By Walter Broeckx
Since this week the possibility of match fixing has been smashed in our faces and from now on nobody can deny that there might be something wrong with the game I want to take it one step further.
Untold was the first publication to speak openly and repeatedly about our serious doubts about the way some games have gone. And now official instances are confirming what we have been saying for years.
Those of us who write for Untold have been called all sorts of names in the past. But events are starting to tell us that what looked to be the stupid ideas of a few lunatics are not that stupid at all.
So now, with the giant database we are building up with the ref reviews where we can even dig deeper in the performances themselves we get more and more evidence to the effect that some things not being as they should be.
In my years of writing for this blog I have written a lot about referees. I have written a lot about some refs in particular. But I have never have taken the time to analyse the entire career of a ref and put it in a time line. And then add a few other outside circumstances to it that might shed a light on the way things have been going. Now I have taken the time to do this. And the first one to have a closer look at is our friend Mike Dean.
I have previously written about Dean to the effect that I think he is a ref who goes along with the people who have power. And on this point, as on so many others, some people have questioned my mental health and I do appreciate their concern).
But now is the time to move on and see if we can find some strange things in his Mike Dean’s career. Join me in a review of a 13 year long ref career and see the numbers.
Dean starts his career in the PL in 2000.
16/09/2000 Arsenal – Coventry 2-1
09/11/2002 Arsenal – Newcastle 1-0
19/01/2003 Arsenal – West Ham 3-1
27/08/2003 Arsenal – Aston Villa 2-0
01/11/2003 Leeds – Arsenal 1-4
09/05/2004 Fulham – Arsenal 0-1
02/10/2004 Arsenal – Charlton 4-0
06/11/2004 Crystal Palace – Arsenal 1-1
24/09/2005 West Ham – Arsenal 0-0
15/04/2006 Arsenal – West Brom 3-1
| Games | won | draw | lost |
|
10 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
| Before 2006 |
80,00% |
20,00% |
0,00% |
Dein sits on the FA Board until 2 June 2006.
At this point he was replaced by David Gill, chief executive of Manchester United. So the influence of Arsenal in the FA goes down and the influence of Manchester United goes up at the same time. Can we see a change in the results?
25/11/2006 Bolton-Arsenal 3-1
26/12/2006 Watford – Arsenal 1-2
21/04/2007 Spurs – Arsenal 2-2
05/12/2007 Newcastle – Arsenal 1-1
23/02/2008 Birmingham – Arsenal 2-2
13/09/2008 Blackburn – Arsenal 0-4
30/11/2008 Chelsea – Arsenal 1-2
08/02/2009 Spurs – Arsenal 0-0
16/05/2009 Man Utd – Arsenal 0-0
| Games | won | draw | lost |
|
9 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
| 2006-2009 |
33,33% |
55,56% |
11,11% |
Well you certainly can see a change in the results. Suddenly the win percentage of Arsenal goes down in a dramatic way. From 80% to 33 %. It is not yet a complete disaster but you sure can see a change.
June 2009 Mike Riley becomes head of the PGMOL. By this time Mike Riley is known as a Manchester United ref. Riley who single-handedly ended our unbeaten run at Old Trafford. And what can we see from that moment on?
29/08/2009 Man Utd – Arsenal 2-1
16/12/2009 Burnley – Arsenal 1-1
07/02/2010 Chelsea – Arsenal 2-0
24/04/2010 Arsenal – Man City 0-0
03/10/2010 Chelsea – Arsenal 2-0
07/11/2010 Arsenal – Newcastle 0-1
02/10/2011 Spurs – Arsenal 2-1
26/11/2011 Arsenal – Fulham 1-1
22/01/2011 Arsenal – Man Utd 1-2
26/02/2012 Arsenal – Tottenham 5-2
31/03/2012 QPR – Arsenal 2-1
21/04/2012 Arsenal – Chelsea 0-0
23/09/2012 Man City – Arsenal 1-1
03/11/2012 Man Utd – Arsenal 2-1
13/01/2013 Arsenal – Man City 0-2
| Games | won | draw | lost |
|
15 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
| Since 2009 |
6,67% |
33,33% |
60,00% |
So the appointment of a Manchester United person in replacement of Dein gave a first change in direction for Dean. But since the day Riley took over at the PGMOL it is clear that Dean has opened all cylinders and has had an open bias against Arsenal. The win percentage goes from 80% down to around 7%!!!!
