RefWatch – Arsenal Vs Chelsea (21/04/2012 – 12:45)

Posted on by DogFace



Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal


By DogFace

  • Referee: Mike Dean
  • Assistant 1: Stuart Burt
  • Assistant 2: Adam Watts
  • 4th Official: Neil Swarbrick

Good morning stat-fans and welcome to RefWatch… ever get that feeling of Déjà vu? Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? I suspect most of you clicking on this page will already be well aware as to whom the referee is for this fixture and will have already made up your minds up as to what to expect from this RefWatch and the direction it’s going to take – and who am I to disappoint you eh!?

This does pose a problem for me though – given that we have had Mike Dean so many times this season I sometimes feel like I’m just repeating myself… I mean – how many ways can we state the inappropriate nature of this appointment and just how many markers can we find that indicate a conflict of interest?

Luckily, dear reader, this is Untold Arsenal and we are forever finding new angles for your perusal – we will give both credit and scorn where it’s due, we will sort the wheat from the chaff in our unerring task to present to you what is untold…

…we are a different gravy!

Mike Dean is becoming something of a cartoon villain among the Arsenal fanbase and one suspects that, if he were to have a moustache, he would be twiddling it right now and cackling with relish at the thought of getting yet another chance to lash Arsenal’s seasonal objectives to the railway tracks (in time for the 12:45 Fulham Express). This appointment is statistically “unlucky” for many reasons:

  • This is Mike Dean’s 6th EPL Arsenal match this season.. no other team has had the same referee 6 times in the 2011/2012 season.
  • This is Chelsea’s 5th EPL match under Mike Dean – and although some other clubs have had the same referee 5 times this season, it is not the norm – here are the other teams currently on 5 referee’s with some other useful stats:
    Team Referee Games Avg. Poins Avg. AH Swing
    Manchester United Howard Webb 5 2.000 0.600
    Manchester City Martin Atkinson 5 2.000 -0.100
    Aston Villa Michael Oliver 5 1.200 0.500
    West Bromwich Albion Lee Mason 5 1.000 0.900
    Sunderland Chris Foy 5 1.000 -0.700
    Queens Park Rangers Martin Atkinson 5 0.200 -0.850
  • Mike Dean is statistically the Referee under which Arsenal significantly underperform the most – and by quite some margin.
  • Chelsea’s performances under Mike Dean have been consistently good over several seasons – he is second [only to Martin Atkinson] in terms of being Chelsea’s best referee (for referees with 15 EPL games for Chelsea or more).

Of course you all knew this already… not so much as in facts and figures maybe but in that feeling in your stomach when you heard that Mike Dean was ‘selected’ to officiate this fixture. Unfortunately, though, eye witness accounts from fans of blatant and repeated muggings from an official are not deemed worthy to be taken into consideration with those who are critical to the point of obtuse – even if we put this in perspective with results and performance markers (derived from bookmaker data worldwide) – no, they say, we want more and you must quantify your stance down to a ‘every kick of the ball’ granularity if we are to listen… and not just for Arsenal games – oh no, you must do this for all teams so we can gain the perspective we require to even consider your opinion; anything less we will dismiss out of hand.

Fair enough… and it just so happens that Untold Arsenal has done just that through its open source Referee Reviews. This is a work in progress, but each season we progress a little more and right about now [after some 256 separate ‘new style’ reviews] we are in a position to start to look at some numbers – if you disagree with these numbers then you should check out each and every open source Referee Review and argue the toss over each individual point of validity in which you wish to debate with our team of qualified referees; they will listen – you owe them that at least before your eyes glaze over and you squawk:

“This is incompatible with my spoon-fed perception of reality, therefore, it cannot be!”

But bear in mind dear consumer of all products football that at Untold Arsenal there is no spoon and denial will receive no quarter here… we now mirror your stance pertaining to the burden of proof – if you disagree with us, you put in the hours and come back to us with your research. FYI – At present there are 5805 rows of data, each one representing a call or non-call in a football match… you asked for it, you got it – if you don’t like it – jog on.

So, for the perusal of those still reading, here is the Ref Review data combined with my Ref Watch data (to measure against PPG and AHS) for Mike Dean games for teams that he has officiated 3 times or more this season [that have been subject to a Ref Review]:

Key:

  • AIA: Average Incorrect Against
  • AIA W: Average Incorrect Against (Weighted)
  • AIF: Average Incorrect For
  • AIF W: Average Incorrect For (Weighted)
  • ABS: Average Bias Swing [= AIF – AIA]
  • ABS W: Average Bias Swing (Weighted) [= AIF W – AIA W]
  • PPG: Average Points Per Game
  • NGP: Number of Games Played
  • AHS: Average Asian Handicap Swing

Team AIF AIA ABS AIF W AIA W ABS W PPG NGP AHS
Tottenham Hotspur 10.333 4.333 6 14.333 5 9.333 2 3 -0.833
Manchester City 7 4.5 2.5 10 6.5 3.5 3 4 1.438
Chelsea 5.5 7.75 -2.25 7.75 9.25 -1.5 2.25 4 0.688
Arsenal 3.6 16.4 -12.8 4.6 21.4 -16.8 0.8 5 -0.45

And here is an more accessible chart, based on those figures, for the ease of your consumption:

Ref Review data for Mike Dean visualised.

