Mike Dean's admission that he was wrong to let Cristian Romero get away with pulling Marc Cucurella's hair is meaningless and it won't retrieve the two points it cost Chelsea.
Let's not sugar-coat it. In the long run, if Chelsea finish fifth, and miss out on the Champions League by a point, ultimately that decision could cost them tens of millions of pounds. Over the course of a season, there will be other incidents where they may feel aggrieved. But they won't make this one any easier to swallow.
I liked Dean as a referee and I thought he was one of our best officials on the pitch, a good character as well as a fair man applying the laws of football. But as a VAR, his job is to make the RIGHT decisions, right here and right now – not to admit he made a big mistake in a newspaper column four days later.
My sparring partner on Six-0-Six, Chris Sutton, says “good on Mike Dean for fronting up.” Yes, he fronted up – for what it was worth - but I notice he didn't actually say sorry. And it's too late, the damage is done.
With respect, I have to ask: At the time of Romero's offence, which was clear as day to everyone watching replays on TV, did Dean know that pulling an opponent's hair – not a common offence - constitutes violent conduct and a straight red card?
There was a high-profile precedent – Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off four years ago, on his Champions League debut for Juventus, after pulling Valencia defender Jeison Murrillo's hair at the Mestalla. What on earth was Dean watching on his screen at Stockley Park when play was paused, all too briefly, with Chelsea leading 2-1 in stoppage time at Stamford Bridge last Sunday?
Surely he should have advised referee Anthony Taylor to go and review the incident on pitchside monitor. Surely Taylor would have reached the same conclusion as everyone else – that Romero should be sent off. And surely Chelsea would have gone on to win the game.
On the whole, VAR has been good for the game because the incidents where it has been used to ensure justice is done have far outweighed the mistakes. But if we are going to use multi-million pounds worth of technology, it's essential that the people watching those screens use it correctly.
VAR is supposed to correct clear and obvious errors, not allow clear and obvious violent conduct to flourish.
Romero is set to miss Tottenham's home game with Wolves this weekend through injury, but it's a total nonsense that he is not suspended. It's simply not acceptable that something so obvious is waved through by VAR. If I was a Chelsea fan, I would be absolutely raging if someone sat in front of a screen cannot see any infringement of the laws when Cucurella is fouled.
You are employed as a VAR to get those decisions right. It's your job. In that bunker, there's no pressure from the crowd, no players crowding round you. All you have to do is get it right.
In my playing career, part of my job was to be a 'nuisance' in midfield and get under the skin of opponents, but even I never got my hair pulled by an opponent. I just got head-butted once or twice.
