Sir Alex Ferguson is ‘dean’ among managers when it comes to referee pressure. The Scotsman was often criticizing the men in black after the games, or played his mind games before an important match, or simply instructed some of his players to be in front of referee’s nose all the time. But for Mike Dean, Ferguson was tolerable. The famous Premier League referee will retire at the end of his 22nd season in the game and he has a lots of memories.Mike Dean Favorite game was Manchester City v QPR. Mike Dean Favorite players were Bergkamp Henry etc Mike Dean was fearful of Arsene Wenger Mike Dean is retiring from football next monthMike Dean was chatting to @bbc5live— THE RED (🔴⚪️) 🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@TheArsenalNote) April 3, 2022 When it comes to managers, Dean dealt with many of them, but one name stands out, and it’s a surprise – Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman was at the helm of Arsenal for 20 years and, according to Dean, would always make life difficult for referees. Dean had an episode with the Frenchmen, when Wenger kicked a water bottle in anger following Robin van Persie’s goal being chalked off for offside in the Manchester United derby in 2009. When Dean saw that, he showed him the red card and sent him to the stands.Sir Alex confesses: Henry’s arrival at Arsenal turned my rivalry with Wenger toxicSo when the question was asked who is the toughest manager he had to deal with, there was no dilemma for the famous referee.“It has to be Arsene when he was at Arsenal. Wenger was tough on the touchline because he wanted the best for Arsenal. I always found it tough, not refereeing Arsenal in general but refereeing Arsenal when he was the manager. It was just his presence – he wanted the best for Arsenal all the time and if he could get any way of getting one over you he would do. Since he has finished football I have seen him and he has been great. Cross the white line and everyone is different, like referees. We are normal people” he told BBC Sport.Weah’s effect: Wenger’s lie that fooled Klinsmann to join MonacoOn the other side is Sir Alex Ferguson, who made many referees nervous. But for Dean, Ferguson was quite OK.“He used to get a lot of stick saying he’d come in and bang the door down. He would come in now and then to express his views if something had gone really badly, but he wasn’t as bad as people made him out to be” said Dean.’My biggest regrets are Ronaldo and Kante’His colleague Mark Clattenburg also had episodes with Ferguson, and the famous one was when Dean was the fourth referee and it was the United – City derby which ended 6-1 for the Citizens.“Sir Alex Ferguson would have used some of his players to get into the referee’s face and put pressure on him in front of 76,000 people. I never found that an issue, I had a good relationship with him. But, he got angry with me one weekend when I refereed the Manchester derby. I remember they were getting beat 3-1 and I sent off Jonny Evans. Man City absolutely dominated them, but I remember he always wanted added on time and for once Alex Ferguson didn’t want much added on time which was bizarre because normally Sir Alex wanted the time. I remember thinking in my head ‘it’s payback time’ so I put on five minutes! Poor Mike Dean, the fourth official, he was shaking and put five minutes up. The score ended up 6-1 and he didn’t speak to us for a little while” said Clattenburg recently.’Hairdryer’: The most famous treatment sir Alex gave to his playersAnd while Dean maybe surprised a bit with his selection of the toughest manager, when it comes to players, he speaks like everyone else: Keane and Vieira were the worst.“You had massive, big-personality players, the Roy Keanes, people like that, Patrick Vieira – they were all around then. For me to come from the Football League to the Premier League and referee those players… it was just a massive step. I was a bit nervous and a bit scared of making a decision” said Dean.
