Southampton lost 9-0 to Leicester City on Friday night.
Ryan Bertrand was sent off just 10 minutes into Southampton’s defeat at home to Leicester City on Friday night.
It was a bitter moment for the Saints on a truly depressing night, with the team losing to a joint Premier League record 9-0 scoreline.
While referee Andre Marriner showed Bertrand the red card, The Mail report it was Mike Dean who gave him advice via VAR over the Southampton defender’s sliding challenge in the build up to Leicester’s opener.
BBC pundit Garth Crooks has laid into Dean, telling BBC Sport he strongly disagreed, and that he instigated Southampton’s miserable night.
“I thought at the time the sending-off Ryan Bertrand was a harsh decision but when I discovered Mike ‘clever clogs’ Dean was behind VAR in the Southampton versus Leicester fixture I wasn’t surprised.
“There wasn’t one pundit in the BBC Match of the Day studio or anyone on the pitch at St Mary’s who would have sent Bertrand off for the challenge on Perez. And why? Because they recognised and understood the conditions.
“Quite apart from destroying what would have been a perfectly good contest for the viewing public, he’s instigated huge embarrassment to the club, its players and put a manager’s career on skid row – all on a whim.”
Crooks went onto criticise Dean further, suggesting he had never played football himself.
While regardless of ‘Dean’s decision’, Southampton were 1-0 down, Bertrand’s red card prompted a collapse.
Leicester were ruthless, conceding two more goals in the nine minutes which followed.
None of this excuses the way Southampton were unable to adjust, and the apparent lack of commitment and quality from Ralph Hassnhuttl’s side.
But it is probably fair to assume that the Saints would not have conceded nine if they had not seen Bertrand sent off.
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