For your information Arsenal have a win percentage in general of around 53,45 % over the PL years.
So for those who suggested I needed psychiatric help when I said that there is something wrong with Dean and his behaviour, there is still the opportunity to think that is the case and neglect or ignore all the evidence presented. Everyone in a democracy is free to stick his/her head in the sand.
I have said before that Dean is not anti-Arsenal because it is Arsenal that he dislikes. No Dean is anti-Arsenal because it helps his career. Dean will follow who ever calls the shots in the PGMOL and the FA.
And for your information I will add that for the last few weeks we have not only have Riley doing the ref appointments at the PGMOL. There is also now the fact that there is a new chairman in the PGMOL. It is former Blackburn chairman John Williams. After leaving Blackburn Mr. Williams joined Manchester City. And from Manchester City he went to the PGMOL.
So now we have both clubs from Manchester occupying high places not only in the FA but also in the PGMOL.
And each appointment of Dean in any Arsenal game is not just a slap in the face of each Arsenal supporter, it is also a slap in the face of football in general. A slap in the face for those who want football to be a fair sport where the outcome is decided on the field, and not by refs who are far more busy with their own politics and career, rather than caring exclusively with what is fair on the field.
Those numbers above show something horribly wrong in the entire system of the FA and the PGMOL. But we are not holding our breath to see Mike Riley take action. He probably will do what he always does when there is a problem: deny it.
Recent posts…
- How Millwall became a model for Arsenal’s move north
- Farewell sad France; Ligue 1 dies as Qatar takes over
- Ref Review: Martin Atkinson – Chelsea Vs Arsenal (2 – 1) [20/01/2013]
- Liam’s departure could mean that Dennis returns
- Loving a football club is like falling in love
- Europol confirms what we all knew: Match fixing is rife across Europe
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches
The sites…
- Referee Decisions - just what are the refs up to this season?
- The Arsenal History Blog from the AISA Arsenal History Society
The offside law is in effect open in the majority of cases open to interpretation and this is where there is confusion. I would say that the confusion is brought about by the referees themselves as they are failing to come out and actually explain their decisions and the reasoning behind them.
Hiding behind the skirts of the FA’s rules that the Referee doesnt have to speak to the press doesnt really help.
Steve, Walter,
Is this further extension (from 7am kickoff) about The Dean’s record also true?: “In the last 20 times Mike Dean has refereed an Arsenal match, the Gunners … have never been awarded a penalty despite many clear-cut fouls in the area.”
Mike T,
Let me add a third litmus test:
If The Dean (as claimed by 7am kickoff) has not awarded a single penalty to Arsenal in the last 20 games, is that coincidence in your view?
There is no doubt, certain refs have had a negative impact on our team. Maybe the increased numbers of home grown players will help combat this? If wilshere becomes what he is showing signs of, would the likes of dean and Atkinson dare do their worst?
OT: From the England-Brazil game:
> “To be frank, if Jack Wilshere keeps up that level of performance he will soon justify all the expectations. He was very, very good as was Theo Walcott, who terrorised the left side of their defence.”
Sounds like a couple of Arsenal players had a good game.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21357296
It’s actually amazing McNulty could even report this, as he is usually a stick in the mud about Arsenal. But, I guess there is only so much you can twist Hodgson’s interviews after the game.
@Gord I simply think that the nature of both their performances and their visibility gave him no choice; McNulty was merely saying what everyone had seen.
What struck me was that Theo had a fullback of Adriano’s quality in a position where he just did not know what to do to defend against him.
Equally it was amusing to see someone on another forum question why Jack got the Man of the Match, pointing out that he gave away the penalty and got no goals or assists. It was nice that they rewarded what we have been seeing all season; that the guy was at the center of all the good stuff that was going on.
