Mike Dean could be the man to fix VAR after his final whistle – if we let him

Leicester City’s 1-0 victory against Southampton at Filbert Street on Saturday 9 September 2000 was a thoroughly unremarkable game. The home side dominated for long periods before the original Harry Maguire prototype, Gerry Taggart, headed them into a deserved lead from a Steve Guppy corner after 66 minutes. Leicester held out for the win, surviving a late penalty appeal from Southampton when James Beattie went down under a challenge from Tim Flowers.

While the match may not have lived long in the memory of anyone who saw or played in it, it was a very special occasion for at least one participant. Recently promoted to the Select Group of Premier League referees, a 32-year-old match official from Wirral took charge of the game. It was his first in the top flight and, despite the presence on the pitch of Robbie Savage, a player who was as argumentative as he was combative, it could scarcely have been more straightforward for the novice whistleblower.

There were no bookings, no sendings-off and few moments of controversy. Travelling home afterwards to write up his match report, Mike Dean could have been forgiven for thinking he had this refereeing lark sussed.

Dean has officiated 552 further Premier League matches in the intervening 22 years and it would be fair to say that not all of them have gone as smoothly for a man who has since become the most recognisable and controversial football referee in the country. Last week it was reported he is to hang up his whistle at the end of the season and he is understood to be in talks with his employers, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, with a view to taking a senior role among the much-maligned curtain-twitchers in the Stockley Park video room.

While the news of his