Dermot Gallagher shared that Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was wrong to approach Mike Dean straight after the final whistle of Spurs’ 2-1 loss to Burnley.
The former Premier League referee shared that while he understood emotions were running high, Pochettino should have waited 20 minutes then spoken to Dean about his frustration in the changing room.
Gallagher added that then a more amicably chat could have taken place, with the retired referee also noting that the controversial scenes didn’t look good for the Premier League.
“I just think in this situation, I know emotions run high but I think it’s better if the manager steer clear of the referee for at least 20 minutes and then goes to visit him in his changing room,” said Gallagher on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch (Sky Sports News, Monday February 25th 11:40am).
“He’ll be in a better place the referee and they can probably discuss things more amicably there.
“It doesn’t look good for the product either when you see that being beamed out as it was live on Saturday, it’s not good.”
OPINION
Gallagher clearly thought Pochettino’s very public bust-up with Dean following the loss to Burnley was unnecessary based on his verdict. While the retired official doesn’t want to point the finger of blame and comment on whether retrospective action is needed, he clearly seems to rule slightly against Pochettino on the incident. The referee points out that the Spurs manager should have waited to cool off before addressing the referee. It’s fair to say emotions did get the better of the usually-calm Pochettino on Saturday, but it’s hard to know if he deserves any form of punishment. Pochettino clearly was upset with whatever Dean said to him after he vented his complaints, and until that comes to light, it’s hard to justify whether his reaction was warranted. It’ll be interesting to see how the FA handle the situation as it seems a very delicate one with the capacity to blow up if handled incorrectly. If they get the decision wrong then it’s likely to see them get a lot of criticism fired their way, particularly from Spurs supporters.