton – looks on the way back but it has taken him almost 3 years and still not the player he was.  Red card.

Sagna leg break : Tottenham Hotspur – Arsenal – Ref Mike Dean – Came back very strong but was the least worst of the leg breaks. Nothing.

Sagna leg break : Arsenal – Norwich – Ref Anthony Taylor – Seems to struggle a bit more after the second leg break. Nothing.

Cesc Fabregas leg break : Birmingham City – Arsenal – Ref Howard Webb – not even called a foul.  In the next game his bone cracked when we played against Barcelona. Nothing.

So we had 6 leg breaks. And the ref most involved is Mike Dean. Is it a coincidence that the ref under whom we have the worst win record is also the ref under whom we got the most broken legs?

He is the ref with the most bizarre decisions going against Arsenal in the last years. The ref that when the appointments are made public that gets fans to sell their tickets because they can’t stand the thought of him running the Anti-Arsenal show once again. And this is not a joke. Seriously I have seen people on twitter offering their tickets last week because they didn’t want to see that game with Dean in charge.

Another thing we see is that 2 of the refs in charge are no longer active in the PL. Gallagher who not even gave a red card for the assault on Diaby and Peter Walton.

When you look at the active refs it seems that Dean was involved in 50% of the leg breaks suffered by Arsenal players.

One really does wonder if this has anything to do with his anti-Arsenal way of doing games? Is it because the players from the other teams know they can do more than under another ref against Arsenal?

It is the job of the ref not only to make sure the rules are applied but also he should make sure that the players don’t get injured. But when a ref is letting too many things go he can create an atmosphere of players becoming reckless. I think one of the most typical examples of this was the Ramsey leg break.

I still remember saying to my son a few minutes before it happened that things are getting out of hand and shouting against my TV to the ref to be more strict and stop the Stoke players from diving in. The ref only acted when it was too late.

But now, at last, even the serious media are starting to see what we on Untold have been saying for years and come up with evidence that there might be something wrong with Dean in Arsenal games. For regular readers who have seen the evidence in the past it is no surprise. For those who have given us abuse and said we are conspiracy theorists and have lost it maybe time for them to reconsider their point of view.

Overall Arsenal has a win percentage of around 57% in the Wenger era. When Dean is in charge it goes down to 7%. Is this a coincidence?

And people who say: well this is because Dean doing the top games. Then tell me how it comes we cannot even win when he is around against : Stoke, Newcastle, Birmingham, Fulham, QPR ?

What went wrong in the relationship between Arsenal and Dean is something that only he will know. But that the chance of Arsenal winning things are almost zero when he is in charge are clear for all to see. And the number of wrong decisions going against Arsenal over the years have been so outrageous that it very strange that the PGMOL still is sending him over to Arsenal games.

It is clear to see (we have seen and been saying it for years) that he has been out to get us for years but Mike Riley doesn’t see it. Or maybe he does see it… Maybe he does know it… And that is why he keeps on sending him to our games and he is the ref Arsenal is seeing most of the time.

I think Riley and Dean have a few things in common. Apart from their look alikeness they seem to share some kind of hatred against Arsenal.

A hatred Untold Arsenal has shown for a long time. And now the serious media are starting to pick this up. Finally I would say.

Like it or not: Untold will lead the way when it comes to strange things in the referee world. Just wait till they pick up on the rest….

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60 Replies to “On malevolent Dean Untold Arsenal is leading the way, as media follows years behind”

  1. This is where our home crowd needs to step in. The crowd should get on his back from the first second of every game. It might initially backfire but it will eventually work.

    It will highlight what we all know. He’s such a d*ckhead. This is the ref that celebrated a Spurs goal!

    Why must we get him 5 times a season anyway?

  2. I so hate Dean. Statistically, he defies logic.

    I have to say though, it was like buying money at the weekend. An easy win double. Man City with Dean reffing while Man U had Webb. I’m surprised the bookies even accepted bets on that!!

