Mike Dean was accused of "sticking up" for his mates after defending a controversial refereeing call on Soccer Saturday.
The former Premier League official took flack from Kris Boyd, who was watching Brentford's clash with Luton, after the ex-Rangers striker criticised Anthony Taylor for failing to award the Bees a penalty after the ball struck Luton's Teden Mengi on the arm in the box.
Boyd said Mengi got "lucky", but Dean, who provides insight on refereeing calls, argued: "I think when you see it [hits his] elbow and knee at the same time, so they've just played on because it's not deliberate." Unwilling to let Dean off the hook, Boyd hit back, saying: "Is Anthony Taylor your mate? You're sticking up for him."
READ MORE: New Soccer Saturday host makes brilliant Mike Dean quip after VAR debate
READ MORE: 'Pathetic' Mike Dean admits not correcting Anthony Taylor mistake 'because he's a mate'
The jibe was referencing Dean's baffling decision not to ask Taylor to review an incident involving Cristian Romero pulling Marc Cucurella's hair moments before Tottenham scored a last minute equaliser against Chelsea in August 2022.
Dean was on VAR duty that day, and later admitted he didn't want to send Taylor to the pitch-side monitor because he was "a mate" and he didn't want to give him "more grief" after such a feisty game – which ended with an infamous handshake skirmish between Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte.
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Dean's admission caused a major stir, with fans demanding to know why he felt the need to bend the rules to protect his colleague. The 55-year-old, who hung up his whistle last year, claimed his comments were "blown out of context", though many felt they served as evidence of poor refereeing standards in the Premier League.
Taylor's contentious decision not to award Brentford a penalty didn't matter in the end as Thomas Frank's side ran out 3-1 winners. Neal Maupay opened the scoring just after half time and Ben Mee doubled the hosts' lead seven minutes later.
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Jacob Brown pulled one back for Luton with a quarter-of-an-hour to go, but Shandon Baptiste restored Brentford's two-goal cushion moments later. The win moves Brentford above Chelsea into the top half of the table, while Luton are now just two points above the drop zone in 17th.
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