Pulis unhappy with referee Dean

Last updated : 22 March 2010 By BBC Sport

Stoke manager Tony Pulis severely criticised the performance of referee Mike Dean after Dean Whitehead was red carded in the 2-1 defeat by Tottenham.Pulis revealed the Potters had compiled a dossier on the official after he had sent off two Stoke players earlier this season and had wanted him replaced.

Whitehead was dismissed for two bookable offences but Pulis said: "I thought it was a very poor decision."

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said he thought the red card was "a bit harsh".

"I thought a last warning might have been fair enough," added Redknapp.

Whitehead was handed a yellow card in the first half for a foul on Luka Modric and received his marching orders for a clumsy challenge on the same player four minutes into the second half.

Pulis claimed Dean had sent off defender Andy Wilkinson for a "very innocuous challenge" against Portsmouth last month and captain Abdoulaye Faye had also seen red when the referee was officiating this season.

The club had been so incensed at his performances, they had gathered together statistics and presented them to the Mike Riley, who is general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO).

Pulis told BBC Sport: "We were so so surprised to see him back on for one of our games with the record he has got against us.

"We sent them (PGMO) a load of stats and I spoke to Mike Riley on Wednesday to voice my concerns.

"So we are very surprised and disappointed we have got him back so quickly.

"If you're sending players off for that kind of challenge (Whitehead's), there won't be many players left on the pitch.

"This is a game of challenge. It's not netball, it's a game of challenge."

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport