I think the big man is a dane actually, but yes he is still running the whole show.
Agree on the Mode C checks, a waste of time, as Dubai APP does it then 3 minutes later, us at UAE centre do it, then most likely for Eastbound departures, 5 minutes later Muscat does it.
On the flow, I cannot believe that a place like Melbourne, has a fulltime dedicated Flow position, organising the sequence, whereas Dubai, which is much more congested only has a coordinator, who almost as an afterthought has a look at how the sequence looks. Basically it comes down to the Eastern UAE sector, running his sequence, and the Western UAE sector running his, and then they all come to a grinding halt over Dubai, and we end up with the infamous Dubai Air Show. Must be a better way.
As far as the Grumpy Dubai controllers, I personally have found 90% of them to be good to work with (even all those damn Kiwis!). Just a couple, especially one quite large individual, spoil the broth. Most of the time when things get strained whether its with the pilots, or with us poor centre controllers, its due to frustration at the procedures and restraints placed on them, and nothing personal.