REFEREE Mike Dean has been branded the “most arrogant fool you will ever see” by Gabriel Agbonlahor.
The official was in the headlines again on Saturday after sending off West Brom boss Slaven Bilic during his side’s 5-2 defeat at Everton.
Baggies full-back Kieran Gibbs was shown a red card moments before the break with Bilic demanding answers at the end of the half, only to receive his marching orders as well.
He explained afterwards: “The analysis guys told me it was a foul for us before their first goal.
“As a manager I should be in a situation to ask the referee what’s going on.
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“It’s not like the game was going on, it was half time – nobody was around. I didn’t swear.
“I asked him in a frustrated way but I didn’t go over the line. But he just ignored me and gave me red.
“As a manager you have that right if you are not crossing the line. I told him if you want to kill us, kill us. That’s all.”
Dean’s actions were slammed by supporters and pundits alike, but former Aston Villa captain Agbonlahor says he did not expect anything else from the ref.
He told talkSPORT: “Mike Dean is the most arrogant fool you will ever see… in not just refereeing but in life itself.
“I’ve never met anyone like him. You can ask any Premier League or ex-Premier League player that has played in a game with him as a referee. He’s the most arrogant person.
“You try and talk to him as a person on the pitch and he will tell you to get lost. He will say ‘don’t talk to me’.
“He is the most arrogant person and when I saw the West Brom manager [Slaven Bilic] try and go over and speak to him, I felt his pain.
“He’s frustrated about something we don’t know about and you want to talk to him, just speak to him like other refs do.
“Red card? What are you sending him off for? He didn’t swear at you. He didn’t say anything bad. Is that arrogance from Mike Dean?
“I think he needs looking at because [you need to] have some respect for the managers and have some respect for the players on the pitch. I’ve never met someone so arrogant in my life.”
Agbonlahor also recalled his own run-in with Dean.
He added: “There was one game and I’ve had a go at him. I’ve said, as you do. A few swear words.
“‘Mike, come on. How is that a foul? You’re having one you are, Mike’.
“He was like, ‘yeah, you’re having one, how can you talk as well? Look at you, you’re having one.’ He’s got that arrogance about him.”
Dean, 52, has officiated in the top-flight for over 20 years and even admitted he is arrogant earlier this year.
He told That Peter Crouch Podcast: “There’s a touch of arrogance about me when I walk out on the pitch, I know there is.
“But there’s also a lot of confidence in myself because I believe in my own abilities.”
