http://www.onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=editorial&id=288 The Phil Dowd Show By Kevin Whitcher Online Ed: Is there an unspoken agenda against Arsenal? There were a number of factors in Arsenal’s shocking concession of a 4-0 lead away to Newcastle. Some Arsene Wenger can take responsibility for, some were simply outside of his control. Ultimately, a shocking refereeing performance by Phil Dowd, arguably the worst ever witnessed in the history of the Premier League, enabled Newcastle to equalize, but the Gunners allowed the game to reach the point where his poor officiating made a difference. Who’s the w***er in the black? The first half was perfection. This was the stuff of champions in the making, reminiscent of the great team of 2001-05 at their best. Allowed time and space by Newcastle, they ruthlessly took advantage and sent a message out to Manchester United, kicking off after 5pm. However, the one thing that was totally predictable was that Alan Pardew would tell his players to start making some challenges that would shake up the visitors after the interval. Let them know you are there, rattle them, upset them, see if they can handle it etc etc. Joey Barton was anonymous in the first half, but made his impact in the second. Yet, Arsenal made it easy for him. The visitors were evidently not prepared for this by the coaching staff at half time. So when, all too predictably, a bad challenge from Barton came on Abou Diaby, the Arsenal midfielder rose to the bait and was duly red carded. Hell, if you are going to suffer an early bath at Barton’s expense, the least you should do is break the bastard’s nose. Make it worth it. Diaby meekly pushed him over by the neck and for Barton, it was job done. A man down, it prevented Arsenal controlling the game and allowed Newcastle encouragement to have a go, which they duly did. Wenger cannot be blamed for the injury to Johan Djourou. Where he can be blamed is the fact that, instead of a January transfer window centre back purchase, he had to replace him with the hapless Squillaci. The manager gambled by not addressing this weakness with the ￡40 million he has in the bank. Today, he started paying the price of losing that bet. How much longer he continues to suffer as a result depends on the length of Djourou’s absence. Suffice it to say, should Squillaci need to start the game against Barcelona on February 16, I shall be placing a seriously large amount of money on an away win. The manager can also be blamed for putting Tomas Rosicky onto the field. This player is history. He contributes nothing and has become pointless. He is past it and will never recapture the form he once possessed. A waste of space. One would like to have thought that a bit of experience might add composure to the side, but it simply did not happen. Regarding Eboue for Walcott, Arsenal would have been better to leave Theo on just to give Newcastle something to think about at the back, given their only chance of attack was on the counter. Now for Phil Dowd. If the first penalty was pretty soft, then I will have to find a new adjective for the second. Szczesny was manhandled to the floor after the first spot kick had been converted in a manner not dissimilar to that of Diaby’s dismissal, and yet it was the keeper who received a caution. Dowd was happy enough waving yellow cards liberally as long as they were to Arsenal players, his inconsistency absolutely stank. By the end of the game, I was remembering all those decisions that