Was the ref that bad?

The ref was bad, bur performance was worse.

Was the ref that bad?

Yes.

But even if the ref had gotten everything right, it would only have been 0-0 which is still shocking.

Who gives a sht about the ref, if arsenal performed to an average level we win today, dreadful performance

Some people underestimate the influence a ref can have by not being fair. It allows the team being favoured to far increase their possession. Some of the comments I saw today were that we were given free kicks when breaking which allowed them to get players behind the ball and other challenges which were fouls were allowed to go unpunished. Then they were given fouls when we won the ball, again giving them an advantage. Also the foul on Giroud was apparently bad and should have got a card and the penalty was ball to hand and very harsh.

Had the ref gotten everything right, Charlie Adam would have been sent off atleast twice today, Stoke would have been down to 10 men and we would have had more of a chance to score.

I watching the extended highlights on Sky now and Adam has just done his studs first challenge for a header on Arteta. Should be off for that

Now seen the Adam stamp on Giroud and the PL must investigate it. The penalty is ridiculous. We have to compare decisions to others we see and the amount of times those ones are not given theres no way it should have been a pen. Clear ball to hand.

All in all I don't think the ref was as bad as I thought from the match thread but hes still been pretty bad