Liverpool fans, and indeed Jurgen Klopp, could be quite intrigued by the assignment given to Paul Tierney for next weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
The 42-year-old has been in the headlines over the past couple of days after his officiating in the Reds’ 4-3 win over Tottenham, after which the German said that his team have ‘history’ with him (Sky Sports).
The Wigan native won’t be involved in our game against Brentford on Saturday, but there’s still a chance that he could be called upon to have an indirect impact on the Merseysiders’ slim top-four hopes.
The Premier League has revealed the match official appointments for the weekend’s fixtures, with Tierney to be the fourth official for West Ham v Manchester United on Sunday night (premierleague.com).
By the time the game at the London Stadium kicks off, there’s a possibility that Liverpool could be just one point behind the Red Devils in the table, if we win our two remaining matches this week and they lose at Brighton on Thursday.
In that scenario, the fixture in the capital would involve a team who’ve become a direct rival for Champions League qualification and not merely a historical foe.
As fourth official, Tierney’s involvement is unlikely to stretch beyond logging substitutions and being a lightning rod for the fury of either or both of David Moyes and Erik ten Hag should they be irked by decisions from match referee Peter Bankes.
However, if the latter were to incur an injury, for example, that could see the Wigan native called upon to take charge for the rest of the game, so there’s a slight chance that he may have a big bearing on one of Liverpool’s positional rivals next weekend.
If that does materialise, it may be seen on Merseyside as a chance to atone for his failure to send off Oliver Skipp for his lunge on Luis Diaz last Sunday (see also Harry Kane on Andy Robertson last season), or blowing for half-time when Sadio Mane was through on goal against Man United two years ago.
Hope we have seen last of the twat,we should do a firgie don’t want him reffing us again!!!?