Note: There are, of course, more teams that have had the pleasure of Dean for 3 games or more this season – but we don’t have full data for all of those games due to the lack of qualified referees willing to join our ranks and put in a bit of a shift in the form of a Referee Review for the greater good of the game – I tip my hat to the Referee Reviewers out there for their expertise and time; you are taking your skills to the next level in this and, in doing so, you are cleaning your house from the ground-up and protecting the reputation of referees everywhere… it saddens me that there are so many shit referees at the “highest level” – I have the similar feelings in this [about the PGMOL] as I do about the music industry – but I digress.

Referees everywhere – join us and help us review more games, we need you – leave a comment below and Walter will contact you!

As you can see from the bar chart, this season, Tottenham get the most favours from Mike Dean (especially when you look at the ‘weighted’ figures) although they do not have the most Points Per Game and/or highest positive Asian Handicap Swing differential. In fact their PPG and AH Swing figures were wiped out in their crushing 5-2 defeat against Arsenal – despite this, this still left Arsenal with a negative AH swing and a very low return in the way of points. Arsenal has been hit hard by Mike Dean and the return of points is reflective of the sheer amount of decisions that go against us under his stewardship – we are deep into negative territory with the flat and weighted bias figures showing a staggeringly high number of bad calls going against us.

Manchester City are looking rosy under Dean with the incorrect calls tilting the pitch gently their way and 4 wins from 4 games – not much more to say than that, the Blue Mooners must think he’s quite lovely this season.

Chelsea have a good points return and a slightly negative tilt on their decisions (less so on weighted or important decisions which would indicate that they have more ‘big calls’ go in their favour than not) – also the games that showed a negative bias against Chelsea under Dean this season were won comfortably by Chelsea and they only dropped points under Mike Dean in their game against Manchester City – on the whole it seems to be evening out for them in terms of decisions on the pitch and they have a good return of points to show for it.

And that my friends is a peek of the ‘big picture’ – what I take from this is the use of bookmaker information to establish bias is OK but can be misleading (as we can see from Tottenham’s data) – it only takes one big upset to sway this on a season basis – although the significance of these events (as outliers) will diminish over many seasons… and I am already having loads of good ideas in terms of using this new data for analysis and prediction to counter these types of anomolies. The other thing I take is the incomparable value of the Ref Review data – it’s quite an incredible source of information and as a first attempt at a framework to capture information it’s pretty good… I’m not saying that this can’t be improved – it can and will be as our experience and expertise grows in this endeavour.

Now – all well and good that this is, we do have a bit of a football match on and we need to try and fathom exactly why the PGMOL selected Mike Dean for this fixture and what could possibly be the motivation for such an appointment? They are a fairly well ‘resource equipped’ organisation and they claim to gather data on referee performances so we must assume that they know something of Mike Dean’s history – without much analysis, review or even a cursory glance at his celebration dance after the first Tottenham goal in the NLD; one look at the number of points Arsenal take from games under Mike Dean should at the very least raise an eyebrow or two.

I am left with the assumption, right or wrong, that the referee selectors at the PGMOL are actively seeking to see Arsenal drop points in this match and are well aware of Arsenal’s recent history with Mike Dean… is this any more ridiculous that the stance of the PGMOL who will have you believe that this appointment is one that was selected to ensure the fair and impartial officiating of a sporting competition?

But it doesn’t stop there – Mike Dean has (as we have documented on these pages before) a rather curious relationship with Harry Redknapp. Add to this the fine run of form that Chelsea have with Mike Dean and well – hasn’t something of a ‘perfect storm’ been generated here in that Tottenham and Chelsea’s best chance of gaining a Champions League position is if Arsenal lose?

That is, assuming, that all relationships are equal – I’m sure that ‘Onest ‘Arry will be praying for Chelsea to drop points in this game to give them a shoe-in for 4th.

Hey – maybe the motivation behind this appointment is that the PGMOL wish to find out what Mike Dean is all about and are using the game as the ‘tethered goat’ in their study?

If you have a conspiratorial theory that makes more sense than blaming it all on Aaron Ramsey or “it’s just the luck of the draw init” then please leave it in the comments section below.

