SanguineParMike Dean admits avoiding VAR call to spare referee more grief [The Guardian]
“I said to Anthony afterwards: ‘I just didn’t want to send you to the screen after what has gone on in the game.’ I didn’t want to send him up because he is a mate as well as a referee and I think I didn’t want to send him up because I didn’t want any more grief than he already had.”
I mean… that’s outrageous, right? Wtf?
andy_wijaya_medThis is scandalous man
sabreW4K3PGMOL or whatever the fuck it’s called, isn’t fit for service.
So, this whole time we’ve been watching the players weren’t part of the game, it’s the referees that mattered. Damn, how could I have been so stupid all these years!!!
/s
And this is why having VAR refs be PGMOL refs is a bad idea. He straight up admitted what fans have been criticizing about VAR ever since it was implemented in the PL: the VAR refs care more about making their friends look/feel good than about getting the call on the field correct.
This moron doesn’t understand a very basic concept: helping your friends in need doesn’t always require making them look good. If the mindset was you have your friends watching your back so your mistakes get covered, then VAR would work a whole lot better. Instead, they care how they look not how they perform.
AnomanderAnd why on earth would he admit it later??
Effective journalism. Someone asked him the right question in the right way, and he wound up volunteering something he might not have otherwise chosen to say.
That said, I think some of this is just reasonable openness and accountability. Given the game was effectively a full year ago and the issues with VAR from that game are still a somewhat spicy topic, it's obviously something he's been questioned on rather a lot - and given that PGMOL also released a statement, and he mentions that he spoke to on-field ref after the game ... it seems like he's already owned that mistake professionally and personally, so making the same acknowledgement of error publicly isn't that huge a step beyond that.
It was definitely a mistake that the fans deserved an accounting of, considering it's the exact sort of problem that VAR exists to address - and that it should have been a call, of some sort at least, was absolutely undebatable to anyone who'd seen it.
He spoke about his new role before the season started in an interview with The Athletic. It’s a good read to understand his mindset going into this new role, and his candle here shows he was serious about what he said.
Mike Dean makes Soccer Saturday vow – and expects ‘big difference’ after Premier League rule changes
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean believes there will be a “big difference” in the behaviour of players and managers this season following the introduction of new rules for 2023-34. Additional time played at the end of each half will increase under a new directive and the expectation is that 100-minute matches will become the norm this term, with refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) getting tough on time-wasting and conduct towards officials. Dean left his VAR role this summer, ending a 28-year career, and has now signed up with Sky Sports to run...
ryan213He was busy fantasizing about his cameos on Ted Lasso.