By Walter Broeckx
As you all know Mike Dean is just like the other Mike we love to write about on Untold: Mike Dean. Maybe Untold wouldn’t be the same place if Mike and Mike wouldn’t be around. Because it is the fact that Mike Riley got the job of becoming head of the PGMO after what he did in match 50 and the way Mike Dean has behaved since Mike Riley took charge that has been the reason for our referee reviews to start. So if you don’t like our reviews you should blame Mike and Mike.
Now if you type in the name Dean in the search button on the top of the page you will find more than 100 articles that are linked with Dean. And in most of these articles we have shown and proven that Mike Dean is costing Arsenal lots of points most of the time.
We have looked at the Arsenal win percentage over the years with Dean and came up with some strange and worrying trends. But that never was a reason for the other Mike (the PGMO one) to stop sending Dean to Arsenal matches.
I know that one of the arguments that people sometimes used when we pointed at the fact that Arsenal could only manage one win in 13 or 14 matches; that this was down to Mike Dean being a top ref and so it was normal that Arsenal would have a low win %. Of course I always disputed that as a lot of that winless string of matches contained matches with Burnley, Newcastle, Birmingham, West Ham, Blackburn, …. not really top top top teams in the PL with all due respect.
Thanks to Mandy Dodd’s link I went to a blog that also had a look at Mike Dean and looked at it from a statistical point of view. Now I must admit that statistics is something I really don’t get. I can count and bring up some simple stats but not the scientific stats that some people can come up with. I am more of a man of letters and not that much of numbers. Well not the real complicated numbers.
But based on my simple numbers I had reached the conclusion that Mike Dean is unfit to do an Arsenal match many years ago. I am always one to give people a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance, a fifth chance….but even I give up after a while. At some point you have to accept that he is unfit to do Arsenal.
Whenever I said this there was the few non-agreeing souls who told me that I was just looking for excuses and instead should blame the manager for us not winning under Dean. And they pointed at the ‘top-teams/top-matches’ and told me my numbers didn’t take that in account.
Now in the link I mentioned before the writer does take in account the different opponents to see if there is something wrong with Dean in Arsenal matches or not. And not to my surprise the writer comes to the same conclusion as I have done in the past, present and future: Mike Dean in charge of an Arsenal match brings strange results.
If I may quote little bit of this article the writer is saying at the end:
“I’ll admit that to the casual reader this blog is going to be a lot more tedious than 7amkickoff’s. However, what I lack in readability I gain in applying some proper stats to the data. Whatever way you look at it, Mike Dean, statistically speaking does predict poorer outcomes for Arsenal.
“There could be any number of other explanations for these data, but you’d think that the FA might want to have a look at that. Arsenal’s results under Mike Dean are significantly different to under other referees, and these models show that this is more than simply the random fluctuations in results that happen with any sports team.”
So the conclusion we reach is the same. Me based on my simple stats. The writer of the blog based on a more statistical analysis of the numbers available for everyone.
But alas for him and for all of us …the PGMO and the FA don’t to any statistics. Yeah, they publish strange numbers but with no evidence at all. As for we have published evidence in the past, present and future. So the PGMO keeps on sending Dean to our matches.
A referee who, if I can believe reports from fans at the ground, warmed up in a strange place before the Chelsea match. Even a Chelsea supporter frequenting this blog said so that Dean warming up there in front of the Arsenal supporters was something they noticed and found rather bizarre. And I got reports from Arsenal supporters that as Dean was warming up in front of their faces the Arsenal supporters started to sing about him. And more amazingly according to people who were there he put his hand around his ear in a reacting to Arsenal supporters singing his name and calling him names and then even shouting at them “I don’t care”.
So we have a ref who statistically (simple and difficult) has amazingly bad numbers when in charge of Arsnal matches looking for confrontation with Arsenal supporters before a match, inviting songs by cupping his ear to them and the shouting at them….. I must admit that is the most insane thing I have ever heard of any ref before a match. People have suggested he even reacted with hand signals to the Arsenal supporters in the second half when he gave the free kick for the imaginary foul that lead to the first Chelsea goal.
I will be looking for footage of these incidents everywhere but as the warming up of the referees is not really the camera’s follow it is improbable there will be images of this.
But if this really happened in the way people told this to me then this surely is the most unprofessional way to behave before a match of any ref that I have ever known. And this is another piece of evidence that Dean never ever should be allowed near Arsenal.
@UntoldArsenal on Twitter
Anniversaries from the complete list on the home page
1 October 1994: Arsenal 1 Crystal Palace 2 left Arsenal with only two wins in the first eight league games. Even worse in five of those games Arsenal had failed to score. Arsenal were 14th, 14 points off the leaders, only 3 points off relegation in what was to be Graham’s final season as manager.
1 October 1996: Arsène Wenger officially took up duties, as Arsenal’s first non-UK manager, and immediately confronted and defeated journalists, daring them to answer his question “what rumours?”
Dean = Devil.
