Planet Swans ArchivesI suspect that the answer is that they didn’t actually think about it or actually what is probably more likely is that they probably didn’t have any idea of what that history was when they made the decision to appoint him.
I have been told that the Premier League see Mike as one of their senior referees and they were restricted by choice this time around as some of the referees are on Champions League duty the following week but surely there were other options other than this particular one?
It was the last derby back at Ninian Park when Mr Dean was hit by a coin from the bob bank and required medical attention from the Swansea medical team. He was patched up and continued to referee the game only to not make himself popular with the Swans fans when he awarded Cardiff a late penalty (a penalty that never was) to ensure that the game ended in a draw after an entertaining game.
In 187 games since Mike Dean has never refereed a home Cardiff fixture which in itself seems a little strange given their lofty position in the Championship for most of that period – a statistic that maybe suggests that they were keeping him away from the ground?
I have to say that generally I don’t worry about the appointment of a referee but this one just doesn’t make sense on any level. I get the Premier League stance of his experience as a referee but one look at his previous with this fixture would say it is not a good choice and that other choices would have been better for this particular game.
That said there is bugger all we can do about it at this point in time so we get on with it and do what we do best and let’s hope that all the talk on Monday is of a top quality Swans performance rather than the performance of a referee making the wrong decision?