The other thing worthy of a mention is that this is the early kickoff and, as such, highly exposed in the Asian mug markets:

Home Handicap Away
2.050 0 – 1/2 1.850

The Under/Over market:

Over Handicap Under
1.875 2 1/2 2.025

Let’s have a look at the Referee:

  • Full name: Mike Leslie Dean
  • Date of birth: 02-Jun-1968 (Age 44)
  • Place of birth: The Wirral
  • Resides: Cheshire
  • EPL/ECH Referee Since: 1999/2000
  • EPL/ECH Games to date: 320

Mike Dean
OK, you got me bang to rights – but I’ve got a FIFA badge so there’s nothing you can do about it.

It’s Mike Dean again… you remember him and you know who he is – but here is a reminder of his work:

Season Score Match
2011/2012 80.000% Manchester City 4 – 0 Swansea City
2011/2012 83.330% Chelsea 4 – 1 Swansea City
2011/2012 68.290% Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 1 Arsenal
2011/2012 54.550% Arsenal 1 – 1 Fulham
2011/2012 77.370% Blackburn Rovers 0 – 1 Chelsea
2011/2012 70.450% Newcastle United 0 – 3 Chelsea
2011/2012 69.700% Manchester City 3 – 0 Stoke City
2011/2012 62.500% Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 0 Sunderland
2011/2012 73.680% Manchester United 2 – 3 Blackburn Rovers
2011/2012 76.000% Arsenal 1 – 2 Manchester United
2011/2012 73.530% Manchester City 3 – 0 Fulham
2011/2012 74.140% Arsenal 5 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur
2011/2012 61.330% Queens Park Rangers 2 – 1 Arsenal
2011/2012 56.000% Manchester City 2 – 1 Chelsea
Average Score: 70.062%

Let’s check out his stats!

FPB = Fouls Per Booking (vertical axis) BPM = Bookings Per Match(line width) AHS = Asian Handicap Swing i.e. the deviation from the expected result(vertical axis) PPG = Points Per Game(line width) Therefore a high thin line for FPB/BPM would indicate a lot of fouls and very little bookings – and a low thin line for AHS/PPG would indicate an underperformance against the betting line and very few points taken.

Mike Dean has had 32 games for Arsenal consisting of 14 wins, 10 draws and 8 losses.

Arsenal are currently in 6th in Mike Dean’s personal Points Per Game League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, with an average of 1.63 PPG.

In Mike Dean’s personal Handicap Swing League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, Arsenal come 20th with an average negative swing of -0.19.

Arsenal are currently in 27th in Mike Dean’s personal Booking’s Per Match League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, with an overall average of 2.13 BPM.

In Mike Dean’s personal Fouls Per Booking League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, Arsenal come 28th with an overall average of 5.46 FPB.

The main things to note in the above graph are the consistent low flying fat red line, which indicates that Arsenal get booked more for fewer tackles that their opposition, and the skinny blue line that sits below zero, that indicates a fairly consistent underperformance and very little in the way of a points return for Arsenal, in matches officiated by Mike Dean.

The colour of the line represents the player type. The position of the line against the vertical axis will indicate the average time of the booking and the thickness of the line indicates the average number of bookings of players in that position. Therefore a high fat orange line would indicate that the referee often books the specified teams defence out of the challenge early, a low thin line or no line would indicate the opposite. The number of minutes bottoms out at 100 to indicate no bookings.

Above is a seasonal breakdown on how, when and where Arsenal took all their bookings under Mike Dean.

The colour of the line represents the player type. The position of the line against the vertical axis will indicate the average time of the booking and the thickness of the line indicates the average number of bookings of players in that position. Therefore a high fat orange line would indicate that the referee often books the specified teams defence out of the challenge early, a low thin line or no line would indicate the opposite. The number of minutes bottoms out at 100 to indicate no bookings.

Above is a seasonal breakdown on how, when and where Arsenal’s opposition took all their bookings under Mike Dean.

Let’s move on now and check out how Chelsea perform under the whistle of Mike Dean:

FPB = Fouls Per Booking (vertical axis) BPM = Bookings Per Match(line width) AHS = Asian Handicap Swing i.e. the deviation from the expected result(vertical axis) PPG = Points Per Game(line width) Therefore a high thin line for FPB/BPM would indicate a lot of fouls and very little bookings – and a low thin line for AHS/PPG would indicate an underperformance against the betting line and very few points taken.

Mike Dean has had 38 games for Chelsea consisting of 24 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses.

Chelsea are currently in 2nd in Mike Dean’s personal Points Per Game League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, with an average of 2.05 PPG.

In Mike Dean’s personal Handicap Swing League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, Chelsea come 9th with an average positive swing of 0.17.

Chelsea are currently in 26th in Mike Dean’s personal Booking’s Per Match League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, with an overall average of 2.11 BPM.

In Mike Dean’s personal Fouls Per Booking League (for teams with a minimum of 5 matches played), for matches in the EPL/ECH, Chelsea come 27th with an overall average of 5.49 FPB.

There is some fantastic consistency here in Chelsea’s FPB/BPM figures with that of their opposition (red and orange lines) this seems to indicate that Chelsea have had a pretty fair run of things under Mike Dean – so credit goes to him there. And this also reflects quite nicely the Ref Review data on Dean/Chelsea games for this season.