    Just one thing though. You mention that the media are picking up on Dean’s antics but I have not seen this anywhere. Can you post a link please?

  3. Might I say that the only win which counts towards the 7%win record comes from the win where I was present at the stadium to counter Dean’s devilries 🙂 The first of the 5pur2 results. Where Dean gave them a penalty for a Bale dive to allow them to make it 2-0. Which just reminds of me of how much I love Sagna. His header for the first goal just shouted of the attitude that we will not lose this. I hope he stays and ends his career with us.

    And well done to Untold. The courage to swim against the tide and endure being called conspiracy theorists for simply showing facts is commendable. Thank you. Even if I am less involved in the debate online, Untold’s work is still appreciated.

  4. With such high odds against Arsenal winning when Mr Dean is refereeing its a surprise the bookies are nt deluged with bets against. Might be worth a flutter on a future match. From the sounds of it a double bet: Arsenal lose and a key player gets crocked looks pretty good. Is there any data on dodgy betting trends / events in the public domain btw ?

    If a ref had this sort of record against ManU, I bet Sir Alex would have ensured that guy got no where near a match involving them again. Not for a long time a least. Sooner AFC and Wenger wake up to aggressively “protecting” their images and interests the better (trouble now with a less successful team it only gets harder IMHO).

    Ole, I’m not sure the crowd getting on a refs back helps any …. it maybe many many tiers down the football world … But we had a ref once that was phish and we let him know it … Only to find that he then gave almost every call against us until we got off his back. If Mr Dean is a biased as is being suggested its only going to fuel it. A mass walk out would say something tho!

    Another thing …. What prompted the linesman to tell the City players to go applaud their £62 paying supporters? A more reasoned and sympathetic voice would have said to the Arsenal players: go thank your fans, who paid twice as much and saw their team lose, for their support. Lol.

  5. How right Untold is. Riley, Dean and Webb are the most frequent refs in Arsenal matches. It’s surprising we win any matches at all when they are around.

  6. Do you have stats on the ref that presides over the highest percentage of our wins?
    Is he allowed to ref our games still or has he been moved?

  7. Sorry, off ttopic but couldn’t find any other way to contact the relevant parties; Walter, do you know if my posts are tied to my IP address as opposed to my account? Reason I’m asking is all posts at work don’t seem to appear here but ones I make from appear instantly. Using my mobile and hopefully you’ll see this .. .
    Dean is a moron btw.

  9. I know during the Man City game at the weekend the US announcer mentioned Arsenal’s strangely bad record with Dean in charge. They didn’t make a big deal about it, but even to have it mentioned is a big improvement.

  10. The tragedy in all of this is that a lot of Arsenal fans cannot see what these people have been/are doing to our Club, they’ve managed to turn our own supporters against the Club they claim to love. I think what Wenger was doing by turning (foreign)kids into title challengers, while playing “un-English like” football, was just a little too threatening to the “sir” Alex Ferguson monopoly and the identity of the Premier League, so by the use of the media, refs etc they’ve managed to knock us down, they will knock us right down to the ground if we keep letting them. Come on Gooners, our Club get enough shit from everyone else, what do u think it will accomplish if they get the same treatment from us? Don’t let them win, let’s stop the fighting amongst ourselves, because in the end we all want Arsenal to do well right?

