Mark Clattenburg shares what he wishes had happened to Jurgen Klopp after Spurs celebrations

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Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has slammed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for his celebrations this weekend.

Klopp didn’t hold back when celebrating Diogo Jota’s last-minute winner against Tottenham Hotspur. Having seen his side give up a 3-0 lead only to sneak a win at the end, the Reds boss appeared to scream in the face of fourth official John Brooks.

Understandably, Jurgen has been heavily criticised following the outburst. The latest to join the growing list of dissenters is former ref Clattenburg. Speaking on ESPN FC yesterday, the man who refereed the final of Euro 2016 said he wished Klopp had been made a bigger example of.

“Jurgen Klopp is a role model and this transfers all the way down to grassroots,” he explained. “If we think this is acceptable behaviour after they’ve just scored a winning goal to make it 4-3, to harass the fourth official like it is and accept it, then we’re completely wrong.

“For me Jurgen Klopp should have been clearly dismissed from the technical area and should be looking at a touchline ban or a fine, whatever the FA decide, that’s not the referee’s problem, that’s up to the FA how they deal with it.

“I wish the referee had sent him off to set an example. We can accept the coach having a word with the fourth official, maybe getting upset, but he clearly ran from distance. He’s clearly got a problem with Paul Tierney as we know, and therefore he’s vented his anger at the poor fourth official. For me this is not acceptable.”

Klopp backlash continues

Whatever way you look at this, it isn’t a good look for Jurgen. It also isn’t exactly the first time he’s been accused of being overexuberant with officials.

In some ways, you can understand his reaction. Plenty of supporters of every team on the planet would react in a similar fashion to the circumstances surrounding Jota’s winner on Sunday.

The point is though, that Klopp has to be better than that. Having had time to reflect, he will surely be the first to admit that he was out of order at Anfield. He’ll accept the punishment and criticism that come his way and strive to do better in the future.

But will Mr Tierney and the other consistently blundering Premier League referees do the same? There is a reason Klopp’s patience was pushed to the limit on Sunday. His anger wasn’t towards his players, or those of Spurs, it was solely towards the officials.

Klopp clearly feels – not without very good reason – that Paul Tierney has a personal problem with him. That can be debated, but what can’t be argued is that these flashpoints do seem to happen whenever he officiates Liverpool matches.

For his own good as much as anyone’s, Tierney has to be removed from refereeing any Reds game. To continue to select him is only going to poke the bear. As much as Klopp is responsible for getting a handle on that, the FA and the PGMOL have their responsibilities too. For now, they are actively shirking them.