Sound of Football Podcast 593 - The effing ref

Premier League referee David Coote has found himself in hot water after unguarded comments he made four years ago regarding former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp surfaced on social media this week. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the recording of the conversation and its subsequent release to the public, it seems unlikely that Coote will be able to continue as a top level referee, in this country at least.

Full-time professional referees were only introduced in England in 2001 but with no frame of reference to go by are we still unsure of what our expectations should be of professional refereeing? Is it anything like what we saw this weekend with both Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver picked out by name in disparaging chants from the stands.

For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog.

pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_593.mp3