seemed to go Manchester United’s way when it comes to the award (or non award against) of penalties, and wondered if there was an agenda against Arsenal amongst the game’s authorities in this country. Could Arsenal ever win the league with handicaps such as Dowd’s display and the leniency shown to United (such as the penalty not given at Blackpool when they were 2-0 down)? Regular contributor Ian Tanner has built up a wealth of evidence about how United are favoured by referees and Dowd seemed to be single-handedly trying to hand them the title in the style of Mike Riley in 2003. However, if Djourou had not been taken off injured (or someone other than Squillaci had entered the fray), I believe that the ball would have been won in the situations that led to the two penalties. If Arsenal had eleven players on the field, they would have found it easier to keep possession and take the sting out of Newcastle’s attempted recovery. The Gunners played enough of a part in their own downfall for Dowd’s incompetence or plain bias to matter. The feeling at the end of the game was ‘There goes the title’. And yet, ultimately it was a case of there goes the opportunity to make up two further points on United’s lead. The result at Molineux meant that Arsenal were a point better off in their attempt to catch United than they were this morning. And critically, the feat of the ‘Invincibles’ will remain a unique one in modern times for a while longer yet. Ultimately, the conclusion of today, in spite of United’s defeat, is that Arsenal are not resilient enough, and do not have the strength in depth to win the title. I sincerely hope I am wrong in that opinion. The current issue of The Gooner will be available from sellers outside the stadium next Saturday at the game against Wolves. For those who cannot make it along to the match, it can be bought online here. 5th February 2011 http://tinyurl.com/6bqja6q 【OnlineGooner】菲尔·多德主演 OnlineGooner 2011年2月1日 作者 凯文·惠彻 新闻来源：http://www.onlinegooner.com/arti ... ditorial&id=288 综合编译：hyper2011（阿森纳中国网新闻翻译小组） 版权声明：转载请注明出自阿森纳中国网 www.arsenal.com.cn 难道是潜规则？ 能让阿森纳在4-0领先纽卡斯尔的情况下被逼平的原因当然很多。有些可以让温格来负责 ，有些则无可奈何。但凌驾其上的无疑就是菲尔·多德的惊人表演，帮助纽卡斯尔富有争 议性地创造了英超联赛历史上的最强的落後扳平，但对於枪手来说，他们的努力最终只是 悲剧性承托了主裁改变比赛走势的能力。 [图]它是这场比赛的w***er（译注：一般来讲，***等於ank) 上半场比赛是完美的。让我们彷佛看到了2001-05年那支冠军级别球队的身影。纽卡斯尔 能做的似乎只是赶紧把比分通知给下午五点开球的曼联队。不过主教练帕杜肯定还做了另 一件时，就是在中场休息的时候让自己的队员开始用铲球来骚扰一下客队。反正大势已去 ，只能让它们尽量用伤人的办法挫挫锐气了。於是乎，那个上半场默默无闻的乔伊·巴顿 开始大显身手了。当然，用这种方式踢阿森纳，它最来劲。 客队显然对於主队中场的布置毫无防备。可以预见地，巴顿爆铲了迪亚比，阿森纳中场随 即中套，拿了红牌就下去了。话说要是上半场巴顿就这麽搞，忍到下半场迪亚比怎麽说也 得打碎那混蛋的鼻梁骨吧。结果迪亚比只是「推了」一下它的「围脖」就完事了。 计谋得逞，人数占优，阿森纳对比赛失控，这令纽卡斯尔则越发大胆，而且的确没有一点 客气的意思。「小新」受伤不能怪教授吧，顶多只能说他没在冬季市场买球员又一次使得 霉运召之即来，他又一次打出了手上唯一一张牌，斯奎拉奇。现在看来，教授把传说中的 4000万存在银行里比花出去更像是赌博吧。新的一盘赌局又开始了，赌局的长短视「小新 」的伤势而定。再具体点说，2月16日又要残兵对阵巴萨，按常理我们又应该押宝客队赢 ，是吧。 另一个备受争议的地方就是派上罗西基。属於他的美好瞬间已成往事。他上场後乏善可陈 ，登场显得毫无意义。他的经验并没有提升球队。而用埃布埃替换沃尔科特也值得商榷， 小老虎留在场上或许可以让对手惦记着後场，迫使其只能选择防守反击。 重点是那个菲尔·多德。如果第一个点球算是吹得比较「软」的话，那第二个点球我就找 不到形容词来形容了。「小波」在失球後被摁倒在地，怎麽说程度上和之前迪亚比的红牌 无二致，可是却被警告。只要是面对阿森纳球员，它就总是很乐意把黄牌掏出来挥舞，尺 度不一、令人作呕。这让我感觉对手好像是曼联了，对手很容易获得点球，相反我们几乎 没机会获得点球。这就是传说中对付阿森纳的潜规则吗？阿森纳赢得联赛的代价就是缺胳 膊少腿吗？阿森纳就不能获得向对曼联那样仁慈的吹罚吗？本站的Ian Tanner曾统计过曼 联被裁判照顾的种种证据，现在看来新的证据还在不断涌现，而多德正在像2003年得麦克 ·莱利那样一手将奖盃献给曼联。 尽管，如果不是小新受伤、斯奎拉奇准备不足，我相信比赛即便有那两个点球还是可以拿 下来的。而如果枪手保持11人在场上，控球会更加轻松，也许纽卡斯尔根本就没有反扑的 机会。枪手们的不佳表现还是为多德的表演提供了舞台。 比赛结束时的第一感觉就是「冠军又远去了」。我已经准备好心情去看积分榜的差距又添 两分。可是莫利纽球场那边的结果使得阿森纳反而追上了一分，而唯一「不败赛季」的神 话又一次得到了保护。於是重新整理心情总结今天的比赛，阿森纳的韧性还不足，阵容厚 度依然不足以配得上冠军。当然，我也真诚地希望我的想法是错误的。 --

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