Mike Dean takes break following death threats
Referees chief Mike Riley has backed the request of Mike Dean to stand himself down from officiating at a Premier League game this weekend after he and his family received death threats on social media.
Dean, 52, had been involved in two controversial incidents and the threats have been reported to the police.
The referee showed a red card to West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek for catching Aleksandar Mitrovic with his elbow late on during Saturday's goalless draw at Fulham and also sent off Southampton defender Jan Bednarek in the 9-0 defeat at Manchester United.
Both of the decisions – which followed Dean reviewing each incident on the pitchside monitor after consulting VAR – have since been overturned on appeal.
The PA news agency understands both Dean and his family received abuse on social media over the weekend, including death threats, which have been reported.
Dean will be in charge of the FA Cup fifth-round tie between Leicester and Brighton on Wednesday night, but asked not to be involved in a Premier League match at the weekend.
PGMOL managing director Riley offered the organisation's full support to Dean and condemned the abuse.
"Threats and abuse of this nature are totally unacceptable and we fully support Mike's decision to report these messages his family received to the police," Riley said in a PGMOL statement.
"Nobody should be victim of abhorrent messages like this.
"Online abuse is unacceptable in any walk of life and more needs to be done to tackle the problem."
Takeover talks have engulfed Sunderland AFC for well over a year – and we take a look at the ups and downs of the proposed deal, plus all the key players involved.
December 27, 2019: Sunderlandfanslaunchthe#DonaldOut campaign, claiming trust between the club and fanbase had ‘eroded’.
January 3, 2020: Stewart Donald publicly confirmed that he would pursue the sale of the club. Donald said that there had already been ‘lots of interest’.
March 29: Almost three monthsonfromDonald’soriginalremarks,CharlieMethven discussed the takeover as he promotedthesecondseriesof Sunderland‘TilIDie.Methven said that the Covid-19 crisis had thus far had ‘no material impact’ on takeover talks.
April 9: In an interview with talkSPORT, Donald said the Covid-19 crisis had slowed the process. While he said the intention remained to sell, he also suggested that both he and Methven would like to stay.
May 11: Madrox told the Echo that due to the Covid-19 crisis, the club would not be sold by the end of May and that it was ‘impossible’ to put a timescale on the sale.
July 13: Sammy Yu confirms he remains interested in purchasing Sunderland AFC having previously seen attemptsfallflat.MarkCamp
bell’snamealsoentersthediscussion.
July 16: Stewart Donald holds a heated meeting with supporters, during which he confirms the club remains up for sale with an asking price of £37.6million.
July 17: Micky Gray confirms he has been contacted by Donald in a bid to hold discussions over a takeover. He claimsthefigureshasreceived from the club are ‘astronomical’.
July 18: Donald stands down as Sunderland AFC chairman while confirming
his focus remains on finding the right buyer for the club.
July 24: Entrepreneur William Storey claims to have made a bid to purchase the club with ‘significant funding from blue-chip backers’.
July 25: It is revealed that Sunderland owner Stewart Donald has entered a 'period of exclusivity' with a potential buyer as sale talks accelerate. Theiridentitywasnotreleased but it was confirmed to NOT be Mark Campbell or William Storey.
November11:Sunderland cancel a planned structured
dialogue with supporters due tothe'advancementandsensitivity of takeover talks'.
November 13: The Guardian reports that a group led by Juan Sartori and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus were in advanced stages of negotiation over a deal. Stewart Donald and CharlieMethvenwouldretain minority stakes, with Sartori and Louis-Dreyfus taking majority control.
December12: JimRodwell confirms that there remains a will on all sides to get a takeover done.
December24:Sunderland release a statement confirming that Donald has agreed a deal to sell a majority stake to KyrilLouis-Dreyfus,withdocumentation submitted to the EFL for their Owners and Directors Test.
December 27: One year since the #DonaldOut campaign was launched, SunderlandremainownedbyStewart Donald.
January31,2021:National reportssuggestthedealhashit a snag as the EFL ask Stewart Donald and Juan Sartori for guarantees over the funding of the club.
Blackpool manager Neil Critchley is predicting that Elliot Embleton will become a “really important” player for the Seasiders in the remainder of the season.
The Sunderland youngster made a surprise loan move on deadline day after a candid discussion with head coach Lee Johnson about his likely playing time between now and the end of the season.
Embleton is hoping for regular game time under Critchley as he bids to play his way into a central role at the Stadium of Light next season.
The 21-year-old made his debut for Blackpool at Ipswich Town on Saturday.
And while the result wasn’t what the attacking midfielder would have hoped for – with the North West side beaten 2-0 on their travels – his performance gave encouragement to Critchley that he will prove to be an astute signing.
“I thought he did his job really well first-half and he showed his ability on the ball,” said the Blackpool boss, speaking to the club’s official website.
“He did a really good job defensively for us and he had a good shot in the first-half which the 'keeper saved.
“He's not played loads of football recently for Sunderland so he tired a little bit in the second half, but I think he showed in the games coming up that he'll be really important for us.”
Ahead of Saturday’s game, Embleton said: "It’s a good chance to show what I’m about and get some more game time.
“I found out I could go out on loan on deadline day and I managed to get something sorted pretty quickly.
“As soon as I knew Blackpool would take me I was jumping at the chance.
“I had a few starts here and there but it’s been a bit stopstart. With covid as well, that’s made things difficult.
“I’m just hoping to get a run of games and show everyone what I can do.
“I’m an attacking player that likes to create chances and chip in with the odd goal or two.
“I can go left or right foot, beat people and hopefully get some assists.
“I spoke to [Neil Critchley] before I signed and he told me he had watched me play in the Under-18s and the Under23s,” Embleton added.
“He thought I had something that would add to the squad, so I was excited about signing and came down straight away.”
Embleton’s move to Blackpool reunites him with longterm academy team-mate
Ethan Robson, who made the switch last summer.
“It helps coming into a team where I know one of the lads really well in Ethan [Robson]. I’ve played with him for a number of years now, since I was 17 really up to now where I’ve joined him at Blackpool,” added Embleton.”
Speakingonthe#SAFCUnfiltered podcast, Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman outlined why Blackpool’s style of play made the switch a perfect fit in his eyes.
“I think it’s great for Elliot that another League One club wants to take him, there were cubs interested but we just felt that with Blackpool and Neil, who understands young players, is the perfect situation to replicate what we do here with hopefully more minutes,” he said.