David Coote should never referee again if Liverpool video is real - what I saw at Anfield was scary

The viral X-rated videos of David Coote that dominated social media on Monday have once again brought the state of refereeing in the Premier League under the spotlight. He’s now understood to have admitted that it is him, and questions over his officiating of Liverpool games are something he will never be able to escape now those videos are out there.

I’ve spoken about my problems with officiating in the Premier League time and time again in this column. For him to say what he has said in those videos, it’s condemning.

If it all turns out to be true, in my opinion he’s bang to rights and can never referee ever again. Not a chance. His authority and neutrality would be seriously damaged.

READ MORE: Liverpool handed new red card verdict after Mohamed Salah claim ignored

READ MORE: Premier League referee David Coote suspended after alleged X-rated video rant at Liverpool

Referees should not behave like that.

Of course, there is no evidence to suggest that his outburst is anything to do with his own personal allegiances. But I have always said that referees should publicly declare who they support.

There are only a few, like Jeff Winter from Middlesbrough, who ever came out and admitted their allegiance. All the others, they are said to support Altrincham, Bishop’s Stortford, Hartlepool, Bognor Regis - all these obscure teams.

They are in the game because they love football and they’ve always supported their football team.

But let’s be honest, if referees came out and said who they really supported, it would kick up a right stink. They would be under even more scrutiny in the public eye.

But that’s just tough in my opinion - they should come out and say who they support, they should clarify it but they never will.

Meanwhile, even before the footage emerged, there were question marks against some of Coote’s decision-making in Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa on Saturday.

It’s scary that he seems to not think it was a foul from Bailey on Salah on Saturday. Surely it should be a sending off? He’s the last man.

Because he played advantage, do the rules say he can’t go back and send him off? I’m not sure. But for him to gesture it wasn’t even a foul is scary.

Every referee would say differently. If that really would have been his on-field decision, then it’s questionable whether he is fit to referee in the Premier League.

Every other referee would say it’s a foul, and that it warrants a booking or a sending off. To say it’s not even a foul, it’s ludicrous. Everyone in the world could see that it was a foul.

Not at our best but we keep winning

I didn’t think we actually played that well against Aston Villa. People disagreed with me on social media, but I thought we weren’t as good as we had been doing.

But look, we got the win, we got the clean sheet, and we got the three points.

It’s looking good for Liverpool at the moment, but you can’t afford to look too far ahead. It was a good win over Aston Villa, Man City and Arsenal both dropped points, but they can’t look too far ahead beyond the break.

Arne Slot has put a good shift in so far and it’s a well-earned break. Fingers crossed all our internationals get through the break injury-free, and then we can look forward to the Southampton game. Bottom against top, you can’t take anything for granted. No slip-ups.

We’ve done really well up to now and that has to continue, but we can only take each game as it comes.

Salah saga an ongoing concern

What more can you say about Mo Salah that hasn’t been said? It’s just madness that we’re looking at a situation where he’s only got a few months left on his contract.

The owners have to make up for lost time and do what they can to try and keep him. They will likely be acting too late in my opinion. Let’s hope not, let’s hope all three stay.