Graham Roberts reckons that referee Mike Dean should be given a fine and a suspension from football if he did in fact make a comment to Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino following the loss to Burnley.
Pochettino had an outburst at Dean following the 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor on Saturday, as he believed that the Clarets should not have been awarded a corner as it should have been a goal kick instead – a corner that Burnley ended up scoring from.
Roberts says that he has never seen Pochettino’s number two, Jesus Perez, react as angrily as he did to Dean – which has led him to the assumption that something bad was said.
“I’m reading a lot of things on social media about Mike Dean making a comment to Poch after the game if it’s true he should be given a fine and suspended from all football. I’ve never seen Poch no2 Jesus shouting like that, so something bad was said,” he said on his personal Twitter account.
Im reading a lot of things on social media about mike dean making a comment to poch after the game if it’s true he should be given a fine and suspended from all football. I’ve never seen poch no2 Jesus shouting like that , so something bad was said
— Graham Roberts (@GrahamRoberts4) February 24, 2019
OPINION
This is an incident that has undoubtedly divided many, but it is safe to say that it is understandable why Pochettino reacted in the way that he did after the game. He may have thought that the decision was incorrect to award Burnley a corner, but it is clear that Dean thought differently about it. This is obviously raised tensions amongst Pochettino and his assistant, which is completely understandable. However, as Roberts has pointed out, he has never seen the manager’s number two reacts as angrily as he did on Saturday. He is right to assume that Dean said something to provoke him, because why would he act out of character otherwise? Obviously it is wise not to start assuming what went on, but if the referee did say something to provoke them, then he should be punished for it, just as Roberts highlighted. Either way, Pochettino should not have reacted in the way that he did, even if he was angered by the decision. Also was clear that while Pochettino has since apologised for the scenes, the controversy did overshadow the game.