Dean: I’ve sung ‘ref’s a w&%?!*’
PREMIER LEAGUE official Mike Dean has admitted singing “the referee’s a w ***** ” from the stands when cheering on his beloved Tranmere.
The 51-year-old has been involved in top-flight fixtures for more than two decades but is still a regular at Prenton Park when he’s not on duty.
And Dean confessed he’s no stranger to dishing out some flak to other refs.
When quizzed on whether he ever joins in renditions of the X-rated chant, Dean said: “I have a few times, yeah.
“When I’m watching it, I’m watching it as a fan.
“My daughter is worse than me.”
Former Stoke boss Mark Hughes once suggested Dean “enjoyed being the centre of attention” – and it’s something the official is happy to accept.
He added: “I do come across like a showman.
“If the ball comes towards me I will let it go through my legs. I love a step-over.”
PEP GUARDIOLA says “happiness” will be the key factor in him deciding whether to stay at Manchester City.
He has one more season to run and, asked if he will stay, he said: “I don’t know. I want to stay one more year and, after that, it depends. I’m looking for my happiness, that’s the only thing.”
BRENDAN RODGERS has told his players ‘Let’s talk about six’ as he bids to take Leicester to the next level. The Foxes boss is desperate for his men to gatecrash the top six and trigger stage two of his plan – to stay there. Leicester face City tonight knowing victory would put them within a point of the side in second place. They’ve been up there all season and Rodgers wants to give Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha the place with the elite he craves so badly. The Thai billionaire chairman visited the club’s training ground this week and Rodgers, celebrating a year in charge at the King Power, said: ‘He sampled his worst weather here on Thursday! “We had a nice chat but it was quite short. It was great to see him. He’s fantastic and a great lover of the club.” Aiyawatt is hoping to build on the legacy left by his father Vichai who was at the helm for the astonishing 2016 title win but was killed in the helicopter tragedy at the ground. He is overseeing the completion of the £100million training complex which is due to open in time for next season and is also desperate for the club to be recognised as one of the genuine big boys. Rodgers said: “The beauty of
Leicester City is that there is realism around.
“But what these players have achieved has been brilliant and that has catapulted them into an area where people are looking at them slightly differently.
“However, that’s what we want, we want to be up there challenging. Yes, we don’t have the resources of those teams that are supposed to be up there but we want to find a way, through good coaching and management, and developing players.
“I always said that my job here was to take the team from where they were, in that mid-section of the table, and take them into the top six. That was my challenge, and it’s a big challenge, but it was one that excited me.
“There is still a long way to go because we want to be able to arrive in that top six.
“Can we do that? Could we bridge that gap? And if we can do that this season it will be an amazing start for us.
“Then can we keep pushing on? Firstly, by the end of the season can we get in there and then sustain it?”
Rodgers believes they will face a City side desperate to show the world how good they are after the two-year ban from European competition dished out by UEFA.
He added: “It will galvanize them. The players will become stronger for it and show that no matter what issues surround the club, they are still very talented players.
“They will be determined to finish the season as strongly as they can and prove a point.”