Dermot Gallagher was asked if he expects the incident involving David Coote to 'fuel the belief among some fans that certain referees have an agenda against their club' – and his response has got people talking.
The PGMOL – the body responsible for Premier League officials – launched an investigation on Monday after a video which claims to show Coote making derogatory remarks about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp was posted on social media.
In the clip, a man who resembles Coote can be seen calling Liverpool "s**t" before describing Klopp as "f***ing arrogant" and a "c***". It was confirmed on Monday that the 42-year-old has been suspended by the PGMOL pending a full investigation.
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Coote, meanwhile, is understood to have accepted that the viral video is genuine, according to The Mirror, but has stressed that he 'does not recall the content of the discussion', which is said to be from several years ago.
On Tuesday morning, former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher was asked to give his take on the Coote story on Sky Sports News.
The 67-year-old, who retired in May 2007 after refereeing over 370 games in England's top flight, was asked: "Do you expect this will fuel the belief among some fans that certain referees have an agenda against their club?"
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Gallagher replied: "I've refereed for 46 years... I think most of my decisions are based on what I call instinct.
"You have the knowledge of the laws of the game, you have the experience that you've built up over the years. You see an incident and act instantly on it. It's a bit like driving a car, you see a red light, you change down gear, break, stop. You just do it.
"I don't the referee has the chance to think about things like that. What I would say is, at the top level, the scrutiny is so intense it's unbelievable. A referee would be exposed to all kinds of things if a decision isn't right."
Gallagher added: "I'll give you an example. Every weekend, the key match incidents are looked at by an independent panel of former referees. That's how it's scrutinised. Every referees performance is monitored, match by match.
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"A referee like David Coote, who has refereed on there for nine years, wouldn't have survived for so long at that level if he wasn't ref'ing at a top level and he wasn't making high-profile, good decisions."
Here's how fans on social media reacted to Gallagher's response.
One said: "This is the whole point, it's not an independent panel if it's made up of ex referees who you all are mates with and worked with. This is why refs never get punished they are all mates and don't want to hang anyone out to dry and it's why nothing will ever change."
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A second wrote: "It’s all very well saying refs are scrutinised by a panel that reviews their decisions after each game, but if there aren’t any repercussions to them making bad calls other than having the next weekend off then what motivation have they got to improve?"
A third commented: "Ok so what if VAR get involved and blatantly make the wrong decision. Is that based on instinct?"
A fourth added: "Just watched the Dermot Gallagher interview, he says "quote" all refs work off instinct, and cannot possibly be accused of wrongdoing! Highly scrutinised by... ex refs!! Birds of a feather!!"
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In regards to the previously mentioned video, Coote is yet to issue a public statement responding to the allegations against him. Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp are also yet to comment.
PGMOL confirmed in a statement that it would be making no further comment on the matter until its investigation is complete.
"David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation," read a statement. "PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete."
Topics: Premier League, PGMOL
Jack Kenmare