Don’t sack Coote

Don’t sack David Coote. I’ll guarantee you didn’t expect that from me, but I’ll justify those four words in what follows.

Coote has been a fool. Tick. I’ve been there. But there isn’t anybody reading this who hasn’t, least of all of all a raft of newspaper reporters, who always have plenty to say when something like this happens, but haven’t got a leg to stand on when it comes to outlandish behaviour and opinions they’ve shared in a pub with their mates.

‘Ah, but we’re not refs’ they’ll argue. No. You’re not. You have more power. The power to bury people by shaping opinion, exactly as is happening now. Tick. I’ve been there.

There isn’t a reporter working that hasn’t left a press conference and said exactly what Coote did about Klopp - probably worse. And likely every other manager working.

Coote has been silly - that’s all. He should never ever have made the video that some sneaky weasel has leaked in order to cause him harm. Tick. I’ve been there too.

What he said wasn’t smart, but if the recording was made on the evening of his clash with Klopp (as I’ve read) no wonder he was all fired up. How often have we been told refs are only human?

We all have feelings. We all have likes and dislikes. Refs are no different.

We’ve known for years that big clubs get decisions. There’s bias for you right there.

We know that Graham Poll once said he never wanted to fall out with Fergie because if he did he wouldn’t get a game at Old Trafford for six months. I can only presume that he went soft on United as a result?

We know that Mike Dean has admitted to not sending his mate Antony Taylor to a VAR monitor because ‘I didn’t want to cause him more grief than he already had’. That after Taylor had missed Spurs’ Romero pull Cucurella’s hair. There’s a clear case of bias - intended or otherwise.

Jose Mourinho would court favours from refs by looking after his favourites. It happens for goodness sake. And in return I’m certain he’d get decisions that he might not have done. There’s always something a ref can turn away from - not see - half see - ignore.

And I’ll tell you this. I guarantee no ref would work again if you turned up with a mic at their regular get togethers.

It was inevitable that the conspiracy memes would surface. Some of the incidents Coote missed in Liverpool games are outrageous. But we knew this. We said so at the time.

That wasn’t as a result of bias - it’s because he isn’t a very good ref. And that’s not a revelation - his bosses clearly think that or he’d have been given bigger games during his six years in the PL.

The bigger reason for the anger about the compilations we’ve seen is because when those things happened the PGMOL hid behind a raft of excuses - as they always do - instead of admitting they were wrong. This happens week after week.

They send people like Dermot Gallacher to tv channels to try and justify poor decisions.

It’s embarrassing watching them - arguing one week that a ball hit ‘above the arm pit’ but the next it was ‘handball’. That a push ‘wasn’t strong enough’ but the next it was. That holding a shirt wasn’t an offence because a defender ‘let it go quickly’ (and nowhere in law does it state that) but the next week it’s a pen.

All this of course because Howard Webb wants to try to convince us that mistakes are less frequent. No they’re not - just admit it. Just say ‘yep, we got that wrong’. We could all move on then.

Instead the excuses - and often lies - come back to bite them as they have done with Coote. We’re not daft. Don’t treat us like fools. It’s not possible to achieve perfection in any area of football.

Returning to Coote’s indiscretion. It was in private. It was to ‘friends’. I’ve had people say to me ‘he didn’t spit on a 14-year-old girl in public’. That’s not relevant. That’s ‘whataboutery’. But I understand why that incident always comes up at times like these.

There should be a full and transparent investigation into what happened with Coote. And it must NOT be brushed under the carpet as happened with David Elleray. Somehow he still sits on the IFAB board.

Clearly Coote can’t ref again in the PL, but to destroy his life over this would be wrong. Right now he’s in a very dark place. Tick. I’ve been there.

I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t continue with his job in the EFL. I know I’ve argued that PL refs shouldn’t be demoted to the EFL when they’re in poor form, and I stand by that, but this is different.

Bobby Madley - who found himself at the centre of a storm a while back - put his life back together working in the EFL (after a spell abroad) and I don’t see any reason why Coote can’t.

If we genuinely believe in ‘well being and mental health’ we have no choice but to sanction Coote and then let him get on with his life. Anything else might lead to a devastating outcome. Tick. I’ve nearly been there.

All of the above of course depends on Coote’s problems not getting any worse. I’ve seen the video that some allege shows Coote sniffing substances. I think you’d struggle to get a conviction in a court of law. And be wary of edited videos. They never tell the whole story. Tick. Been there as well. Let’s wait for the outcome of the enquiry.

But his condition in the original clip has bothered me since I first saw it. Not for a minute am I suggesting he’s under the influence of illegal substances, but what this incident does prove is that refs now need to be randomly drugs tested. Right now they’re not. They must be going forward.