With 90 minutes gone of Arsenal’s game at West Brom it looked as if Arsenal fans were going to get a happy end of year party with 3 points in the bag, but Mike Dean whistled for a penalty that not even the West Brom players bothered shouting for. The ball was kicked at Calum Chambers from about a foot away and the Englishman had absolutely no chance of avoiding the ball hitting his hand, but astonishingly Dean blew his whistle.
Apparently it has been discussed in meetings with the referees Association and agreed that this situation did not merit a penalty, as Petr Cech explained. “Every time we have a meeting with the referees prior to the season and it comes to this point where the player is too close to the ball and he has no chance to react.” the Arsenal keeper said. “He has his hands by his side and it can never be a penalty. The referee gives this with two minutes to go and I asked him why he changed his opinion to give a penalty, when every time we have this meeting, it’s clear that they say this is not a penalty.” instead of answering the question, Dean just showed him a yellow card. Cech ced:ontinu “I got booked as well and I think that’s the most disappointing, because he could have told me ‘come later’, but he just gave me a yellow card. I was not rude, I just asked the question and I think this disappoints me even more.”
Cech was then asked if he had ever been this angry about a penalty decision before and he replied: “I’m just disappointed because of the penalty situation. I expect, when I walk towards the referee with respect and ask him a question, I would like him to answer me in a normal way and not give me a yellow card and say nothing.”
Arsene Wenger was definitely angry and was gesticulating at the fourth official right through added time. The boss was asked about the decision after the game. ” “What do you think?” Wenger replied.
“It wasn’t a penalty. There was no handball, it wasn’t a deliberate handball.
“I think the referee has not even seen it. I am angry because we have seen the same things again.”
Wenger then turned his fire on the profession, adding: “We have seen the same things again and again. We tried very hard a few years ago for the referees to become professional and we did. I see no improvement.
“At the end of the day there are two countries in Europe where you have professional referees: in Italy and in England. Not one English referee will go to the World Cup.
“But everything is alright. You cannot say a word against it because they are untouchable. It’s not only me who judges them.”
Even the West Brom manager Alan Pardew told the BBC that they were fortunate to get it, so I wonder if there is anyone in the world who saw that thinks it was the correct decision other than Mike Dean? I doubt it very very much.
But will Dean gwet punished for it? Will we get our two points baxck? No, I thought not….
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i think ,in this league , the referees are a disgrace.And it happens over and over again( watford city today) and it’s always against us
The referees are not a disgrace, but they do sometimes make mistakes. Wenger said the refs view was obscured, it wasn’t. Like most managers he is one eyed so made a mistake in his comment. Look at the video and it appears from Deans angle that the defender moved his arm forward, so I understand why it was given even though as an Albion supporter I didn’t expect the award. Always against Arsenal? Look back to the reverse fixture
One decision doesn’t alter the course of a season but Sanchez only playing for himself is a real issue for Arsenal as is the lack of pace in defence. The result overall was right.
Happy New year to all fans
Try Bundesliga or la liga officiating..you will be horrified. Mike Dean is no angel but premier league officiating is miles ahead of the rest.
Jesus these fans again, we scored a handball against burley last year and you have people here claiming it hit his hand and was not intentional yet we win from that. now that it is against us the referee is a retard. please, for the love of God all of you get a life ko
let me understand, a bad call in history justifies another bad call in history?
No but we don’t get to use the “it was the referee’s fault” card for us not winning the game. The ball was handled in the box..most times its not given but sometimes it is. Whose fault is it? Surely are you guys going to blame the referee for doing his job? Did you want an illegal goal cause that’s what guys are crying on here! You wanted to cheat but the referee wouldn’t let you now you mad?
Sorry * illegal win*
what the f%$ are you talking about? ‘yes’ it was an injustice and it doesn’t just happen to us but for a game that was angling in favor for arsenal mike dean was to fast to salute and made the wrong call.