Can we blame him for all our shortcomings? I don’t think he was in charge on Tuesday night!
what. FA/PGMOL doesnt use stats??…
Walter, dont misguide the reader here. They do use stats. Like 99.9% of the refereeing decisions are correct. You failed to notice the .1% cock ups they have. And Dean officiating ARSENAL falls right there…
Walter pretty much as it is with this thing called Dean!!
Now that the petition has gone over 100k…whats next in the opinion of the readers?
Does anyone know what doors can be knocked with this petition in hand?
Can never get over the Birmingham Arsenal game (Eduardo breaking his leg).
Two bad decisions cost us the game……cost us the premiership.
Yep – pretty much what I had supposed. I would be interested in Gord’s views as he has expertise in this area as well (although I sense he is moving house or somesuch?).
So 100,000 (and counting) people are not wrong…
There was a story going about a season or two back that an arsenal fan had come across deano( jasper carrot)in a furniture store oop North.whereupon it is alleged & I stress only alleged.when asked about his anti arsenal bias he claimed to “absolutely hate arsenal” & laughed any criticism off!you can take that with a pinch of salt.but it wouldn’t surprise me one little bit.especialy when you consider who his boss is.the perfect loathsome twosome………
@Sammy…I guess what we are saying is that we are perfectly capably of playing poorly or conversely winning all on our own…we don’t need or want the interference of Mike Dean. No team does.
Walter
I thought he was improving. He didn’t celebrate either Chelsea goal!
SamuelAkinsola
Indeed it is independence day and wish you are also- as a Muslim and a Nigerian.Islam and insurgency cannot and should not be used in same sentence.A faith of more than a billion people are not all insurgents hence Islam should not be equated with that.Islam is completely against insurgency.I really hope you understand.
And happy independence to you.
the case of mike dean should be taken up by parliament and debate on, thanks.
Anthony bastard Taylor this Sunday
The ref should always be fair irrespective of the team’s performance. The fact that the team is not playing is no passport for Mike Dean or any other ref to biased against Arsenal.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/oct/01/amateur-footballer-jailed-for-breaking-opponents-leg-in-intentional-tackle
Should’ve signed for Stoke, he would’ve gone scot-free
The players need to play without provocation, we know the rules, and the fact that some refs are gunning for us seems to be an ongoing process.
Meanwhile the players cannot let things provoke them, especially if this will hurt the team. Doing so will make the ref become more glaringly obvious in the wrong things he does.
I would love to say to the players:
You are not an individual out there, you are a team, move as one, think as one and fight as one, and keep the team safe from the actions of the ref, even if that sometimes means getting the better of an individual’s pride by retaliating foolishly. Foolishly i say.
Retaliate by being brilliant, let the attacks motivate you to play like you know you can. Let it add to your energy. 🙂
I am struggling to find things as utterly useless and pointless as Mike Dean but here goes:
a carpet fitters ladder
a condom on the pope
an ashtray on a motorbike
mudguards on a tortoise
a one legged man in an arse kicking competition
a Eunoch in a brother
a one legged cat burying a turd on ice
legs on a snake
and finally………….
Mike Riley
*a eunoch in a brothel…… (Lol in a brother!!)
If we had an even half decent investigative sports journalist in England, they would be digging very deeply into the allegations we are highlighting. However, thats about as likely as a question from the “experts” at The Sun and The Mail asking why Sian Massey no longer officiates Premier League games.
Even the “Women in Football” group seem only to be interested in the case of Eva Caneira. The question I’d like them to ask is why Sian Massey is no longer a Premier League official.
Lots of questions – NO answers!
norman 14
It could be something to do with her ( Sian Massey ) recent pregnancy.
I’ve made my comment on Dean but since we’re on refs…Quite a number of UA contributors predicted Taylor for the United match. Arsenal supporters who follow this site & Walter’s ref reviews, and the machinations of Riley’s crowd, can see it coming. Walter & Tony regularly post empirical evidence of the bias on the pitch and assignments. Why don’t the FA, the media or the haters see it? I guess bias again. I love the club and the manager; I’d like to think with my eyes open. I’m critical when I feel it’s deserved, i.e., my comments after the Olympiakos debacle. But here we go again. A biased unPGMO flunky ruins Arsenal’s chances in the Chelsea match, sends off the wrong player, the Club complains and has a suspension overturned. The ref & unPGMO look bad. Arsenal must be punished. Bob’s your uncle it’s Taylor: AS PREDICTED BY UNTOLD ARSENAL. I’m not surprised but it’s getting increasingly difficult to endure. And then we’re told we’re paranoid or making excuses. I don’t look forward to game day with the same anticipation as I used to because I know the way most decisions will go. If the haters want to criticise I’d point them to Walter and Usama’s reports and the one Mandy Dodd added a link to. If you haven’t read that report re Dean, go back and find it or perhaps Mandy can post the link again. Does anyone believe there won’t be a major decision against Arsenal Sunday? If so, please give me the reasons for your belief.
