Jamie Carragher breaks silence on alleged David Coote Liverpool video amid Gary Neville verdict
Jamie Carragher believes David Coote will never officiate Liverpool - or Everton - again after the video allegedly showing the Premier League referee insulting the Reds came to light. In it, a man is heard calling the club “s***” and former manager Jurgen Klopp a “c***”.
Coote has been suspended by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) as it conducts an investigation into the footage.
On the latest Stick To Football episode, Carragher gave his assessment on the video that went viral on Monday. Based off that first video alone, Carragher questioned whether Coote, who oversaw Liverpool's win over Aston Villa on Saturday, could referee in the top-flight again.
The former Liverpool defender said: “The fact that it [video] has come out four years after lockdown, for someone to have kept that and put it out now - people do stupid things. You’ve had a few drinks, and you wake up in the morning to delete that or whatever.
“But for someone to keep that is just... he [Coote] has had a nightmare and I'm not sure how he can referee in England again. When the [other] fella is saying what he said to the camera, just end the recording.
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“I can’t imagine what [Coote] is going through now and I don’t want that cancel culture, but how can he now ref a rival? It’s not just that he can’t referee Liverpool, how does he referee Everton?
“The amount of eyes you get. The thing I despise most about social media is when a referee makes a decision and that whole fan base [is bickering]... But also, did people not think that referees thought [insults] about people anyway?”
Speaking on the same episode, after the footage and allegations came to light, Gary Neville said that the video alone warranted a sanction but that it ought not lead to Coote being sacked. “He [Coote] should get a suspension of some kind,” Neville said.
“Liverpool matches will be a no-go for him. I’d like to think he would come back and referee in the Premier League again.
“I don’t think someone being completely cancelled forever from doing their job, for calling someone a [c**t] is worthy. It’s not a sackable offence.
“If they do sack him, they’re then taking him off the employment list of everybody moving forward - and I don’t think that is right, but he needs punishing and he needs to understand the consequences.”
Neville added: “If he had said that he ‘hates S*******’... that would have been a bigger problem than calling Jurgen Klopp a ‘c**t’.”