I don’t think you realize who ref was. That’s the grievance here. We understand you win first on merit, but when it’s the same ref (Mike Dean) on a regular basis, time and time again, yes, shit needs to be said, especially when you’ve had as much experience as he has and he makes THAT call.
i think now if in the box, just kick at the defender 1 yard away, hits his arm or hand, PK… seen it over and over, Dean was not in a position to see it clearly, yet makes the call. to the fans who pay to see their team, this is fraud. Dean should have to stand in front of a screen and explain how thats a hand ball
Not a penalty but why can’t we finish teams off & why oh why does Iwobi get in the team every week??
Chelsea next………
iwobi is avery promising player, he has not fulfilled all his abilities but it will come sooner rather than later…. some fans are tiresome with their stupides critics
you think that Zidan and Ozil were world beaters at the age that Iwobi is having now…
Iwobi doesn’t drive to training or games, they stick him in a horse trailer and tow him behind a 4×4, because he’s a carthorse.
Explain what he can do, because he can’t dribble, create, shoot, tackle, or head the ball on anything like a consistent basis.
I’m guessing you’re nigerian by your constant defence and support for him.
Abit harsh calling someone stupid for stating the obvious ,and dont metion ZZ in the same sentence as iwobi
Sue, you are so right. The problem lays with the management and the way they set this team up. With our players we should have been a few goals ahead for the penalty not to have mattered. It’s easy to blame the ref, the pitch, the fans, the shape of the ball. The fact is we are not good enough to win football matches even against a rank bottom team! Wenger is to blame, not the ref.
english referees are the worst in europe
But also rules of this game are not precise as they should be. Look at the rugby, every move or situation are set in stone. There is no space for morons like Mike Dean to decide or rule out.
Also as Wenger said english referees are untouchable but they are not invited to theWorld Cup.
and Mike Dean is a retarded evil stupid moron(huh, I said that already)
Oh my God how many times have Arsenal been given penalties from clear dives ( I can think of at least 2 in recent years vs WBA ) – this was Karmic and clearly a dubious penalty but get over yourselves – you are a team of divers.
As a wba fan you should think of the bigger pic it wasnt a pen but can you realy say you havent had a goal that wasnt this year
Mike Dean will answer to no one that’s the problem we all know he has cheated he knows he has cheated but no one is allowed to say anything until referee’s are made accountable for there actions this will go on for years
1. Video replay is worth getting decision correct, hopefully sooner rather than later.
2. Mike Dean is awful, untouchable, arrogant, and will never apologize or change.
3. Arsenal should never have been in that position scorewise to begin with. Trading punches with yet another bottom feeding club.
My takeaway is not surprised by Dean, and Arsenal was shocking and stale today. Mike Dean is not to blame for the lack of creativity, lack of urgency, and our endless struggles with clubs we should beputting away by 70th minute
A more experienced defender wouldn’t have had his arm squarely in front of his chest. The ball was kicked fairly tamely from several feet away. Decision could have gone either way. In seasons past it wouldn’t have mattered as we would have been goals in front. This micro analysis of why Arsenal is not winning games 1/0 shows how far we have fallen. Some balance please
hi
Stop all the nonsense talk of we should have scored more than 1 goal before then. No team blazes its way in every game. We had done enough to be ahead. Didn’t City fail to score against Palace or Manchester United against Southampton?
Poor from the ref today, but that shouldn’t deflect attention away from yet another awful performance.