There is certainly something wrong with Mike Dean and Arsenal. These stats don’t lie.
I have sent a printed copy of this to the club, addressed to Ivan Gazidis, the man who sits with the most powerful on every committee going. I am not sure this is Wengers fight, but Ivan and the club should be doing something. I am not a season ticket holder, but those who are, or pay to watch on TV, those who cross continents to watch Arsenal, or who have an emotional investment in the club deserve better than this shit offered up by the PGMOL. If the club have ambitions for the team, and care about the fans, they should be fighting this
Untold Arsenal ,and a hundred thousand plus fans have spoken. An overturned red card , but with a one match ban and a fine is not enough to get them out of this one.
Mike Dean is a Liverpool supporter , a man previously banned for refereeing for one year due to linking himself with a gambling firm with some kind of grudge against Arsenal. He should not only be kept away from Arsenal, he should be kept away from the game. End of.
http://discoveringstatistics.blogspot.co.uk
I don’t think that anything can be served by a Parliamentary debate as a result of the petition. Corbyn would have to give support and this would add extra ammunition to the right-wing press. I would rather see a delegation (eg. the petition organiser, Tony, Walter and Prof. Andy Field) present a calm and reasoned case to the FA. I feel that this would allow the FA to present any counter arguments but would also allow them to see the research that has gone into all this. However, I am not hopeful.
I am not hopeful either Brummie, too many powerful and vested interests, and Arsenal are not top of the food chain when it comes to these interests , but the club should be doing all it can, and should they get nowhere, maybe Ivan should consider resigning from some of his committees
Don’t forget the penalty Dean didn’t give to Chelsea, oh no sorry we ignore that I forgot. I have signed the petition by the way.
Fred every man and his dog (even in the media) have said nothing in it, if anything Hazard is the one fouling…
Rightly or wrongly brief comments on the three Olympiakos goals.
With the first goal I confess I am losing patience with the Ox. This is the second deflected own goal he has been responsible for this season. And this was significantly worse. He was making virtually no effort to get out to shut down the shot so the ball travelled around ten yards to reach him yet still he merely flicked a heel at it when he really should have learned to get as much leather on the ball as he possibly could. Further why on earth does Theo join the long poorly organised line of defenders (frequently we are outnumbered at the back of the line) and from the front row I was trying to scream at him to get just outside the box.
Secondly from my referee course many years ago I was astonished by how much grass you could see between ball and line and how difficult it was to judge unless directly above the ball or looking directly along the line. Proof video refs are essential and FIFA is neanderthal to have rejected the advance.
Thirdly I am still struggling with offside and active. For the third goal I thought the ball was played out to the winger who was onside but the player in the centre was clearly offside in the six yard box in front of the back post but presumably not judged active. The winger made the goal line and cut the ball back to the initially off side player but clearly not offside for the pass which was played back. I have frequently seen assistant referees indicate that a player onside when passed to was offside because he had come back from an offside position earlier in the move. Perhaps I must just wait on the UA referees report to help me through this
Fred – please spend some time reading Laws of the Game. Hazard fouled Gabriel & that was why even Dean didn’t give a penalty. If you do not understand the Laws of the Game, please read the associated notes that help explain them.
If you have difficulty reading, I’m sure there are organisations that can help.
That’s why don’t be surprised the ref doesn’t give Arsenal a penalty when it’s due.Conversely he could give MU a penalty when it isnt warranted.
That’s why the rf wanted to carry his dominance to the cl and failed repeatedly .No need to elaborate.
@Mandy Dodd
That’s for posting the link again. I’m still shaking my head.
I just hope that Mike Dean is daily plagued by nightmares (and daymares !)for all that he did wrong towards us .I imagine him being ‘bugged’ by the ‘spirits of Arsenal points lost, at every Christmas !
As well a coterie of bad arsed ghouls and mean spirits !
In the meanwhile congratulations to AW on completing 19 years as manager. Here’s to another 19 more.
WOO HOO , HOO !
Mandy @ 9.37pm.
Totally agree with your post.
And wish to add that British Premier League (BPL) shouldn’t take the international audience for granted. Time it was that the Italian League was on top of the pile. Now, it is BPL’s time in the sun but the German and Spanish Leagues aren’t too far behind. If BPL should insist upon delivering dubiously officiated league games, the international audience is not obliged to stick around with their eyes glued in. And it is always more difficult to get such audience to return.
On my part, I don’t plan to watch the Arsenal vs. Man U game live. Witnessing bad officiating live is far more galling than sitting later to view matters as they had been reported to unfold.
I see that the much-maligned Metro has carried on article on Prof Field’s analysis – linked from the BBC website.
So a little bit of publicity.
Thanks for the link. Mandy
Great link Mandy.
Following on from the Mike Dean debacle, it now appears that Eva Caneiro was not invited to give evidence in the FA’s investigation of her spat with Mourhino.
It would appear that both the FA and PGMOL are in meltdown!