Chelsea are trending very well performance wise under Mike Dean (blue line) and have been ‘on the up’ in his figures since 2007/2008 with good performance indicators and good return points-wise.

The colour of the line represents the player type. The position of the line against the vertical axis will indicate the average time of the booking and the thickness of the line indicates the average number of bookings of players in that position. Therefore a high fat orange line would indicate that the referee often books the specified teams defence out of the challenge early, a low thin line or no line would indicate the opposite. The number of minutes bottoms out at 100 to indicate no bookings.

Above is a seasonal breakdown on how, when and where Chelsea took all their bookings under Mike Dean.

The colour of the line represents the player type. The position of the line against the vertical axis will indicate the average time of the booking and the thickness of the line indicates the average number of bookings of players in that position. Therefore a high fat orange line would indicate that the referee often books the specified teams defence out of the challenge early, a low thin line or no line would indicate the opposite. The number of minutes bottoms out at 100 to indicate no bookings.

Above is a seasonal breakdown on how, when and where Chelsea’s opposition took all their bookings under Mike Dean.

Let’s move on now to check out how Mike Dean performs against selected teams in the EPL:

The ine thickness represents the average Points Per Game and the position of the line against the vertical axis represents the average swing againd the handicap.

In terms of performance, Chelsea are the standout team in Mike Dean’s data – Tottenham have dropped this season and this is mainly due to the crushing defeat they suffered at the hands of the mighty Arsenal in the North London Derby (I never tire of saying that). Arsenal’s line has also taken a bit of an upturn because of this – but not by much.

Arsenal has one advantage in this game and that is that Chelsea have just played what looked like a pretty gruelling first leg of their Champions League semi against Barcelona on a soggy surface – although I do expect Drogba to be well rested after the amount of time he spent lying down in that match. The disadvantages we have are, of course, the Atreta injury and the appointment of Mike Dean… but we do have in our Arsenal another weapon – and that weapon is you, the crowd!

The fans will make the difference in this match and they need to be right up for it! You need to shout yourself hoarse and sing yourself stupid – be one, be angry and SUPPORT; don’t let those Chelsea mugs get a look in with any chant they start and get right on Dean’s back for every call he makes – maybe then we can come away from this game very happy indeed.

The Predictortron gives Arsenal a -1.141026 disadvantage….

…support this site and place bets here.


Untold Index
History Index
Making the Arsenal

Recent Posts

85 Replies to “RefWatch – Arsenal Vs Chelsea (21/04/2012 – 12:45)”

  2. No no no no no no no no why this stupid referee always take charge of our games ? come on not fairrrrrrrr i still remember when Sp*rs scored he was jumping no way FA SUCKS Riley leave our Beloved Arsenal alone we r fed up .

  5. From this season’s ref reviews, in the 5 games that we have had the pleasure of Mr Dean refereeing us, he has made 97 incorrect calls.

    18 have been in Arsenal’s favour and 79 in Arsenal’s opponents’ favour.

    Be afraid, be very afraid.

  6. i wish one bad thing : he slip doesn’t break his leg but in a way not to be able to take charge of tomorrow’s game only 😀

  7. DogFace
    Not that it will do any good at all, but do you have an email address for Riley and/or his stinking organization so that we may register our disgust en masse and ask for an explanation, or would it be unrealistically optimistic in asking.

  8. The only thing that would get their attention would be a pre-game protest march – unfortunately we only seem to be capable of doing that sort of thing for the ‘Wenger Out’ brigade.

  9. 6 time Dean, only 2 times Clattenburg. Both Fifa refs. The other fifa refs we had around 3-4 times.

    It is obvious they don’t trust Clattenburg because he can make mistakes but most of the time is rather fair for both teams in his mistakes.

    Love the new graphics a lot!

  10. Couldn’t we be holding up signs with “6?” or “WHY 6?”

    If there are enough it should get some camera attention and who knows maybe some mention will be made on TV about it.

  11. Full name – Michael Leslie Dean
    Born – 2 June 1968 (age 43) Wirral, England.

    Mike Dean became a EPL referee in 2000, he has refed over 300 EPL matches. However because of his geographical proximity to Liverpool FC, Mike Dean has NEVER taken control of one single Liverpool FC Premier League game.

    This alone may not be enough proof that referee bias can and does exist within EPL, but what of this next article taken from Wikipedia;

    “In 2006 Liverpool played West Ham in the FA cup final, Mike Dean was originally appointed to referee the game but the English FA took the unusual step of replacing him after concerns were raised about his ability to be “impartial” towards Liverpool, who are based near Dean’s home town on Merseyside”.

    If The FA had concerns regarding Mike Deans direct impartiality towards Liverpool FC back in 2006, is it then foolish for anyone to have concerns regarding Mike Deans impartiality towards a rival club, a club who might be viewed upon as a rival for that all important ECL spot, a club like Arsenal FC for instance.