  11. Walter, All,
    This amazing link deserves to be here today. It came to us on UA via Mandy Dodd the other day and it could have resulted in yet another leg break to Sagna (who was just returning). Please watch this: imo, it clinches the argument that Walter proposes here:
    The Referee: Mike Dean.
    The Leg-Breaker: RVP
    The Dean/Riley avatar/look-alike: The Golem (Shmeagle), from Lord of the Ring
    Behold: http://footyroom.com/forum/off-topic/rvp-foul-on-sagna-39136
    We have to acknowledge and come to grips with this near-criminal behavior. And at a minimum, appreciate and back what Bac has done so well for AFC, sometimes at all-EPL/world class stretches; and that his skill-set is what has made him the target. (In addition, when Joey Barton was blighting the surroundings, he was a racialized target, as winding up if not choking our black/African players – Gervinho, Diaby, Eboue and Sagna – was Barton and cohorts [he was not alone] modus operandi.) Bacary Sagna may well want to leave, and against this backdrop and with the likes of The Golem, this overcompensating scheming self-promoter, The Dean policing the pitch, could anyone blame Bac for wanting out? He has been a mainstay and it’s time he got full recognition and displays of the love from right minded Gooners worldwide. It is also time that AFC’s bean counters offered a generous and affordable extension; and if he leaves, he leaves and deserves no nasty send off or post-partem nastiness. Sagna – a true gooner – has given more than he has received by way of appreciation at AFC. And The Dean, alas, will have succeeded in asset-stripping us of Sagna if Sagna does depart. In any case, please view this link and consider some of these points.

  12. p.s. and The Dean did not card this viciousness by the ruthless RVP. RVP and Don Fungus are a perfect match – anything goes for the Rednose XX – and The Dean has auditioned for next-in-line for Queen Bee at the Hives of Riley, once Micky R steps down. Only Howard Webb is his rival for that position (two scorpions in a bottle).

    Oh, Walter, Peter Walton is now in charge of referees for Major League Soccer in the US!!!!!!! Let us complete the record, hmmmm?

  13. I walked out of the Man City game at the weekend after 22 mins.

    I knew full well what Dean is like and after 22mins I thought the game looked fixed and for the 1st time in my life I walked out of a game.
    In hindsight I perceived things wrong, I thought the penalty + red was a joke but didn’t actually see the pull down by Koscielny and then saw Kompany pushing and ranting at someone and get away with no card, turns out he was doing this to his own player and not one of ours.

    The point is though that after years of viewing Dean the seeds were sown and that caused me to see things in a biased light.

  14. Shard,
    I so appreciate your praise to Bac Sagna.
    I also hope we again cross paths here, as we were intending since Song’s departure in August, once this transfer window closes (or if something worth noting transpires before it does), wherever the chips may fall. Cheers 🙂

  15. Walter,

    Are you sure the 7% figure is correct?

    I ask as Gf60 on January 15, 2013 at 10:50 am said in a recent comment:

    Anyone remember AW really shooting his mouth off about refs not giving us a fair crack of the whip? close season 2009 from memory.
    Dean’s record with us 2005-2009:
    P 11 W 4 D6 L 1
    compared with:
    2009-2013
    P18 W3????
    Methinks AW pissed him off in a big way.

    So is the 7% figure correct over the whole of the Wenger period? bearing in mind that Dean became a Prem League ref in 2000.

  17. bob

    If we are talking about potential leg breakers, the Independent Panel which decides on bans and whether to overturn ref decisions or not, has in the last 2 matches against ManCity, said it is alright to kick Arsenal to bits.

    The Kompany red card was overturned, when that was a potential leg breaker. Straight foot, studs up, lunge. But the media threw a strop about how the art of tackling is being legislated away, and the so called independent panel has overturned it.

    Remember Balotelli on Song last season? The ref (Atkinson I think) didn’t give a card, and the panel decided it was alright. Why do you think that is?

    As for the RVP hack at Sagna. I think that was borne out of a feeling of being disrespected. All the Arsenal players except Sagna, were hugging RVP enthusiastically in the tunnel. I think RVP felt slighted. What makes it worse is that he knew about Sagna’s leg breaks and went for his ankles.

  18. Andrew Ryan,

    I trusted on the Daily Mail for this 7%.

    Maybe they had included cup games and the other were only PL games?

  19. Shard,

    I think Sagna is a gooner who feels like the fans on such matters like the RVP-traitor.
    He also did this with Adebayor in the last NLD I remember.

