Gary Neville breaks silence on David Coote video - 'He shouldn't lose his career'
Gary Neville has adressed the controversy surrounding referee David Coote, who was suspended by the PGMOL after a video emerged showing the official criticising Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp
by Jake Bayliss · The MirrorGary Neville has argued that David Coote should not lose his job as a Premier League official.
Coote was suspended by the PGMOL on Tuesday after a video, believed to be several years old, surfaced on social media. In the video, Coote was seen calling former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp a “German c***” and also described the Reds as "s***" for their performance in an earlier game.
The referee spoke about his exchanges with Klopp during a previous fixture, where he had worked as a fourth official, and described the then-Liverpool boss as being “f****** arrogant.” The referee is also heard demanding that the video not be shared with anyone else.
The incident has led to major concerns among fans about officials’ biases and scrutiny of previous Liverpool games when Coote was in charge, including last weekend’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa. However, Neville believes that the video showed no indication that Coote’s relationship with Klopp had led to deliberate calls against Liverpool and believes that the official deserves another chance.
“For David Coote to be removed from Liverpool games, I think, would be a good step,” Neville said on the It’s Called Soccer podcast. “In employment law - and I’m not an employment lawyer - but if you call someone a name, I feel like it’s a warning. A second warning, a final warning. I don’t feel like it’s an axe, it’s a sack.
“I feel like taking him off Liverpool games and giving him a final warning is probably something that should happen but I don’t feel he should lose his career and everything he’s worked all his life for. I don’t feel he’s crossed that line; that line that I feel would have been crossed if he’d said, ‘I’m not giving Liverpool another decision again’.
“That’s it, he’s done, he’s out of there,” Neville explained. “But he actually just doesn’t like the character of a certain guy at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp. He actually said he liked James Milner, who was also a Liverpool player. I don’t know, I’m a bit stuck on it.
“For me, you’re stepping into a workplace environment and thinking, would you want to see your team-mate lose their job for that? I’m not sure I would for that.”
It is not the first time that the PGMOL has investigated Coote. As reported by the Mirror at the time, he was suspended for several months in the 2017/18 season during a probe into his conduct before being reinstated. When discussing the current issue, Neville failed to mention the referee’s use of xenophobic language about Klopp, and the pundit believes that Coote could remain a top-flight official.
“I feel like if we look at the words that David Coote has said, obviously, it’s going to bring him great disappointment, and great disappointment to the refereeing community,” Neville added. “But he’s called Jurgen Klopp the c-word, which is obviously a very aggressive word. But I didn’t see anything within his words that told me he had influenced decisions in the wrong way—that he was looking to do Liverpool over, do another club over.
“It was very sloppy. It’s something that obviously he should never have done. It’s something that I’m sure he’ll regret, not just today, but for the rest of his life. But when I look at that from not just an employment perspective but from a point of view of almost cancelling him - because the minute you cancel him as a Premier League referee, you’re effectively cancelling him from the game because I’m not sure any other organisation is going to look at him and say, ‘OK, come over here and work for us, mate’.”
“So he’s been stitched up, he’s been very sloppy,” Neville continued. “It’s a mess and I can see why the refereeing community and Christina [Unkel] get to that conclusion that you’re deemed to serve to a higher [standard] like a judge or policeman or woman. You almost have to live by a higher bar but I honestly feel that he’s got, can I say p***** up? He’s got bladdered, he’s got drunk and he’s let his mate film him, which is stupid but that’s what happens. We’ve all been there where we’ve had too many drinks and done something and wished we’d not done it.
“I understand what you’re saying. It could become untenable. It could become impossible when he goes into Premier League grounds and it might be difficult for him to referee Liverpool again, but I’d hope that they can get through it. “
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