    Finally; Mike Dean and penalty kicks.

    Over the last five seasons (including the present 2011/12) Mike Dean has awarded by far the most penalty kicks of any EPL referee, 62 penalties in 144 matches.

    Save to say Mike Dean likes awarding penalties in the EPL, take a look at his profile;

    http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/mike-dean/bilanz/schiedsrichter_379.html

    Lets take a look at Mike Dean officiating and awarding of penalties for only the top six EPL clubs as they stand at present;

    Man Utd – 36 games 11 pens = 1 pen awarded every 3.27 matches
    Man City – 34 games 7 pens = 1 pen awarded every 4.85 matches
    Arsenal – 36 games 2 pens = 1 pen awarded every 18 matches
    Spurs – 33 games 6 pens = 1 pen awarded every 5.5 matches
    Newcastle – 28 games 6 pens= 1 pen awarded every 4.66 matches
    Chelsea – 43 games 10 pens = 1 pen awarded every 4.2 matches

    Is Mike Dean bias/bent/corrupt?

    Make your own minds up.

  13. I feel like I’m reading science fiction when I read these articles, the stats are just so far out of normal.

  15. If I would go I would make one myself.
    a simple word file – letter calibri- size 150

    PGMOL?
    WHY 6?

    print in landscape

    It then just fits the page. If only a someone could copy them a few thousand times and distributes them to block 6 or so?

    Should be distributed in the bottom corner at the corner posts. Then every time a corner is taken the fans should should show them. Then the cameras cannot avoid it and questions will be asked.

    don’t think anyone will copy them some 55.000 I guess…and then hold them out when the teams come out?

  16. Everytime I hear Mike Dean is officiating arsenal’s games I feel sick. I never forget all the refs who causes arsenal to finish fourth. I don’t like this man and my brother laughs at me because I remember all the cheats. Knowing him he will try his best to make us lose but I have a feeling it won’t happen.

  17. Dogface, Walter
    Is there a way to express the Statistical Likelihood of THE DEAN being selected 6 times to OFFICIATE us out of the other 18 (is it?) possible (ahem) select candidates for our 35 games to date (sat). (Perhaps I missed it in your work, but that number paired with the 6!!!! would make a great protest BANNER inside and outside.) Surely these assignments are all RANDOM and even out at the end, so this joy of six is only the exception that proves the rule that everything happens by coincidence.

  18. OK, so my sign would be:

    The Joy of Six!
    Dean Does Us 6 Times.
    A __% Chance!

    Dogface, please fill in the blank.

  19. It’s bad enough for supporters to hear that this clown is officiating, but imagine how the players and manager must feel? It’s an absolute disgrace to be reffed by the same person this amount of tie in a season.

    Have even complained to the Premier League directly about it, as well as a few other things you’ve shed light on here at Untold.

    If anyone else wishes to do so, you can contact them here:

    http://www.premierleague.com/content/premierleague/en-gb/contact-us.html

  20. Just sent mine. Wish I’d read it more carefully for spelling mistakes!

    Sir

    Could you explain how Mike Dean has been appointed to referee an Arsenal game for the 6th time this season (it’s actually 6 times in the last 27 games)?

    There are a18 Premier League referees. By the law of averages Mr Dean should not be in charge of more than 3 games for any one team throughout the season. 4 would be understandable, 5 would be unlikely but 6 appears highly suspicious especially when you consider ARsenal’s record druing Mr Dean’s last 11 Premier League games.

    In those 11 games he Arsenal have won 6 points. This equates to 21 points over a 38 match season. I’m sure that you can see that this is not typical of the points won by Arsenal over the course of the season.

    It has also been shown that in the 5 Arsenal games that Mr Dean has refereed this season, he has made 97 incorrect decisions. 18 have been in favour of Arsenal and 79 have been in favour of Arsenal’s opponents.

    I would appreciate your comments on this situation.

  21. Tasos great info on the number of penos awarded to each team.

    What I would really love to know is out of all the dubious penalty decisions this season how many were English players diving versus foreign players ?
    As AW said the foreign players may have brought the dark arts here but the English have perfected it.

    Poor Eduardo got 10 times the stick of any of this seasons divers and he probably was trying to get out of the way of another injury situation.

  22. Is there a page on the site that explains what all the stats are? The Asian Handicap is not an obvious one. Cheers!

  23. Dogface you made me go wow with this…just brilliant
    Prior to the appointments being announced i had a stinking feeling that it was gonna be him..it had to be him and PGMO appointing Clattenburg for fulham v chelsea a week before all but confirmed my fears but i had a little hope that maybe PGMO will send Foy to make it less obvious but alas my concerns proved to be true and it really made sick to the stomach.. Riley and his gang have no shame whatsoever and the only way they could make it more obvious than this is sending him as ref in back to back matches..
    considering it has been once after every 3 games this season i wouldnt be suprised to see that gap decrease next season and being once after every 2 matches.. This is Riley afterall

  24. Rather than a ‘shout-out’ it must surely be a ‘bow down’ to you Dogface – for yet another seminal Refwatch. How you manage to be so wonderfully articulate when describing the (what for me is) indescribable, I just don’t know.

