Neil Warnock has joked that Mike Dean is retiring "ten years too late," amid reports that the referee may step away from the game at the end of the current season.
Dean has been officiating in the top flight since 2000, making him the longest-serving ref in the division, but has been backed to move into a full-time VAR role. He has taken charge of 19 league games this season, and is one of only a handful of Premier League officials over the age of 50.
The Wirral-born referee, who turns 54 in June, has handed out more red cards in the Premier League than any of his peers. And his interactions with Warnock have certainly left their mark on the veteran manager.
“[It’s] ten years too late!" Warnock told talkSPORT after hearing reports that Dean may be ready to step away. "That’s the problem, it’s not going to help me, is it?
“I haven’t got time to go through the ones he’s given me over the years, but don’t forget I’m always with a little club so Mike, like some of the other referees, tends to go with the bigger clubs," the 73-year-old added.
“Listen, he’s as good as anything. He has great games and I look at him and think that he doesn’t have to do what he does.
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“He almost does things in a game to put himself out there when he doesn’t have to," continued Warnock, who hasn't been in the dugout since his spell in charge of Middlesbrough ended in November. The well-travelled manager has taken charge of teams in the top two divisions for the bulk of the last 20 years, bringing him into contact with Dean.
“’A good referee was never seen’ my dad used to say to me, and he could referee like that, but he always has to do that extra bit for some reason to get himself in the limelight.
“Overall he’s a very good referee. He knows everything about it, but he just gets carried away.”
Dean, who was a FIFA-listed referee for a decade from 2003, has been the man in the middle for World Cup and European Championships qualifiers. More frequently, though, he has been found in the Premier League and other English club competitions.
This season, his 19 Premier League games have seen him award three penalties. The first came on the opening weekend of the season in Aston Villa's defeat at Watford, and the most recent went the way of Liverpool in their victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
He has also shown two red cards this season: Emmanuel Dennis was sent off for two yellow cards as Watford lost to Norwich City, while Dean also showed Brentford's Josh Dasilva a straight red in the Bees' defeat to Newcastle United.
