Last Sunday, a day before David Coote’s world began to fall apart, a prominent figure in the world of broadcasting was talking to me about Jurgen Klopp.
‘Never trust anyone who smiles with their mouth but not their eyes,’ he said.
It was a reasonable point. Klopp is indeed a bit like that. He was indeed a bit like that when he worked in the Premier League. There was always a lot more going on beneath the surface than Klopp perhaps wished us all to know. There was, in truth, often a hint of latent malevolence about the former Liverpool manager.
But to demonise Klopp now for the misery Coote has inflicted upon himself is quite wrong. As the days pass and we learn more about the issues that appear to have plagued Coote our sympathy for the 42-year-old grows. A professional referee at the apex of his career who feels the need to take cocaine in a hotel room in the middle of a big summer tournament would appear to be in need of a little help.
Klopp is central to the story because he was the manager called out by Coote for his behaviour on what we may now refer to as video number one. He was the ‘German ****’, to quote Coote directly.
And yes Klopp’s touchline conduct during his nine years in England did often leave much to be desired. He did harangue fouth officials. He did say things he should not have done to referees. He did place them under deliberate pressure.
We should not blame Jurgen Klopp for David Coote’s misery – he is as much a product of his environment as the suspended referee is
Premier League referee Coote has been suspended by the PGMOL after a video of him calling Klopp a ‘German c***’ and Liverpool ‘s***’ emerged
We should not have painted Klopp as a saintly figure when his conduct was often usavoury
But if we are willing to paint Coote as a product of a wholly unsatisfactory matchday environment, of an unhealthy synergy between referees and managers, then so too is Klopp.
The world of ‘anything goes’ when it comes to managers’ attitudes towards match officials was one Klopp walked in to when he joined Liverpool in October 2015. Everybody else was already doing it so why, frankly, should he have been the exception?
I have written many times before on this platform about the unacceptable levels of abuse routinely tolerated by referees and their assistants. It needs to change and that has been the case for a long time. But it hasn’t. It continues to this day.
Klopp is very much an Alpha male, ruthless, driven and at times selfish. He was not universally popular among his peers in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola and indeed Mikel Arteta are both spoken of with more warmth.
Klopp would regularly push hard for what he wanted – five substitutes for example – at managers’ meetings and would not largely care about whose toes he stood on as he did so.
But Klopp was never here to make friends. He was here to win and to entertain and to change the direction of travel of a great but ailing football club. And he did all of that and quite a bit more without apology.
The fact he was quickly painted – largely by the media – in such a one-dimensional way was not his fault. Pretty much as soon as he arrived, we were happy to portray him as the light to Jose Mourinho’s shade. He became the bass drum to Pep Guardiola’s gentle harpsicord. It suited us. It worked for us. So we got on with it.
Klopp was a stand-up kind of guy, we said. He was funny. He smiled a lot. He was the one who liked a pint in his local pub in Formby, the guy who understood the plight of the little fella. All of that was true. The problem was that we chose to ignore the other side, the one that told us pretty clearly that he was also the type of bloke who would pretty much do what he wanted to get what he wanted. Hence the haranguing of TV companies over Saturday lunchtime kick-off times and indeed his no-holds-barred attitude towards referees. It was all there for everybody to see right from the start, at least to those who were willing to open their eyes and look.
While a jokey character, Klopp was also an Alpha male who could be ruthless towards others
This is often the way with elite managers – the trait is certainly not unique to Klopp
A video has also emerged of Coote allegedly snorting white powder in a hotel room during Euro 2024, where he was an official
The truth is that Klopp left England last summer having been a huge force for good across our football landscape. His team’s football was breathtaking at times. He took on and stood up to Guardiola’s City sides at a time when other big football clubs were failing on the back of dismal leadership or recruitment and often both. He understood and bought in to our football cultures. He cared about that.
There are those who say the Premier League is too predictable, that City win it every year. But at least Klopp’s Liverpool gave us some intrigue and some competition. At least they gave us a title race during those brilliant can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it seasons between 2018 and 2022.
When you look back now at some of his interactions with Coote, they are not pretty. So we can add him to a long list of top flight managers who may have done much better when it comes to their dealings with officials. Arteta, Mourinho, Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson are all on it, by the way.
Coote – like the others – was paid to deal with all this. Maybe he just couldn’t and that’s sad. Or maybe his unravelling is nothing to do with his job. The truth is we don’t know.
We know what Klopp was, though. Or at least we should have done. If we chose to construct an image of a man that was quite false then whose fault is that?
Amorim shows ruthless streak
It took Ruben Amorim about half a day in his new role as Manchester United manager to tell Ruud van Nistelrooy he was no longer welcome on the club’s coaching staff.
I happen to think it was the right call. Amorim needs his own people around him. More impressive, though, was the speed and decisiveness with which the decision was taken.
Amorim’s United haven’t even kicked a ball yet, but he’s made a good start.
Ruben Amorim has already made a decisive start at Manchester United by getting rid of Ruud van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy was Erik ten Hag’s assistant and was interim manager for four matches
Lineker was a brilliant MOTD host – here’s why
The only issue I ever had with Gary Lineker was that he was always so unashamedly aware of just how good he was at what he did. I like my heroes modest and Lineker wasn’t always that.
He was a brilliant Match of the Day host, however. He understood the rhythms of a unique show. He understood its gentleness and its softness. He worked hard at his craft and because of this he leaves with his personality woven right the way through it.
So what now? More of the same or a handbrake turn and a new direction?
The answer is obvious and the answer is Mark Chapman. If not him then Gaby Logan. Please not Alex Scott.
One other thing. Isn’t it wonderful that we still care so much? Maybe that’s Lineker’s greatest legacy.
Gary Lineker, though not modest, was a fantastic Match of the Day host. If we care so much about his successor, perhaps that reveals his legacy
FIFA are dumping Inter Miami in the Club World Cup despite them not deserving to be there
FIFA’s messy Messi solution
Next summer’s Club World Cup in America does not yet have a TV partner. Nobody seems that keen to broadcast it.
So FIFA are in a bit of trouble so FIFA are doing what FIFA do. They are moving goalposts.
Inter Miami, we have learned, will be the host nation’s representative in the tournament even though they will not be MLS champions. They have already been knocked out of the play offs.
But Inter Miami have a chap called Lionel Messi in their team. So Inter Miami will play in the Club World Cup. They are also set to play in its opening game.
This is sport, just not as we once knew it.
