The PGMOL and the FA couldn’t have picked a worse club for David Coote to have allegedly insulted than Liverpool.
While both investigate you have to write alleged, as the official bizarrely admits it’s him speaking in the video (no AI) but can’t recall the conversation.
The Kop have a fanbase who already think they are unique in that the world Is against them. A section of their supporters won’t even admit to being English!
Yet I can equally only imagine how some Gooners would react to footage of a referee openly admitting to disliking a football club, their manager and the people from that City.
Common sense says the 42-year-old will never work in the Prem again. Even if his bosses wanted it to, they would not be brave enough to cope with any backlash. For the man himself his position is untenable. There isn’t a realistic way he could take charge of another match in the topflight. If he were ever to make a decision that went against the Reds or benefited a title rival, he would now be questioned. There is now a benefit of doubt that exists regarding his integrity.
Thank goodness for him that he oversaw Saturday’s game at Anfield without incident.
While some are now dissecting every call he’s ever made that hurt Liverpool, equally examples have been offered that demonstrated he’s also awarded in their favour.
Not enough evidence exists for sport to be worried about a conspiracy.
The international break means a lack of stories so this leaked material in a dream for the press. A combination of easy headlines and a fear of being in the minority will have many in the media scared to write this, but Mr. Coote, not being fond of LFC or Mr. Klopp doesn’t prove he has an agenda. The two don’t go hand in hand but obviously that thought process wasn’t as juicy.
Mr. Coote’s mistake was ever putting himself in a position where his views could be filmed and trusting others not to share the recording.
Because they made zero mistakes, his peers go home and say the same. They tell their families about people they encountered who they don’t get along with.
They lay in bed and confide with their loved one which managers whose personalities grate on them.
They share with friends what they think of certain players they interact with. While of course clubs will exist who were/are more fondly thought of.
Think of your job. Whatever industry you work in, have you honestly never gone home and vented about who you work with, the environment, your managers, or the company in general.
That’s all Mr. Coote’s did. He had a rant that we all have. The only difference was that his words were not kept confidential instead made public on social media.
I’m more concerned that he was derogatory towards a German based on where he’s from rather than believing he’s corrupt.
With great power comes great responsibility. Like anyone in the public eye he has to be careful what he says, where he says it and to who. His clumsiness means he can’t work in the English topflight again but I’m not sure he deserves to lose his job completely.
Thank goodness this wasn’t Arsenal he was talking about. We wouldn’t hear the end of it.
Dan
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Of course it doesn’t prove anything. I think people are forgetting he officiated as the Reds beat Aston Villa at Anfield at the weekend, so where’s any bias there?
The article also exposes the falsity of “Arsenal exceptionalism” when it comes to supposed bias (rather than poor refereeing and inconsistent decision making): “The Kop have a fanbase who already think they are unique in that the world Is against them.” So, it isn’t just us.
That’s exactly the point isn’t it. I’d bet so do the supporters of every other club at one time or another. Fans down the ages have always thought that their team is the subject of specific bias when decisions go against them. The problem is that they think such decisions only go against them, and against nobody else. It’s nonsense.
Bertie,
Unfortunately, and I guess were all guilty of it at one time or another, its called selective memory, or selective vision. We see what we want to see, or hear what we want to hear.
I understand wanting to stand up for your team, but to try and do it when your team is clearly in the wrong, just embarrasses the club really and it’s supporters.
What your saying is nonsense in this instance Bertie.
Fans across the country are sick and tired of officials refereeing games differently week after week and not by the rule book.
I don’t care if it’s The Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea or any other PL club and that’s the point that you and Dan seem to be missing!!
At last we are seeing the media and pundits like Rio Ferdinand delving deeper into this and not just on the game they happen to be analysing.
Dan, you can go on about how this doesn’t prove anything and we all say things in private that aren’t intended for public scrutiny – but that’s not the point is it?
You say it’s impossible for him to carry on refereeing in the PL… if he’s done nothing wrong, apart from airing his views about a club and it’s ex manager, why not?