If United or Liverpool refused to have Dean as a ref it would be granted, the whole games crooked while Mike Riley runs the PGMOL
You’d think Arsenal with their power would do something about it but I’ve wrote to them in the past and they didn’t want to know. Southampton took on the PGMOL over remarks made to Adam Lallana by Mark Clattenburg before he joined Liverpool but got know joy. their an untouchable organisation and a law unto themselves
The problem here in not ref. its an entire Arsenal team performance for over 12 years now and thats the downside of having single person consolidate too much power and involve himself on other tasks which he has no business ie players contracts, incoming transfers and days to days clubs operations instead of single basic task (training on pitch) we really have serious infrastructre problem where a manager has more power than a CEO and the entire board combine! which is the opposite of Spanish big 2 clubs where they do have inexperience managers but their supporting them with players recruitment and they always wins something big within 2 years.The only hope i have is behind the scene changes towards next season i mean sven and Sanllehi and wenger to leave Arsenal at the end of this season otherwise is not gonna work because of chemistry
There’s a lot of sense in your article Arnold but what’s the going’s on of the twelve years got to do with Dean’s atrocious decision this Afternoon
We shouldnt put all the blame on him, we struggle to score a goal on open play against West Brom we have bigger problem than just Mike Dean philosophy/self sustain those are an academy and 2nd division standard not a bigger club like Arsenal we cant even beat top 5 any more
Clear penalty as he moved his arm to the ball which was already in front of him and not by his side. Not sure which game some of you were watching today but you weren’t the better team for long periods of the game and we had the better chances. Foster only made 2 saves.
Luis Henrique will be my take!
What the point the damage is done no going back. Arsenal got a point and should be thankful for it. Arsenal have a much bigger problem in Mr Wenger and the Board. So suck it up and stop the crying.
Welcome to our world Arsenal. Did anyone believe the one against Rodriguez at your ground WASN’T a penalty except Bobby Madley? Arsenal, Man Ure, Chelsea etc always get the big decisions against the rest of the league. So one went against you, live with it and stop whinging.
I think the Robot making companies should start thinking of making robot referees to work in the premier league.There is a gap
How can Dean possibly be allowed to keep refereeing? He is a disgrace! Not a single pundit on the television, including other refs could justify the decision. Chambers hadn’t any time to react, the ball shot straight at his arm which was in front of his chest, not out wide beside his body.
The refs have really fucked our season. Abysmal against Man City, abysmal against Man U, they must have cost us 12-15 points so far just this season. What the fuck is the point of playing if the refs are simply going to steal the game from you? #MikeDeanOut
Mike dean should be hounded out of football, fans from every club in the premiership should find a way of coming together to protest about this poor excuse for a referee,oh and by the way ,let’s not forget about the football itself,even though it would be quite easy to forget that garbage served to us by that poor excuse for a manager,because the poor decision by mike dean ,gave Arsene Wegner the excuse he needs every game that covers up his now embarrassing managerial abilities .
Arsenal is the only team in the world that never has any excuse to drop points.
Man. City escaped being beaten and no comment by anyone. Arsenal gets done by a rubbish ref and it’s because the team and their manager are rubbish.
Not even the fact that they get cheated by controvertial decisions everytime Dean officiates matters. With Arsenal, ightning always strike the same place everytime I guess.
The game showed us how much we struggle to create chances without Ozil.
To his credit Alan Pardew said that he would have been upset if a similar penalty was given against West Bromwich Albion.
The Ref got it wrong. Have watched/played enough football to see penos like this given.
The fact that Man City dropped points against Crystal Palace has nothing to do with us ,but the level of performance we are getting from our team is just not good enough,this season they’ve drawn one and lost none ,they are playing football worthy of winning most games,yes john moss gave a penalty to palace that wasn’t , but they earned their luck and as stated by many some of the referees in this league are poor ,but let’s take a look at years gone by and season after season the high standards we once had is fast disappearing so much so that the likes of Watford,crystal palace,Southampton,WBA,stoke and Burnley are becoming increasingly difficult for us ,because I believe that Wegner has put his values/ego ahead of the team (they no longer play as a cohesive unit ,don’t seem to have a game plan and the slick inter passing we see less an less )and so the referee got a major decision wrong,Wegner’s been doing that for the last ten years . Wegner out .
Mike Dean is just an asshole