Presenter Dan Lawless has slammed Mike Dean for his officiating during West Ham United’s most recent Premier League match.
In their last outing, the Hammers hosted Arsenal but came away with nothing as they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat. The Gunners took the lead through Rob Holding before Jarrod Bowen struck back just before half-time. Gabriel then headed the away team back in front after 54 minutes and that was enough to decide the game.
Was Ramsdale's challenge on Bowen a foul?
Yes
No
However, it seems as though Lawless was particularly unhappy with Dean and his refereeing during the match and clearly made his feelings known online.
Indeed, the West Ham Fan TV man took to Twitter to say: “Good riddance to Mike Dean. Today was like his farewell tour and he was playing all his old hits. Glad we’ll never see his face again.”
TIF Thoughts on Mike Dean and West Ham…
It may well be that Lawless was particularly frustrated by one controversial moment. During the second half, Bowen was booked by the referee for diving.
However, he had gone to ground to avoid a challenge from Aaron Ramsdale, who had rushed out of his goal. While there was no contact, it could be argued that the goalkeeper deserved punishment for his rash attempt to win the ball which forced Bowen to jump out of the way.
In the end, Dean felt it wasn’t enough to justify Bowen going to ground and Arsenal were awarded the free-kick. Had the decision gone West Ham’s way, the game may well have ended with a very different scoreline – especially if Ramsdale had been sent off for the incident.
As Lawless alludes to, though, Dean will be retiring at the end of the season. And so, that could be the last time he takes charge of a West Ham game – a notion that obviously pleases Lawless after this latest outing from the referee.
In other news: Ex deals Moyes another potential bitter blow at West Ham