Mike Dean will be the man in the middle when Newcastle face Tottenham on Sunday and such is the popularity of the referee, the announcement has not gone down well with supporters.
The club tweeted to confirm the Premier League’s decision to give Dean Sunday’s game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
If some of these reactions from social media are anything to by then it’s fair to say that sections of the Newcastle support are not happy with the news.
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial Omg https://t.co/CAj8PzTqft (@7Kakii)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial We was always going to get battered regardless who the ref was (@LiamNUFC1998)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial The Mike Dean show (@AddisonDj)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial So we play spurs with a ref who supports spurs nice one (@ToonBarmy59)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial Guaranteed penalty for Kane. Embarrassing (@MiggySzn)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial Is he allowed to ref this game, isn’t he a spurs fan… no var needed (@Bradders4711)
Some tried to see the funny side…
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial Finally some excitement this season. Gwan Mikey boy (@CBennett_12)
On the other hand, you can sense the sarcasm here from Ash.
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague @SpursOfficial Ahh mint. (@AshMikely)
Read Newcastle verdict
Oh, Mike Dean.
Forever a character among Premier League officials, he will always be a controversial pick with supporters.
On his day, he can be one of the top referees in the country, but too often does it become, as one supporter tweeted, ‘the Mike Dean Show’.
With the TV cameras out on Sunday, fans will be hoping that any major decisions fall their way as they count their lucky stars ahead of the trip to London.
Dean was in charge of Arsenal’s win over Burnley most recently, where manager Sean Dyche berated the amount of play-acting in the division. After the controversial comments, Dean will no doubt be hot on that this time around.
It’s been a tough week for Newcastle supporters and any controversial VAR decision will only rub salt into the wounds.