    It’s worth linking to the pre Totty/Ars DF Refwatch (within this article) and thinking (if you dare) about what happened in that match. (Sagna leg broken/VdV handball&goal, etc).

    Excellent post and link Tasos.

    18 For 79 Against: Good spot, Andy Kelly.

    Dan: 6 is succinct. Those 6 words sum up my thoughts.

    “The joy of six”. You crack me up, Bob.

  25. @Dogface when you told me the other day that Mike Shit is the referee most of my Arsenal mates in Kampala are not going to watch the match on Tele! I told them we might do a spurs and dean’s celebration(did you see his celebration when QPR scored their 1st goal) will not hurt us,they don’t want to hear about it.
    I will be watching as always.

  27. Applying the (much worn) maxim,
    “these things even themselves out over the course of a season”
    means that we are due 60 wrong decisions in our favour (one every 90 seconds) and about 12 penalty kicks.

    I just can’t wait.

    You guys crack me up with your humour and positive attitude in the face of such stats – nice one! With such support Arsenal can prevail.

    Mike Dean! Mr Mean!
    Coming soon to yout TV screen!

  28. Instead of doing the Poznan (as our ManCity reverse-victory dance), I hope that many fans at the Emirates do the Dean Dance by the thousands. Let THE DEAN face that display for all the lessons he has administered to our bad boyz. Let THE DEAN be publicly ridiculed this way, let the video go viral, and then have it haunt his dreams. No one can control their dreams, n’est-ce pas?

  30. well…the dance I can understand, but surely someone can come up with a better chant (and spelling too)?

  31. Dogface,

    It finally hit me: the proper adulation for your eye-poppers and mind-benders would be a “Bow-Wow”

    Simply Off the hook, mate. 🙂

  33. @DogFace:

    You knocked this one out of the park. Well done.

    I really like the new graph (with the combined ref review data), and I can hardly wait to see the summation of the season’s data. I’m guessing that it will keep me much more entertained this summer than Euro 2012 🙂

    Also, quite an interesting set-up with the Chelsea vs Redknapp scenario, in terms of who will benefit from dropped points. Personally, I’m guessing that the PGMOL wouldn’t have appointed Dean if he was planning to do anything other than fuck us to high heaven, but I suppose he’s the sort who would be willing to fuck them over as well.

    And also the additional angle of high exposure in the gambling markets (maybe that’s where Harry will be getting his payoff?)…

    And speaking of the gambling markets, why doesn’t anyone ever talk about this anymore?

    “Premier League referee Mike Dean has been suspended indefinitely over his involvement in a betting website.”

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/4301613.stm

    Am I the only one who thinks that a large portion of this story probably remains “untold” as well?

  34. we should keep a close eye on Dean tomorrow should chavs score..heard he has prepared a summersault celebration.

  36. Here’s a chant, to the tune of Bear Necessities in Disney’s Jungle Book:

    Look at that cheating referee
    We all know that his name’s Mike Dean
    He’s bringing all our worries and our strife
    Look at that cheating referee, the Pigmol’s favourite recipe
    For cheating English football of its life.

    If I were going to the match, I would sing it. But I live in Texas, so I can’t. Y’all should give it a go, and wave bob’s 6-flags at the end.

  37. @Mahdain:

    Yes, I believe I heard about the planned summersault celebration as well 🙂

    As for the Dean gambling article, I think I actually found it after DogFace linked to an article where Walter mentioned it. Or something like that. Whatever happened, I’m thinking that the credit for the find should go to some combination of Walter and DogFace 🙂

  39. El Gringo, I love it. If I had the money, I’d pay for your flight over myself just to hear it 🙂

  40. Dogface,
    The maniacal image of THE DEAN in your old article is Priceless. He hold up 3 fingers. If you reverse image it and position the the images side by side, THE DEAN will then be holding up SIX FINGERS, as in what he’s planning for us in his 6th star-making turn of the season. Think about it, it’s a winner.

  42. Anne,
    Sooooo, like maybe there just was a little kinda understanding like reached at the end of their day of judgment:

    In the article, The PGMO statement read: “The board will investigate whether Mike Dean has breached his employment contract with PGMO.”

    Now why does the first wedding scene in Godfather 1 (yet again) come to mind?: When The Don hears a request (in our case, the wish for absolution of his sins) and then utters the famous lines about, there will come a day when I will ask you for a service….

    First forgiveness; then the service. (Too many movies, ya think?)