  20. bob,

    Cheers 🙂

    With regards the transfer activity, if you could only get a player in one position, which would it be?

  21. Walter,

    Sagna certainly seems to get it. Before the NLD he talks about the totts as ‘the enemy’. He says all the right things, behaves the right way, and plays very well (generally) too. He’s what 29 or 30 now? He still has 2-3 good seasons left in him I think. Out of the 3 options as to what is going on with his contract situation, a) he wants to leave, b)wants more money than Arsenal are prepared to offer or c) both parties have decided to talk in the summer, I really hope its the last, and that we see him stay on for the next few years.

  22. Andrew Ryan, Walter,
    The dividing line for Dean’s performance as 2009.
    Did you know this?:
    Mike Riley became chief of the PGMOL in JUNE OF 2009.

    That would be Micky R, lord of the crime scene at Old Toilet that saw the termination of our unbeaten classic run at the vicious and continued kicking-to-bits by the Nevilles, van Nestleroy and dive-by Shrek Rooney, and the victory jig by Don Fergus on the sideline, and the Nuremburg rally by the brainwashed complicit mob in the stands. To me, life was never the same. And Riley and Dean are forever joined at the hip, the two Mikes. A two-headed Golem: forever abetting their Rednosed Sauron and in quest of The Ring that poisons all pint-sized, overcompensating, wannabee hirelings to power.
    Up the Shire! Go Gunners!

  23. Shard,
    I feel we need a world-class (or as close to that or high-quality as possible) DM, striker and left back. If I had to choose one position, it would be the striker. But it’s really a tough choice. Still, in this season, given our current precarious position, the biggest bang for the book imo would be the striker. What do you think?

  25. Andrew Ryan, Walter,
    In sum, I think that further analysis of this conjuncture –
    Riley’s ascension to Queen Bee in June 2009 coinciding with Dean’s documented clear-cut turnaround against Arsenal – could offer us some valuable insight into the why’s and wherefore’s of the PGMOL animus towards Arsenal.

    (And before any say stop blaming our pitch poor performances on the refs and not look within, I will say that I don’t. Refshite and Pitchpoor are both at play in more fully understanding what ails us, imo.)

  26. Walter,
    Do you think a few more comments here might appear on this very topic, or is it the rush hour and people are commuting back home from work? 🙂

  27. bob,
    Yes. I agree. A striker would be the first priority. Closely run by a DM (though I’m not sure we need a world class DM. Just a solid, efficient performer). A LB would be good, but only if we’re giving up on Santos. I still haven’t. I think he can play well. It’s just about him rediscovering his form.

    What complicates our transfers right now, even if we have the funds, is that the likes of Denilson, Park, Bendtner, Chamakh are still on the books and they cost books..I mean bucks 🙂 (Sorry)

    What do you make of this rumour running that we’ve made a huge bid for someone. Rumoured to be 30m for Cavani. Wenger was even asked about it at the press conference. He was, as usual, not giving anything away. It doesn’t seem likely, but stranger things have happened. We’re also supposed to be watching Diame from West Ham.

    I’m not saying those two transfers will happen, but even our summer transfer activity seemed to indicate that we were in for another midfielder, and striker. Let’s just wait and see what’s in store for us.

  28. bob,

    Great call on what actually changed in 2009. The PGMOL is an organisation which promotes nepotism and corruption, as exhibited by its complete lack of transparency, and by the refshite served up every week.

  31. Shard,
    This one really wants Cavani here, but also feels that it won’t happen: because we have had a track record of just underbidding (even if high) or high-bidding just too-late in the window in order to appear to be in the top-tier of the market but not really meaning it:
    http://www.arse2mouse.com/post/40758186859

  32. Shard,
    My feelings are this:
    AW’s Cavani “interest” may be a feint, to “throw off” rivals in the transfer window (I hope) while we make a more affordable swoop. But if AFC literally does nothing in this window, then AW’s Cavani hint will have been a feint to pacify the part of the fanbase that prefers the scent of a perfumed future to an honest look at what needs fixing now (I hope not).

