Liverpool fans will be far from pleased to see that Simon Hooper has been selected for the Reds’ Carabao Cup second-leg meeting with Fulham.
Though, in fairness, there are few officials currently about in the English game that wouldn’t inspire an eye roll from the fanbase.
The news in question was delivered on X (formerly Twitter) by an under-fire PGMOL.
Match official appointments for the #CarabaoCup Semi-Final second legs have been confirmed ✅ pic.twitter.com/O4mkIQUMoc
— PGMOL (@FA_PGMOL) January 17, 2024
You’ll remember Simon for…
You’ll remember Simon Hooper for the god-awful officiating of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham around the start of the campaign. It cost the visitors three points after Luis Diaz’s opener was unfairly ruled out by an incompetent VAR team.
The 41-year-old on-pitch official, to be completely fair to him, was utterly powerless to stand in the way of such a call that Jurgen Klopp’s men will hope won’t prove costly in the context of the title race.
The good news is that VAR won’t be present for the upcoming cup tie, which, theoretically should be a positive.
You just never really know in this day and age of substandard officiating.
You just never really know in this day and age when substandard officiating is going unpunished and gross human errors are recurring more frequently. Never heard of before.
Unfortunately, the supporters are helpless and have to bear with incompetent PMGOL’s protégés week in week out.
It’s simply disgusting but what to do?
Referees are not officiating but balancing the match. One yellow here and one yellow there. One foul here and another one there etc. Must have a look at their bank balance.
One day in the not too distant future the PGMOL will be implicated in the biggest betting scam on the Planet. That is the only reason their officiating is so bad. Personal monetary gains.