Jurgen Klopp could be facing an extended touchline ban due to his previous disciplinary record, according to a report which emerged today.
Speaking after the 4-3 win over Tottenham on Sunday (via Sky Sports), the Liverpool manager said that his side have ‘history’ with Paul Tierney, who failed to penalise Oliver Skipp for an over-the-top lunge on Luis Diaz at the weekend.
David Lynch reported for Football Insider that the 55-year-old will likely be charged by the FA under rule E3, which states that managers may not ‘imply bias and/or attack the integrity of the referee’.
The report adds that Klopp’s ‘poor previous disciplinary is likely to count against him in any hearing, resulting in a lengthy ban from the sidelines’, although no number was suggested as to how many matches or weeks he could miss.
Aside from what he said about Tierney, the Liverpool boss has also found himself in hot water for the manner in which he angrily celebrated in front of fourth official John Brooks when Diogo Jota scored the Reds’ winning goal on Sunday.
He was widely condemned over that incident, and as poor as the on-field officials were at Anfield, it’s not a good look for any manager to shout in the face of a referee, so Jurgen may need to take his medicine and hopefully avoid a repeat of such instances.
However, it must also be said that some of the discourse surrounding Klopp’s behaviour on Sunday has been ridiculously over the top, not least the CEO of Ref Support UK advocating a points deduction over it (Daily Express).
The Reds manager was wrong, and he’d admit that himself, but to call for LFC to be docked points is daft. Where was the demand for deductions over hundreds of match-going spectators deliberately, and with hurtful intent, indulging in tragedy chanting at some of our matches a few weeks ago (BBC)?
We won’t defend the German for his reaction towards Brooks on Sunday, and a touchline ban seems inevitable, but he’s been made an example of when much more reprehensible actions in football are being shrugged off.