Most people appear to have made up their minds about Mike Dean.As a referee, he was an arrogant showman who thought himself bigger than the matches he refereed. He wanted to make the game all about him.This characterisation is understandable and unfair in equal measure, but it is hard to put forward a convincing case that Dean does not covet being the centre of attention when he pursues cheap laughs from footballers without a moment’s thought for the consequences.In case you missed it, Dean claimed in an interview on a podcast fronted by Jamie Vardy that ‘we’ used to go as long as possible in at the start of a match without giving a free kick and that he would sometimes not leave the centre circle for minutes on end for a laugh. It’s an aside, but the use of ‘we’ grated, even if he was using the royal version as he dragged all the rest of us down with him.It is impossible to prove a negative, so I cannot be certain that Dean did not do these things at some point during his 553 Premier League matches, but having known him for more than a decade and worked with him around 30 times, I am supremely confident that neither story is true, and that he has embellished both out of all recognition.All refs have games from time to time that start slowly. Going 15 minutes without a free kick from the start of a match is unusual; 20 minutes is rare, but it happens.Dean was the kind of ref who might notice and comment to his team about it. He might once have joked in the moment about seeing how long he could extend this anomaly, but there is no chance that he would have set out on this path before kick-off. Maybe he let a ‘soft’ free kick or two pass without whistling, but that would have been the extent of it. Wrong, yes, but let’s not get carried away.Mike Dean refereed over 500 matches before retiring in 2022 (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)I reckon the centre circle anecdote would have had a similar genesis, as again, all referees occasionally have matches that get stuck in the middle third, meaning we rarely need to stray further afield. It is perfectly plausible that Dean’s irreverence once led him to tell his assistants that the centre circle had become such familiar territory that he would make it his home, and he may well have dallied there momentarily longer than he should. That’s all, folks.My anger on hearing his interview has since dissipated into sorrow, as I knew the man and enjoyed his company. Our first proper encounter was in 2013, when I was an aspiring Football League referee. Surprisingly, he came across as insecure and shy — nothing like the persona one would expect given his demonstrative on-field style.The occasion was an FA Cup tie at Southampton. As we gathered a few hours beforehand, he sank low in an armchair in the hotel lobby, sat quietly, and only joined the conversation when asked a direct question, to which there was always a direct answer. His physicality and personality were both much smaller than I had expected.In public situations — ref meetings, pitches and podcast studios — there was a visual and verbal swagger that was there for all to see and hear. Whether or not this was a coping mechanism is for others with more psychological expertise than me to judge, but anyone watching or listening to him in action would be sure he revelled in the attention.Fundamentally, Dean is a bright man with a quick wit who would be an entertaining chat-show guest or after-dinner speaker if he told the truth. He does not need to make up stories.As a referee, he had an innate feel for what was expected in the moment, which worked well for him in the days before video reviews placed more emphasis on precision and consistency.But for all his common sense on the field, he has shown precious little of it since retiring. Casual comments that harm former colleagues and employers do not disappear when the following day’s newspapers are thrown in the bin, yet hang around forever to cause untold damage to all referees’ reputations.The clips in which he smirks about not leaving the centre circle or tries to keep a straight face while claiming that he decided to go as long as possible at the start of a match without blowing his whistle will be recycled for years.There is every chance now that Dean will be remembered more for what he told former Leicester City striker Vardy in less than a minute to get a cheap laugh, than for a career spanning more than two decades during which he broke records, represented English football overseas with distinction, and refereed every major final.I joined the Premier League list in 2015 and was bewildered by the culture that was permitted and therefore promoted. Plenty were indulged rather than managed, while those of us lower down the food chain were openly told that we had ‘non-speaking parts’ and should count ourselves lucky if we were given a Premier League game.The refs were professional in some ways, shamelessly amateur in others. Some trained religiously, others occasionally. Mostly, they reffed on their wits and were good enough to get by on their experience, especially as the game was not as relentlessly fast and there was less scrutiny than today.Thankfully, that culture has gone. Issues remain that a rebrand of PGMO into Pro Ref will not solve, but the direction of travel is better.Coincidentally, Dean’s career on the pitch was over by the time the current chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb, took over. Webb has been known to overindulge Premier League clubs by being at their beck and call, but he does not indulge his refs. Everyone’s voice is valued, standards have risen on and off the field, and all matches are monitored and recorded in such a way that Dean would not have dared to try to play the class clown.