  33. Thank you UA, keep up the good work, and thanks for the link. One of the posters pointed out dean took offence to TV complaining about persistent fouling on Wilshere, but couldn’t even find his voice when fungusbum who shouldn’t even have been on the pitch gave him a tongue lashing at OT.

    rvp is another ass*ole, trying to break sagna’s leg. Wish Adebayor had gouged his eye out with his studs in that fallout at city, sellout.

  34. Walter, All,
    And lest we forget about your new-found statistically-cleansed boy, Phil Dowd, this news story tells how Big Sam is now openly accusing Dowd of giving the FA game away to Manure by calling a handball on his side after not calling the handball against Manure. And for being truthful, the FA (f&^k all) is about to pounce on him for questioning Dowd’s “integrity” This story is a must as, in this countdown toward the Rednose XX, the Refshite is rising to the top and ensuring no last minute surprise that would snatch victory from Fungus’s claws. Behold:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2264042/FA-investigate-Sam-Allardyce-penalty-comments.html

  35. Walter,
    What’s with the readership? There are 33 comments and 11 are mine.
    I guess the problem is with you for writing it and with me for reading it. But write about the AAA and there are zillions of comments. Well, learned my lesson. I’m going back to my long nap.

  36. bob

    My gut feeling was that if we were in for Cavani, Wenger would not have talked about him as much as we did. But then he did also talk about Zaha, and that seems like a more realistic target anyway. I don’t know how the rumour got to be about Cavani. As far as I know, the original tweet which started this said we have bid a new Arsenal record transfer fee for an unnamed target. No mention of 30m, and no mention of Cavani. We’ll see.

    I really hope we get good players in the 2 positions this January, and then build on that in the summer with a GK to challenge Szczesny, a CB, maybe an LB (RB too if Sagna is going), and a winger. Of course some of those could be from our youth, and that would be fine. I’m thinking of Miquel, Eisfeld and Gnabry in particular but could be anyone.

    Anyway. Enjoy your nap. 🙂

  37. Deans record with us speaks for itself. Think he was also the ref when we loston pens to Bradford….maybe the players are as aware as we are? On the whole, I think refs have dealt us a more even hand this year, but whatever it is with Dean, it dies hard with avengance. Our CEO is one of the brightest guys in football, he is being voted onto every committee going. He is not going to be like David Dein , he will not use a lofty position exclusively for Arsenal,but more for the sport in general, but he must use his position to stop refs allowing tackles that can break our players legs and go unpunished.And question why we ger this ref so regularly in key games. He WILL be our ref at WHL, and with the biggest diver in the EPL playing against us, we all know what that means. I am still amazed the Kompany red was rescinded, tho I am convinced he did not mean to cause injury, but how could Dean give that, and nothing for RVP on Bac amazes me. Bac is an Arsenal warrior, I hope he is treated as such in contract negotiations,him and Jenks would make that position very solid. One thing I did notice, Bac was about the only Arsenal player who did not indulge in the RVP love-in inside the OT tunnel last antumn…or certainly from what I saw. Bad blood there..or does he just diaspprove of certain actions in the summer of RVP? If it is the latter, I am with Bac all the way. As posted earlier, the home crowd can really highlight some of Deans little quirks, at the end of the day, I think as Walter says, he is a clever ref, but also, from some of the things I have seen with him, he does have a bit of a yellow streak….or with someclubs anyway. a 60000 home crowd could possibly exploit that.

