Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher does not believe David Coote would have let any bias seep into his on-field decision-making.
Yesterday, a seemingly old video of the top-flight referee lambasting Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp was leaked.
Coote appeared to call Klopp a ‘German c***’ and ‘f***ing arrogant’, while calling Liverpool ‘s***’ and has since been suspended by referee chiefs.
PGMOL, the body responsible for refereeing games in England, are investigating the authenticity of the footage in question, which the 42-year-old has now reportedly admitted it is genuine, as per The Mirror.
However, Gallagher, who was a Premier League official between 1992 and 2007, is convinced Coote would not let his beliefs impact his judgement when refereeing at the top level.
Footage of David Coote seemingly calling Jurgen Klopp a ‘German ****’ was leaked yesterday
Ex-referee Dermot Gallagher doesn’t believe Coote would have let any bias affect decisions
Coote has been suspended by referee chiefs as they investigate the authenticity of the footage
‘I don’t think any referee would go into any game without being professional,’ Gallagher told talkSPORT. ‘I think there’s such scrutiny, not only from your bosses, but the scrutiny from the PGMOL is really immense.
‘To give an example, every key match incident goes to a panel of ex-players and they vote on what they think the outcome should be.
‘That’s how tough it is and Coote has been involved for around nine years, so he’s done enough to get to that level.
‘It’s a bit like climbing a mountain, it’s all well and good moving up there but to stop there for nine years, you’ve got to have a good CV.’
While Gallagher, who is now a refereeing analyst at Sky Sports, never worked with Coote directly, his assumptions are based on his successful officiating career which came to an end 17 years ago.
The 67-year-old believes that professional referee intuition on the pitch deflects the possibility of personal opinions influencing decisions.
He continued: ‘Moving on from that, I would say that when in a game as a referee it’s 90 per cent as an instinct.
‘You see something and judge it on your instincts. You know the rules of the game, you have experience.
Coote was referee for Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield as recently as Saturday
Gallagher, 67, was a highly-regarded Premier League referee between 1992 and 2007
Coote and former Liverpool boss Klopp had several run-ins with each other over the years
‘All that comes together and you don’t have time to think through any backdrop of anything, you just make a decision.
‘If you see how quick decisions have to be made, you don’t have time to think of anything other than the match itself.’
Just hours after the video came to light, the PGMOL confirmed news of Coote’s suspension in a statement on Monday evening.
It read: ‘David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation. PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete.’
The staggering video, which Coote claims he does not recall all too well, displayed the Nottinghamshire-based referee delivering a supposed expletive rant about the current league leaders.
‘Liverpool were s***,’ said the man alleged to be Coote in the video. ‘(Klopp is a) ****, absolute ****. Aside from having a right pop at me when I was refereeing them against Burnley in lockdown, he accused me of lying and then had a right f***ing pop of me.
‘I have no interest in speaking to someone who is f***ing arrogant. So I do my best not to speak to him. (James) Milner is all right, I get on with him. You can see me there with a ‘mask’ on. But, my god, German ****, f*** me.’
In a second video, the man added: ‘Just to be clear, that f***ing last video cannot go anywhere, seriously.’
The game the man alleged to be Coote is referring to in the video was Liverpool’s controversial 1-1 draw with Burnley back in 2020, with Andy Robertson seen confronting him at full-time
Robertson believed he should have had a penalty after a tackle by Johann Berg Gudmundsson
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The game the man alleged to be Coote is referring to in the video was Liverpool’s controversial 1-1 draw with Burnley back in 2020.
In the match, which saw Liverpool drop points for the first time at home that season, Andy Robertson was caught on camera angrily confronting Coote in an expletive-laden rant after not being awarded a penalty.
‘How’s that not a penalty is a disgrace,; the Scotsman fumed after the game. ‘How the f*** is that not a penalty? You didn’t see f****** anything.
‘You didn’t see anything the whole game apart from f****** booking them in the last minute. F*** me. What’s the point in having you in the middle? What’s the point in having you? F*** me. Honestly.’
Coote has been a Premier League referee since 2018 and had plenty of run-ins with Klopp, who left Anfield at the end of last campaign.