  43. @Dogface Mike Dean really makes you come out with the best stuffs…all of them this season have left me speechless with nothing to add..i guess he would be in for a great a**kicking if you met him and im also sure we all who would do that 😛

  44. Just ’cause I’m in the mood:

    Wherever I wander, wherever I roam
    We keep getting screwed now, away or at home!
    Mike Riley’s buzzing in his hive
    to let Red Ashely take his dive,
    we all know mancs can’t win without it
    or go along not thinking about it–
    So have a card or two!
    The cheating referee Mike Dean will come to you,
    He’ll come to you!

    Glad you liked it, Stuart!

  45. Dogface,
    That truly amazing image of THE DEAN in your old article photo there was surely the inspiration for the look of The Golem (Smeagle) in the Lord of the Rings movies. In fact, he’s a dead ringer!

  46. @Walter:

    “If only a someone could copy them a few thousand times and distributes them to block 6 or so?

    Should be distributed in the bottom corner at the corner posts. Then every time a corner is taken the fans should should show them. Then the cameras cannot avoid it and questions will be asked.”

    This is an excellent idea Walter. In fact, if I was going to the match, I would be standing at the copy machine right now 🙂

    Unfortunately, it will probably be another year before I can get to another match, but it would only take a small number of enterprising Arsenal fans to pull something like this off.

    Anyone out there up for the challenge? Maybe not in time for tomorrow’s match, but this could be a means of drawing attention to any number of issues.

  48. @DogFace:

    I actually found it through this one (the same you linked to in your article):

    http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/14953

    But I’m really glad that you linked to the earlier Refwatch above because I hadn’t read that one before. I think you should consider creating a separate section on the site just for your Mike Dean archive, which is honestly impressive enough to merit as such. 🙂

    It sounds like, in a lot of ways, the 2008 Birmingham match that you mentioned (Eduardo) was a similar experience for you as last year’s Newcastle match was for me (Dowd).

    But thanks to the efforts of you, Tony, Walter, Dale, and Phil in the intervening years, when I jumped onto the internet that evening, furious and determined to find answers, I found a website called Untold Arsenal, where others were already telling the truth about what was going on.

    So thanks for that 🙂

  49. @Anne,

    Your story is about the same as mine. I’d always thought, “Hmm, it looks as if Arsenal are getting a lot of bad calls.” After which I thought, “Well, I’m probably just too biased to see straight.” But after the Newcastle “match” I started to trust my judgment enough to ask questions, and lo! Untold Arsenal appeared.

    I don’t always have a lot of time, so I don’t sound in very often, but I thoroughly respect all the work that goes on here. This blog is one of the few places where the tone is set by intelligent people of goodwill and intellectual honesty.

    Keep it up, Untellers! A breakthrough will come sometime. The cracks are appearing and will continue to do so as you continue to rip the paper off of them!

  50. @bob:

    That’s an interesting way of thinking about the Dean gambling controversy. The thing I find most interesting is that the BBC article says that Dean’s gambling company was related only to horse racing, and yet was called “Arbitros.” Arbitros means “referees” in Spanish.

    Yes, I believe that there’s more to this story.

  52. I think this match is ominous. It represents a “perfect storm”, or in Referee-speak, a perfect opportunity to fuck Arsenal over.

    1) A Chelsea win would do wonders for their confidence going in to Barca

    2) A Chelsea win would create a nail-biting end of season for 3rd & 4th

    3) A Chelsea win would set the stage for the annual pageant: the Arsenal stuffing. Normally we have the Premiership whisked from under our noses, but this year it’s a great opportunity to shunt us out of the top three or four, and thereby exclude us from Europe.

    If I was a gambling man, (which I am not), I’d put £10 on Sagna getting a ludicrous red in the 34th minute.

  53. @Anne – we all have our moments… Bucassa moments – if you will – that finally break the spell and send us on our quest for truth.

  55. on the issue of refs friends of mine who are united fans(suprises suprises) keep telling me to stop making excuses,that i should just get on with it,accept it and that it is part of the game and should just enjoy it..i have thrown them all the stats i have,directed them here,footballisfixed and debatabledecisions but apparently they dont prove anything just cause they are apparently written by biased people..they hate the subject of referees and who can blame them? There is a saying in my local language that roughly translates “the one who sleeps with a sick person is the only one who knows his/her agony”..so fitting

  56. Anne,
    So it’s about horse-racing!:
    Well, then, and the breathless call:
    “They’re coming down the homestretch. Both Manchester’s in the front. Looks like, yes, oh my god, it’s Don Fungus by a (Red)nose!!!”

  57. marcus,
    yes, THE DEAN’s hands are already burning red for a midfielder or the backline. Sagna, a pillar, has been such a target, and I share your fears and would place that bet as well.

  58. LOL@Bob…ahead by a nose…LOL…..Sometimes you’re far too eloquent for me but this one was a classic : )

  60. @Marcus:

    I have an ominous feeling about this match as well. And I (like you apparently) have been worried about the intentions towards Arsenal at the end of this season.

