‘Got that one wrong…’ – Ex-PL official admonishes David Coote over Liverpool decision

Jeff Winter has admonished David Coote over one decision that he made in Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 42-year-old – who’s since become embroiled in controversy over a leaked video in which he’s seen repeatedly calling Jurgen Klopp a ‘c**t’ – was the man in the middle at Anfield over the weekend when he was faced with one potentially game-changing decision.

In the lead-up to the move which led to Darwin Nunez opening the scoring, Leon Bailey impeded Mo Salah and appeared to deny a clear goalscoring opportunity, but the official waved his arms to signal that he didn’t see any foul being committed.

Jeff Winter claimed that Coote was right to let the play continue when the ball broke to the Uruguay striker to score, but admonished the official for not showing the Aston Villa a yellow card for his challenge on Liverpool’s number 11.

Winter says Coote should’ve booked Bailey

The ex-Premier League referee told Grosvenor Casino (via Liverpool Echo): “Leon Bailey couldn’t be sent off in the terms of the tackle, because if you’re talking about denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, he didn’t deny an obvious goal scoring opportunity. He most certainly tried to.

“If the referee had blown the whistle, then he would have denied it, but the fact the referee was on his toes on this occasion, he played the advantage. Can you imagine the furore if the referee had blown up, then the ball ends up in the back of the net and they get a free kick? Alright, he gets a red card, but then they get a free-kick, 25/30 yards away from goal.

“It was good refereeing in this instance. He made the right decision in allowing the game to continue, because if it was a serious foul-play challenge, then there’s an argument for not allowing the game to continue because the ball doesn’t end up in the net, and then you’ve got 20 players brawling.

“In not going back and cautioning him, he’s got that one wrong. He might have been basking in the reflective glory of what a brilliant advantage Liverpool have scored because, as referees, there’s nothing better than playing an advantage and the ball ends up in the net., but you mustn’t abdicate your responsibilities. 

“There’s a big plus for the referee in allowing Liverpool the advantage, but also a significant minus because, those sorts of challenges, the cynical ones, have got to be punished.”

Coote decision even harder to take after video nasty

While we can side with Winter’s view that Coote was right not to stop the play in the lead-up to Nunez’s goal, the referee didn’t actually play advantage as he signalled that no foul had been committed, which was a baffling interpretation of events.

In our view, Bailey unquestionably denied Salah a goalscoring opportunity and, had the passage of play not led to the deadlock being broken, the Villa winger surely ought to have been sent off.

What seemed a perplexing decision at the time has since taken on a more significant complexion after the footage showing the Nottingham whistler defaming Klopp – which he’s since admitted is genuine – and accusations of bias against Liverpool will only grow even further in light of recent events.

The PGMOL has suspended Coote pending an investigation into the matter, but even when that process is concluded, there’s no way that he can be involved in any match affecting the Reds directly or indirectly based on what’s come to light over the past 24 hours.

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