  38. Shard, did see all those tweets about a bid for a 30 million player from Italy or Germany. Agree with you on Cavani and what Wenger said, cannot believe we are after him, Napoli are going for a CL position and he would cost more than 30m. IF there is any truth in this mystery bid, can not look beyond a German striker, or Goetze, but cannot see their clubs selling in Jan,they just do not have to…but could be wrong. Did notice Villa was not on the bench for the Barca cup game yesterday, but for all I know he was injured. Maybe this is all a false trail put out by the club to get Theo to get a move on!! Having said that, maybe Wenger does have a trick or two up his sleeve, who knows!

  40. Mandy,given that he has only been at the club since 2009,rather than concentrating on furthering his own career ambitions at UEFA and the FA,maybe Gazidis would be better served concentrating on making Arsenal competitive again;after all as well as being the CEO during a period when we seem incapable of holding on to our best players,he is in danger of being the CEO when Arsenal finally fall out of European elite.Just a thought.On the subject of broken legs i take it all who are advocating criminal charges for leg breaking tackles are happy that the Arsenal player who tackled Stephen Reid,resulting in a broken leg which he played on with for nearly 45 mins as revealed by Steve Clarke today,wish the same penalty to be applied.Or was that just an accident?

  41. Linz,
    Do you know how the leg break for Reid happened? There ARE accidental leg breaks that take place on a football field. I’ve seen players fracturing some bones while attempting a goal line clearance and smashing into the post. Another example of an accidental leg break would be how Valencia of ManU broke his ankle against Rangers I think it was.

    Do you remember any bad tackle by an Arsenal player on Reid, or do you just want to cast aspersions on Arsenal and Arsenal fans? If there was a reckless and dangerous tackle by an Arsenal player, then he deserves the same punishment as anyone else. And yes, poor tackles should lead to harsh punishments and long bans.

  42. Walter. Thanks for the link. I never read the Mail or the Mirror since there appears to be some inherent hatred of the club!!

  44. I think something happened during half time of the only game in the last 16 in which we won with Dean reffing. I was at that game and in the first half Dean was giving the Totts every decision as usual, including the penalty for the dive by Bale. Although we had brought the score back to 2-2 just before half-time, the game was finely balanced.
    Then in the second half Dean seemed to me to change, and started reffing the game fairly. He even sent off (deservedly) Scott Parker for a 2nd booking.
    My guess is that – given Deans known links with bookmakers – a lot of money was invested on this game and the bookies didn’t want a Totts win. Of course this is only a guess but something did change with Dean at HT.

  45. Hi Shard,
    My map got interrupted, alas. 🙂 But, yeah, on the GK front, what about a swoop for Vorm. The lad’s got class-A vorm, no? A szez-vorm tandem, covering all 4 fronts, would be brilliant. As for the rest, I’m with you; and with the likes of Mike The Golem Dean, we need quality in depth. I think we can afford the so-called “redundancy.” There is none to really compete. And the new TV bumper crop deal kicks in this summer or soon thereafter as well. I still have hopes for this window (well, in my heart, they’re actually litmus test demands, along with the worst fears of this ownership-regime, but that’s me, of course). And the actualization of the Rednose XX, short of a return of the curse of the glass ankles (if you catch my drift), makes me heartsick. Jack’s return to form is a real tonic; but it doesn’t yet, for me, redeem the summer blunders (imo). Only a strong window will do that now. Cheers.

  46. Micko,
    Really interesting memory there. What were The Dean’s known bookmaker ties that you mention? Is there a link to an article or something? Was he punished? Did he reform?

  49. Since I ended up at the Mail article from here, I figured I might as well cross-post what I said there.

    The stuff about Dean was no surprise having read Walter’s stuff here for the last couple of years, but the claims that 7% was what we deserved, or Dean reffed all the big matches warranted some investigation. Anyway I had a quick look at the numbers. Keeping to the post 2009 era, league games, and restricting it to the 4 main rivals (Manchester clubs, Spurs and Chelsea). This is what you get:

    We’ve played 29 games. Dean has handled 11 of them (38%), so way over the ‘random’ amount you’d expect, but enough to be statistically viable.