    But let’s just watch the match. Whatever happens, I’m thinking that we’ll all be a bit wiser at the conclusion.

  63. Dean has been OK so far, but we’ve looked flat and lethargic. No one is making runs for people, and we’ve usually only got one pass on, rather than two. Despite that, we’ve had a couple of very good chances. Come on Arsenal, we can win this!

  64. Stupid ESPN commentators: Kalou dives in the area and gets credit for staying on his feet. An Arsenal player (the Ox?) is plainly kicked across the back of the legs and falls over, gets blamed for diving, and sparks a plea from the commentators for retrospective bans.

    @DogFace about Dean…it looked to me that as long as Arsenal were doing poorly, he was pretty fair. Then when we got some rhythm going and started creating danger, he gave a couple very soft fouls to Chelsea to disrupt our rhythm. Is that a fair statement?

  65. I don’t know – I’m not the expert… we’ll have to wait for the referee review. You think he’s on the draw then?

  66. @DogFace:

    Chelsea is going over in the box like they’re expecting a penalty call. Interesting tactics from us so far. I think I’ll withhold judgment until I see how this plays out. We look like we might be happy with a point.

  68. Going over these old referee reviews, now folding in data from the Press Association commentaries (Minute:Second), I’m really beginning to dislike UnsportingBehavior (misconduct) as the reason for a card; hard to assign a reason. Today’s game has 5 of them.

    Hopefully Walcott and Rosicky’s injuries aren’t serious. I suspect Terry might be in trouble from a collision with Vermaelen that the BBC talked about. The pain killers will wear off at some point.

    Best of luck to Stoke and QPR the later games. Ryo is starting again for Bolton against Swansea.

  69. Way way too early but I’m really worried about our next game at Stoke. Anyone else?

  70. I think we’re looking tired, but to be fair, so do Stoke. We also have more to play for. I think an argument could be made for freshening up the team though. At least AB made it through unscathed and could do well against Stoke.

  71. Hopefully we will get a break and will not get Dowd or Webb. I’m glad we survived Dean today against Chel$ki.

  72. The BBC commentary had this:
    > First change man in black, now Lee Mason so expect a penalty or two.” NB Lee Probert was down to referee this game before that change.

    Is Probert just gone for this game, or is this longer term?

    —-

    In terms of mathematics, the only new impossibility added as of now, is Arsenal no longer have a chance at 2nd.

  73. The team on the whole looked a bit lethargic but I thought Ramsey had a fairly good game today, certainly looks like getting his confidence back. You could also add Diaby to that list, he certainly looked promising what little we saw.

    Koscielny is a great defender however he needs to work on his passing, he regularly puts his team mate under pressure when they receive the ball

  74. Chelsea never really came out, we never really came out.

    It was a game of cat and mouse but overall I thought we looked tired.

    The team looks badly in need of some fresh impetuous.

    Mike Dean had very little to do in this bore draw.

  75. Taking a look at the upcoming fixtures, we have a good chance of finishing third:
    If we win all our remaining games and so do the totts, it may be down to goal difference.
    Newcastle will have to face Chelsea, Man C and everton in their last 3 games, so it’s very likely that they will drop points.
    Chelsea are 8 points behind us and I don’t see them having a strong challenge for the third spot.
    If totts continue on their bad run, it is very much likely that we will remain in the third spot.
    Let’s hope that they drop points at QPR.

  76. Should I retract this comment?

    “But let’s just watch the match. Whatever happens, I’m thinking that we’ll all be a bit wiser at the conclusion.”

    Discuss 🙂

  77. I think it’s a positive sign that despite a tired performance, no Arteta and Dean reffing, we feel disappointed at a clean sheet and a draw against Chelski. They came for a draw, and we still had two chances hit the post and a couple of half chances. They hardly had a sniff of a clear chance, thanks mainly to Kos’ inspired defending. Merts is going to have a hard time getting ahead of him atm.

  78. Anne, you are wiser. We now have no chance for 2nd. I don’t understand how the players can appear tired for 3 of the last 4 games. Too much work in practice?

    Lots of twits in the BBC commentary. Ramsey was getting ragged on again.

    Ryo was subbed off at 64:14 of the Bolton game.

  79. Dean didn’t seem too bad… I think he missed that shove on Van Persie by Cahill in the back but on the whole, I think we just needed a little more luck today to get the three points.

  81. Barca get that kind of decision, we don’t. I think it was one of those that is regarded as a foul outside the box, but nothing inside it. To be fair to Dean, he didn’t give the one by Sagna that had my heart in my mouth. Credit to the Chelsea player too for not diving as soon as he felt contact.

  85. I’m looking forward to the Ref Review – Dean seemed quite fair… he did get a bit theatrical towards the end (always a bad sign) but on the whole, other than when he had to control the game, I hardly noticed he was there.

    Come on Walter!?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *