David Coote controversy: The huge change that MUST now follow - Sam McGuire

In isolation, there’s nothing wrong with David Coote calling Jurgen Klopp a ‘German ****’.

He’s allowed an opinion.

We all are. For what it is worth, I think Coote is a bit of a **** too.

I’m fairly certain his experiences with the former Liverpool boss wouldn’t have been the most pleasant. The one-time BVB boss could be a bit over the top when he thought his team had been wronged. The issue is it is impossible for Coote to then switch off his personal feelings when he has to do his job.

READ MORE: David Coote’s AWFUL response to last Liverpool controversy

Coote might’ve tried his utmost to be professional and it wouldn’t have mattered. There’s an implicit bias against Klopp. By extension, there’s an implicit bias against Liverpool. When it comes to the Reds, he is tainted goods.

He can’t fairly officiate a game meaning he can’t do his job properly, and yet he’s been involved with a lot of Liverpool matches over the past few years.

Granted, it is human nature. You can’t be subjective when you head into something with a bias. It is quite telling that the Reds didn’t have the best record when Coote was either the referee or the VAR.

David Coote and Liverpool FC

During a period in which Klopp’s side were one of the best teams in Europe, Liverpool won just 50% of the games when Coote was on VAR.

These games include draws with Manchester United, Everton and Arsenal. In all three of these matches, there was a big talking point involving VAR. Against United, a clear foul on Divock Origi just before the opening goal was ignored. Jordan Pickford got away with nailing Virgil van Dijk in the draw at Goodison Park. We were told that the focus was on whether or not the Dutchman was offside and the fact the Everton keeper had put in a dangerous challenge on the Liverpool defender was missed. Coote somehow deemed Martin Odegaard’s attempts at playing basketball at Anfield fair. It was a decision Howard Webb did not agree with.

The Reds have won five of nine games he’s been in charge of. Combined though, the win rate when the 42-year-old is involved stands at 52%.

And remember, this is during a period in which Liverpool won everything and recorded multiple 90+ point seasons. Quite bizarre that they just seemed to struggle in games Coote was an official.

For added context here, with Coote as referee, Manchester United have won seven of 10.

With the 42-year-old on VAR, the Red Devils have lost just two of eight. They have a win rate of 67%. And this is the worst United side in the Premier League era. Yet they have a higher win rate than Liverpool when he’s involved.

It must be a coincidence, right?

READ MORE: How Jurgen Klopp responded to AWFUL David Coote decisions against Liverpool

The big lie

Because fans have been told for years that there aren’t any agendas against their teams. That referees are impartial and poor decisions are down to high-pressure situations.

Is that really the case, though? Can it be?

The PGMOL continue to treat everyone like children by claiming the majority of Premier League officials support lower league clubs. Coote is supposedly a Notts County fan. Anthony Taylor is an Altrincham ultra while Paul Tierney is Wigan till he dies.

The elephant in the room continues to be ignored. The PGMOL don’t want to acknowledge that top officials have implicit bias. They want to pretend as though they aren’t human. Because why would 42-year-old Coote have anything against Liverpool? Why would someone who grew up in Nottingham during a period in which Forest rivalled the Reds have a bias against the Merseyside club?

And while some are pointing to Klopp’s rant at Coote as a turning point for this, few have asked why the Liverpool boss was having that rant. Or why Andrew Robertson was caught on camera saying “You didn’t see f****** anything. You didn’t see anything all game apart from the f****** booking in the last minute.”

The PGMOL protect their own. Gary Neville, using Sky Sports as a platform, looks to protect his access to the likes of Howard Webb by downplaying mistakes and suggesting officials cannot be questioned. He's regularly on air downplaying significant events. He'll sometimes use Twitter to go to bat for officials.

Everything is geared towards gaslighting fans into believing there’s nothing sinister at work when in reality, calls aren’t always objective. Officials will subconsciously shaft teams and managers they dislike. It is easy when there are so many subjective rulings in the game.

A solution to this is to bring in foreign referees but having seen the furore following the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as the England manager, you know what the response would be if the Premier League was flooded with non-English officials.

The alleged videos of Coote just hammer home what everyone has been thinking all along.

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