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Former Premier League referee Mike Dean says he did not intend to “undermine the integrity of refereeing” after claiming that he used to play mini-games to amuse himself during matches.
Dean had told Jamie Vardy’s podcast that he would try to go as long as possible without blowing his whistle, or stay standing in the centre circle.
“We used to say, ‘we’ll kick off now. Right, see how long
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean says he used to set himself mini-challenges during matches “as a laugh”.
Appearing on Jamie Vardy’s podcast, Dean said he would see how long he could go without blowing his whistle, or stay inside the centre circle.
“We used to say ‘we’ll kick off now. Right, see how long we can go without blowing a whistle’,” Dean said.
“I’ve done that a few times
The BBC’s 72+ EFL podcast team have taken a look at the Championship relegation picture, with some huge games in store at the end of the international break.
Easter Monday (6 April) sees Blackburn and West Brom face-off, level on points just above the drop zone, just hours after second-bottom Oxford United head to Portsmouth.
Third-bottom Leicester will also head to Portsmouth and Blackburn during the run-in.
Former Watford and
Derby County cannot relax and treat the remaining 10 Championship games as a free hit, according to boss John Eustace.
Having avoided relegation on the final day of last season, the Rams go into Tuesday’s game at Millwall (19:45 GMT) in seventh place, three points short of the play-offs.
Expectations have dramatically shifted from 2025 as the Rams are firmly in the play-off race and outside of matches against Millwall,
Wednesday had started brightly with Svante Ingelsson looking lively down the left, but an excellent first-time pass from the recalled Rhian Brewster put Brereton-Diaz through for Derby’s opener as the Chile striker finished well from the edge of the box.
The same two combined three minutes later as a stretching unmarked Brereton-Diaz put a low cross over the bar from eight yards.
But three minutes later the Owls were level
Ramsay joined West Brom following a spell in Major League Soccer with Minnesota United, who he led to back-to-back Conference play-off semi-finals.
Prior to his move to the United States, the Shrewsbury-born Welshman was a first-team coach at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag and took on an assistant coach role with the Wales men’s team.
However, his time at The Hawthorns began with 3-2 loss to Middlesbrough before a
West Bromwich Albion head coach Eric Ramsay told BBC Radio WM:
“Absolutely it’s a game that we should have won and out of the three of the four games that we’ve drawn in the league recently, that’s the one that you’re looking at and feeling like we created good chances in open play.
“We had a lot of territory at the top of the opposition’s box and where we needed
Mason’s appointment marked a shift in direction by Albion, who put their faith in a young head coach with fresh ideas, schooled in the cut and thrust of working at the top level working under the likes of Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Ange Postecoglou.
Sporting director Andrew Nestor described Mason as “the leader the club needed” and after a summer rebuild that reduced the average age of the squad
Sunday’s Championship game between Sheffield United and Oxford United is one of numerous EFL matches postponed because of frozen pitches.
Seven fixtures have been called off in League Two and two more have fallen to the freezing weather in League One.
In a statement, the Blades said a referee looked at the Bramall Lane pitch before the scheduled 12:00 GMT kick-off and found parts of the playing surface were frozen.
Blackburn boss Valerien Ismael hopes to negotiate the “carnage” of the festive programme before adding to his squad in the January transfer window.
Rovers have four games in 10 days with an already threadbare squad, starting at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.
Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire: “It’s really tough this time of year. The only one I like is the Boxing Day game, it’s a really nice tradition, always special.