In order to sharpen thought on this well-written article, Walter’s conculsion that the deviant behaviour is a sign that ‘it helps his (Dean’s) career’ and ‘Dean will follow who ever calls the shots in the PGMOL and the FA’ can be examined in the light of Diane Vaughan’s theory of normalization of deviance. It seems that the PGMOL and the FA have ‘become so much accustomed to a deviant behavior that they don’t consider it as deviant’. As such, when Dean takes suspicious decisions for Arsenal (Dien’s era), or against Arsenal (post-Dien era), the tendecy to ‘ignore’ such deviant behaviour may be a deliberate attempt make people to get more accustomed to the deviant behavior ‘the more it occurs’. To people outside of the organization (Walter and Co), the activities seem deviant; however, people within the organization (Dean, Riley and Co) do not recognize the deviance because it is seem as a normal occurrence
I even made follow up article about this subject.
Extra extra read all about it.
On Untold of course. Later today or tomorrow. There is always a reason to come back to Untold.
Not sure if you would have heard the news from Australia, but The crime commission has annouced it has found widespread doping and links to organized crime in our professional sports and evidence of at least one example of match fixing.
If this can happen in Australia with only a tiny proportion of the money involved of the BPL, it seems incrediable naive to think that it isn’t happening in England.
Do you happen to have an equivalent of the Crime Commission?
By the way, just out curiosity, does anyone have any stats on the number of penalties arsenal have conceded at OT? It seems almost all the matches I can remember us playing there they were awared at least a penalty, with some a penalty and a red card.
Waater, AL,
Both penalties award and conceded under The Dean in his last 20 matches say, would no doubt make eye-popping reading (in your next article)?
Sorry, Walter (not Waater). I must be having trouble spelling your name right since you (mis)identified me as capital B-Bob.
I will try if I can make a list of the penalties given by Dean or at OT against Arsenal
@AL@Walter, Arsene have a say the usual penalty we get against Manure at oldtoilet don’t you think he knows something but he does not want to talk about it!
Walter,
And please also include or assess the ABSENCE of penalties awarded to us by the Golem.
Shard,
Before it gets lost in the mix, I finally could get to a reply/rant of sorts to your posting on 2/5, so for what it’s worth:
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/27042/comment-page-2#comment-528664
If you feel like replying, I’ll look back there later on. Cheers
@Mike T Could you be so kind and not use the expression “Stoke fans” when posting on Untold? Those monekys belong to some 3rd country zoo, not to a Premiership stadium and it makes me sick just seeing somebody calls them “fans”. You can’t call youself a fan when you’re booing a guy who had his leg broken by some idiot player who happens to play for your team. Only Birmingham monkeys were close to emulating Stoke apes with “There’s one Martin Taylor”.
@John February 6, 2013 at 3:27 pm
You know that Rooney dive you refer to in your post?, I remember it well and was outraged.
It was pretty much a carbon copy of what Eduardo did against Celtic 1 week before we played Man Utd. Eduardo got villified, Nothing was ever said about Shrek!
Cheers Walter, sure that list or those lists would be fascinating if you manage to put them up.
@Kampala
Yeah, I noticed the use of the word ‘usual’ too,and that had me thinking hang on it seems everytime we go there we concede a penalty. Well, at least as far as I can remember, hence I thought I’d ask the question.
@GoonerPete
Spot on. I remember screaming ‘dive!!’ when Rooney went down after having kicked the ball into the stands. The incident was very similar to Eduardo’s, which had happened a few days before I think, with the only differences being that i think in Eduardo’s case there was a better case for a penalty as there was still a chance he could’ve have got to the ball and there seemed to be some contact, albeit minimal, which had been initiated by the keeper. But we all know what happened…..
Corruption in football is there to stay since Septic Bladder is so indifferent about it. He goes on to say that there will always be cheats. Does he have an iota of leadership to tackle corruption. The disgusting indifference shown by Septic, FIFA and Co. is quite despicable. Unless leadership changes take place in FIFA & UEFA corruption & racism will slowly erode the dignity of football to a real low.
Former Blackburn/Man ArabOil bloke in charge of PGMOL?
We’ll get Dean in our next FA Cup match….