Ex-Premier League referee Keith Hackett has given his verdict on whether David Coote should have been suspended after he slammed Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp.
On Monday, a controversial video of Coote leaked online. During this clip, the Premier League official was asked what he thought about a particular Liverpool performance. To which, he replied: “Liverpool were sh*t”.
Coote subsequently tore into former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, explaining why he is an “absolute c**t”. He added: “C**t, absolute c**t. Aside from having a right pop at me when I was reffing against Burnley in lockdown, he accused me of lying and then just had a right f***ing pop at me.
“I’ve got no interest in speaking to somebody as f***ing arrogant. I do my best not to speak to him…my god, German c***t. F*** me.”
READ: ‘Liar’ David Coote ‘shouldn’t be suspended’ with Liverpool, Klopp video ‘hardly a sackable offence’
Coote has had his fair share of run-ins with Liverpool in recent years. He was in charge of their 2-0 win against Aston Villa at the weekend and controversially decided against punishing Leon Bailey for an apparent foul on Mo Salah in the lead-up to Darwin Nunez’s goal.
He was also on VAR duty for the Merseyside derby in October 2020. During this game, he allowed goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to remain on the pitch after his tackle on Virgil van Dijk saw the centre-back pick up an ACL injury.
After this video emerged, the PGMOL suspended Coote, who initially denied any wrongdoing as he said the ‘viral video in which he appears is not genuine’.
However, Coote later ‘accepted the viral video in which in which he appears is genuine’, but ‘it is believed he does not recall the content of the discussion, recorded several years ago.’
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Hackett has offered his thoughts on the Coote situation in an interview with Football Insider.
After watching the video, Hackett’s blunt stance is that the PGMOL had “little choice” but to suspend Coote.
“The PGMOL having seen this video had little choice other than to suspend and investigate this matter,” Hackett said in an interview with Football Insider.
“The Professional Referees are members of UNITE, and no doubt the referee will be supported by them at this difficult time for him.
“Having had to suspend two referees when I was boss of the PGMOL, I can say that the investigative process was extremely thorough, and the outcome was to re-instate both the referees.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy thinks Coote is “done” as there is “no way back from this”.
“As a player, I would feel more offended and angry, questioning whether his intentions are being compromised due to his apparent disdain for the manager.
“Are we being deprived of fair officiating because of it? That’s a heavy burden to bear. I believe many players would share my fury as they ruminated over such thoughts.”
Murphy added: “He won’t referee again. It’s over for him. There’s no way back from this. He’s done.”
