Southampton request to not have either Mike Dean or Lee Mason officiate them - report
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Updated 03/02/2021 at 14:03 GMT
Southampton certainly feel frustrated with the way their last two matches have gone. They have lost one close game, 1-0 against Aston Villa, and one absolute hammering, 9-0 against Manchester United, but they feel strongly about the standard of refereeing in the matches to make a request to the Premier League.
Southampton's Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhuttl (R) gestures to English referee Mike Dean (2nd L) on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on
Image credit: Getty Images
Southampton have reportedly made a request to the Premier League that neither Mike Dean or Lee Mason officiate their matches in the future.
The Saints have lost their last two matches, 1-0 against Aston Villa at home and a record-equalling 9-0 away defeat at Manchester United, and in both games there were controversial refereeing moments.
In the game against Villa, Southampton felt they were denied a clear penalty when the ball hit Matty Cash’s arm in the box and then later felt aggrieved when a Danny Ings equaliser was ruled out for a marginal offside.
Mason was the referee for that game with Dean the fourth official. The roles were reversed for the United match.
In that game Southampton felt their second red card, shown to Jan Bednarek, was wrong.
Speaking about the dismissal after the game Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said “Jan Bednarek does not kill him but I do not want to speak about the referee.
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Hasenhuttl: It’s a little bit different to the first 9-0…
“Last week he was our VAR and made his mark in the game.”
OUR VIEW
This is hardly going to go down well with the Premier League and Football Association you would imagine, and you would expect it to be dismissed out of hand.
It does perhaps speak to a wider point about the general standard of refereeing, which some fear has been declining in England, as well as the implementation of VAR.
The former of course is limited depending on the amount of referees available but there is no doubt that something has to be done about how VAR is being used, with figures within the game repeatedly expressing frustration at how it is being utilised.
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