Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: Jack Stephens red card sends Mike Dean to guilt

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·6 December 2024

Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: Jack Stephens red card sends Mike Dean to guilt

Mike Dean has honestly analysed the Jack Stephens red card during Southampton 1-5. During which, he pleaded guilty to a former mistake.

The Premier League has seen many infamous heroes but at the same time, a fair few villains have cropped up from time to time. Former referee Mike Dean will be the first to admit he was in the latter camp.

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When you are a referee, particularly with as many eyes on you as the Premier League boasts, it is easy to become the centre of ridicule. Football fans are... passionate... so any decision which goes against a team will immediately be contested by the fans and the managers.

Now that he's retired, Mike Dean pleaded guilty to a similar offence to Jack Stephens.

Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: Jack Stephens red card sends Mike Dean to guilt

Reflecting on the hair-pulling incident which resulted in Jack Stephens being sent off against Chelsea, Mike Dean compared the decision to one he made during Tottenham's meeting with Chelsea a few seasons ago.

Mike Dean was the referee when Cristian Romero pulled Marc Cucurella's hair. Despite only being a few seasons ago, the near-identical situation was not deemed worthy of a red card. Stephens hair-pull was, though.

Mike Dean was questioned by Paul Merson on Sky Sports about the similarity between the two offences. To which, Dean very honestly admitted that he got his own decision wrong. He claimed that both Romero and Stephens pulling Cucurella's hair were worthy of being shown red.

Finally, Dean concluded: "[Romero wasn't sent off] because I got it wrong. And he's [Stephens] been sent off."

So, Mike Dean is in agreement with Tony Harrington that Jack Stephens had to be sent off. Coming from a fan's perspective, it is pretty impossible to disagree with Mike Dean on this claim.

After all, it's a game of football. There should be no need to pull shirts, let alone hair. Perhaps is Stephens thinks this is acceptable then not only should his captaincy be questioned, but also his profession. MMA training is that way...