As Bertie pointed out, he refereed the Liverpool game at the weekend, so why are you saying he can’t referee again?
It’s because you know that he, like Mr Oliver, Mr Dean and Mr Kavanagh (to quote just three) are incapable of refereeing a match without bias or abiding by the rule book and that means there are individuals corrupting the system.
Furthermore Dan, name me one institution that has policed itself and not been found to be corrupt?
Why are they not held accountable for their actions and asked to explain their decisions, just as managers and players are?
Why are they against the public hearing what they say, as in rugby circles, when discussing decisions?
Why were retiring referees told to sign a non disclosure form before they got their golden handshakes?
What are they so secretive about Dan, please tell me?
Let’s look at it from a football fans viewpoint, not as a supporter of any individual club, because I think your hiding behind that facade, as more and more revelations point to individual officials are corrupting out game and your stance is becoming untenable!!
By the way, I noticed your normal dig about Liverpool supporters and I shake my head in disappointment.
Ken1945,
You notice that Ferdinand wasn’t delving in deeper as you put it, when he was a player.
He played for one of the most aggressive managers out there. whom I’ve read would intimidate referee’s on a regular basis. And the powers that be, just let him get away with it.
Spot on BTW I wanted to get the uae stuff out there (Liverpool too shocker) but this was spot on in general.
What annoys me most is the articles I quoted from then were not surpressed then everyone was talking about it and then everyone forgot after a week. Then km crazy.
In this instance it is about Liverpool and it’s true many don’t call themselves English or sing the national anthem
A sorry turn of events.
Does anyone know if Coote has always had an issue with Liverpool and Klopp or was his rant as a result of whatever Klopp said to him? It didn’t/doesn’t show Klopp in a great light either from what I’ve seen of the on field altercation.
A couple of things spring to mind.
1. Coote was half sharp to trust anybody filming him and to hope that it wouldn’t come into the public domain. If it was a friend, that person hasn’t acted with any loyalty at all.
2. I haven’t seen the uncensored video but was it bad enough to determine that Coote couldn’t be trusted to officiate at a Liverpool game honestly? Referees are stood down from certain fixtures and I don’t see why can’t return in some capacity after apologising, carrying out some level of suspension and being fined if there is no suggestion that he would be biased
He may decide to call it a day anyway if the prospect of being given the bird every time he sets foot on the pitch.
Sue,
I think I’m right in saying that he was the fourth official in the game, apologies if I’m wrong.
But while I agree it wasn’t Coote’s finest hour, it can’t be easy keeping your temper when you’ve got this plank in your ear the whole time.
Half the time, I don’t know what managers expect the fourth official to do, because lets face it they only seem to be there to show the numbers in substitutions, and time added on at the end of each half.
I didn’t realize the fourth officials other job, was to be the sounding board for these frustrated managers.
And just another thing I’d like to say, we and I include myself in this blame the referee’s when they make mistakes, but to be fair to them, they must wonder if they are coming or going sometimes. Because lets face it, after the teams laughably (in my opinion) have shaken hands, the players then spend half of the game feigning fouls, trying to get fellow players booked or worse sent off, waste time at every opportunity.
Then the fans, players and the managers have the gall to get upset when the referee’s get it wrong.
Here’s a suggestion for the players and managers, maybe if you were more honest in games, it would make the referee’s job that little bit easier to referee. (Just a suggestion).
DEREK, I agree with your last paragraph 100% and the managers are certainly able to be called out after games.
Likewise, the media and pundits can question players after games.
All clubs and its players are guilty of this and it sickens me when I see players rolling about as if shot by a gun, only to be running around like a blue assed fly minutes later!!
So why aren’t the referees also put forward after games to explain their decisions? If they have a perfectly sensible and rule book explanation, why is the PGMOL against it, but act like cats on a hot tin roof if they are criticised in any way?
Totally agree Ken1945.
I can’t believe the majority of fans pay their hard earned money to go and watch these players playacting all the time.
If I was their parent, I’d be embarrassed to show my face at times, I really would.
Well Derek
My phone just pinged and it appears that Coote was filmed sniffing some white powder during the Euros – according to Sky Sports
Hmmm
Sue,
He might use the excuse that he was doing a Robbie Fowler of years ago and sniffing the white line on the pitch.
It will be really difficult for you to convince me that some referees dont have a bias which shows in their decisions.
This season, it is clear that some referees have decided to do Arsenal no Favours and give them no benefit of doubt. While that doesn’t stop us from winning our games if we play well enough, it does make it tougher, and in instances where the margins are really narrow, it can make it impossible to ultimately win.
In fact in a given game, all it takes is a few biased calls at the beginning of the game to shake the psyche of a team and swing the balance in favour of another.
The PGMOL simply needs to sort these things out, they are taking the joy out of the EPL.
Apart from games where decisions went in our favour ?
Best of the bunch (three articles) on this subject. Well put Dan.
I think the worst aspect of Coote’s tirade was the racist verbal attack on Klopp.
…and now they have him snorting coke at the Euros🤣🤣🤣
Coote doesn’t have much wiggle room does he?
SueP,
They’ll probable make him referee a couple of championship matches to rehabilitate him🤣
I’m a Liverpool fan, no idea why this drivel appeared in my timeline, however, having read it with mouth gaping felt compelled to comment on the sheer hypocrisy and audacity of a Gooner somehow making it about Arsenal.
Add to that the veiled ‘victim’ dig and you have somebody, yet another, who cannot see past his own clear hatred and distain for anything Liverpool.
It seems referees conspiracy’s are for Arsenal only, all last and this season Social Media has been littered with garbage, moaning, whining and whinging about anything and everything that looks or goes even slightly against the God given right Arsenal has.
The website is Just Arsenal, suggest you stick to just that in future.
Literally the main comeback to there was no conspiracy against Arsenal in the last 2 years was that Coote didn’t give handball against Odegaard for a pen against Liverpool but this change nothing right. The knots people will tie themselves in to be right its all going to come crashing down eventually just like it did in Serie A.
Seems Liverpool had Coote against them and we had Oliver against us.
I know this is off topic, but has anyone else read that Ben White has just had a minor operation on his knee, and could be out for the next two months!.
Well that’s awful news if true.
Yes Derek
Grandad mentioned it in the Kiwior article and the papers suggest a return in 2025 😱
The mirror “The officials at the heart of Liverpool’s VAR fiasco Darren England and Dan Cook worked at a game in the United Arab Emirates less than 48 hours before the controversial encounter with Tottenham.
England, who was on VAR duty for the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and assistant Cook, were at the centre of the offside debacle which left Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool fans fuming. Luis Diaz thought he had given the Reds the lead, only for the offside flag to go up. VAR had a brief look at the incident and did not overrule the initial decision, even though replays showed the Colombian was onside.”
The telegraph “Howard Webb has admitted Michael Oliver was wrong not to send off Mateo Kovacic during Manchester City’s Premier League defeat at Arsenal.
Webb, the head of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, also broke his silence on the Liverpool offside goal fiasco at Tottenham but did not offer an apology.
According to Webb, Oliver should have shown City midfielder Kovacic a second yellow card for a scything down Declan Rice on Sunday. Webb said the official would not have been incorrect to issue a straight red to the same player for an earlier tackle on Martin Odegaard.
Webb analysed the controversy during Tuesday night’s episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up amid mounting calls for him to stop Premier League referees moonlighting in the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
Dissecting Kovacic’s tackle on Odegaard, Webb said the video assistant referee would not have intervened if Oliver had brandished red.
“This is clearly a poor tackle and I’m pretty confident if a red card had been given by Michael Oliver on the day, it would’ve been a very straightforward ‘check complete’,” said Webb.
He added: “When he reflects on it, he’ll realise that the second one should have been a yellow card as well, which would have seen Kovacic sent off for two yellow cards, having been given the benefit of this particular decision here, which was borderline, the first one.”
Oliver’s refusal to show Kovacic a second yellow card came days after he took charge of a match between Sharjah and Al-Ain in the UAE, a move that had already raised concerns given the country’s links with City.
Any suggestion of conscious bias in Oliver’s performance on Sunday would be entirely baseless but the fact it could give rise even to the perception of a potential conflict of interest has sparked calls from fans for referees’ chief Webb to intervene.
Officials are already prevented from any involvement in the matches of clubs they support, or those teams’ arch rivals, and fan groups want a similar principle to apply when it comes to paid-for work outside their day jobs.
A spokesperson for the Arsenal Supporters Trust said: “Football relies on supporters having confidence in the integrity of the game’s decision making. So, when there is an inevitable perception issue, as in this case, it is important that it is addressed.”
Oliver’s presence in the UAE at the end of last month was made public when it emerged the Vars behind the Liverpool offside-goal fiasco, Darren England and Dan Cook, had also been part of the team that travelled there.
England and Cook’s involvement in Liverpool’s game at Tottenham Hotspur, and Oliver’s as fourth official, came just a day after they landed back in the UK following an eight-hour flight, raising questions about their workloads.
Luis Diaz’s wrongly disallowed goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium sparked English football’s worst Var crisis and PGMOL announced as a result that there would be a “review” of the policy of allowing officials to oversee games in foreign countries.”
Oliver has a 7 red card for Arsenal and zero for City record got paid to ref with a free all inclusive 5* holiday (outside the 2 hour work) to ref for the Man City owners.
He sent off Martinelli for two yellows without a stoppage. Did not send Kovacic off for a red followed by a yellow challenge against us. Then sent off Trossard for kicking the ball away 0.8 seconds after the whistle having ignored multiple delays of the restart by City prior to that.
It’s mad this is even a discussion at this point. He should not be a ref in any game that impacts City.
Forgot to add the goal scored after insane added time came after that insane added time, Turns out (i haven’t checked since) but the ball was at that point of the season in play for the most of any game all season,
so much for dark arts and justified added time right?
Nothing to do with our failure to defend ?
The conspiracy theorists that have convinced themselves that their is some agenda against Arsenal with Referees are running with this.
Why do people always want to find ways to be victims of any sort?
Referees are humans that also have private personal opinion like we all do. What I want to see is the evidence that they are biased against Arsenal or any other club.
It’s not just Arsenal fans. Just have a little peek at all the other clubs fans forums. They like our own fans have been convinced for decades that the Football forces (FA, Referees, FIFA, Media etc are all biased againsts them.
It’s ridiculous..
By far the most sensible take on this debacle, and that includes the article itself.
Hooray for sense.
Goonster
I’m sure you are right about the other fans’ forums.
Over the years referees have used their discretion when officiating. Keeping the game flowing is one. Another is reminding a player that the next foul will result in a yellow card
Football is not a free for all. There is a rule book which must be followed and I think it’s now untenable for discretion to be applied. There is too much at stake.
The question of referees taking charge of fixtures in countries that own a PL club needs to be addressed. I’m not suggesting that they are biased/corrupt, call it what you will, but being squeaky clean and being seen to be so, is vital and there is a bit of a fishy smell around buzzing off to the Middle East and earning a big pay day and fancy holidays when you could be officiating at one of those clubs the following week.
Occasionally there are cases of officials, players etc being corrupt – as in taking bribes. I remember being at Crystal Palace years and years ago and the floodlights failed. That was corruption but against betting companies. The reality is that if the odd player can be tempted by money to get a deliberate yellow card at a specific time, then it stands to reason that a referee can be swayed in some way or other, if so inclined. However, being savvy enough to get away with it is another matter. There are eyes watching 👀
Think I like the big German, Its hard to dislike the Liverpool legend, Cooke may have had an unhappy up bringing.
But the chickens are coming home to roost, the legendary Frenchman have been let down so often by these officials
It makes zero difference when you have people that spent years convincing themselves about these types of conspiracy theories. All they need is just one anecdotal instance like this “Coote incident” and thats evidence enough to confirm their already built up paranoia / bias..
It does not matter what anyone tells them. So there is no point in arguing.