    We won 1 (9%). Drew 3 (27%), and lost 7 (64%). Others have already highlighted the events of the one game we did win and how we maybe should have lost it as well.

    That leave 18 games, over 60% of the total. There were seven refs officiating, with no ref handling more than 5. Ne ref handled enough games to treat separately, so collecting them together:

    We won 7 (39%). Drew 2 (11%), and lost 9 (50%). Which looks like we are on average more than four times as likely to win if Dean is not in charge.

    I am not totally sure what all that tells me. I have to say that the numbers from the main group of refs feels right considering the opponents, and seems to remove any argument that the opponents affect Dean’s stats.

  50. Interesting about Stephen Reid and his broken leg. Linz states that one of our lads did it in whilst tackling him. However, I haven’t yet found a site that confirms this and his manager does NOT make that accusation.

  51. Linz,
    It seems that you are diminishing Walter’s and others’ insinuations and/or claims that Dean has abetted our leg-breaking by alleging that AFC/fans are hypocrites on the issue. Well, Ok, like GoingGoingGooner, I’ve looked and found a Sky News report in which WBA manager Steve Clarke says: “We didn’t release the injury but it was a fractured fibula he got against Arsenal. He played for 45 minutes with a broken leg, which shows the character of the boy…”I’ve put it out there because I want people to see the character of the boy….Sometimes people think ‘Steven is always injured’ but he has an incredible strong mental strength and he wants to play.”

    Linz, do you think Clarke or Reid or Sky News would have hesitated in slating AFC if there was some kind of malfeasance in the leg breaking of the sort that you had suggested to us yesterday? Is there something willful here that AFC or Sky or Clarke or Reid has covered up? Please inform us. It is not a casual charge for anyone to make; and if it’s not true you should openly say so and inform us.

  56. MU has always embraced diving as a deliberate tactic ; Cantona, Rooney, Ronaldo, Young, Valencia all proven experts in this. Notable that RVP has added this skill to his repertoire.

  57. John,
    Exactly. Someone should put a Manure’s greatest dives video compilation together, with a narration that indicates the impact of the dive on the outcome, and, trust me and yourself, it will shock the freakin’ football world.

  58. And while we’ve been on to The Dean’s Dastardly Doings, Fat Sam has been doing his bit against Don Fungus, and being punished for it. He’s hardly popular hereabouts for good reason, but Fat Sam has it exactly right – and is being punished by the FA for telling the truth about playing at Old Trafford and about Phil Dowd’s cowardly/craven/mendacious display in gifting Fergie the last victory: ” “There’s no doubt about the difference between Rafael’s handball and Jordan Spence’s. Spence plays for West Ham and the away team, while Rafael plays for the home side at Old Trafford … You see it time and time again at Old Trafford.”

    Later in his press conference, Allardyce continued his complaint, saying: “He couldn’t find the courage to give it unfortunately, and he then went down the other end and there was a very similar incident with Jordan Spence and it was given. That is a very big disappointment for me – the lack of consistency in that area.” He continued: “I think you have to have courage to play here and to referee here. But why are you a professional referee or player? To come to these places to do your job, and do it to the best of your ability. Phil Dowd is a hugely experienced referee and one of the top ones in this country, but today I have to say he did get it wrong.”

  59. Bob– and as soon as he made that statement, the FA response occurred like clockwork.

    I think that is the sad thing for me. The FA are essentially stifling any public debate of the issue within the game under the pretense of protecting the referees/reputation of the game.

    Ironically as sites like this bring matters to light, the way that the FA are burying their heads could easily have a far more detrimental impact on the game in the long run.

  60. With regards to the Diaby leg break.

    “If you love football and you see a player like Abou, you want him to have the career he deserves, especially when he has the attitude that he has. You have to have patience. Because what did he do wrong? Nothing. You have to give him a chance.”

    Arsene Wenger.

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