A Danny Ings strike less than two minutes into Southampton’s Monday night fixture against Liverpool was enough to give the south coast side all three points against a lacklustre Reds side.
Despite having two reasonable shouts for a penalty, Jurgen Klopp will surely have been disappointed by the way in which his side played for the third game running.
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After dropping points against West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United, a winning start to the new year was required, but Liverpool never came close to achieving it.
It’s perhaps with that in mind why Klopp has sought to divert the attention and blame the officials for the loss, but former head of PGMOL, Keith Hackett, is having none of it.
“On Klopp’s comments, we know that there is a blame culture in football,” he told CaughtOffside.
“To blame the referee for any shortcomings of the manager’s own side.
“The FA take a relaxed view on this and I would suggest that Klopp would, at worst, receive a letter from the FA reminding him of his responsibilities.
“There is an arrangement where, 30 minutes after the game has ended, a manager can seek clarification on any decisions with the match officials.
“He can also speak to the Match Delegate who is employed by the Premier League and who reports on referee performance after speaking with both managers.
“Finally, he can contact or write directly to Mike Riley, the managing director of PGMOL, to express his concerns and seek guidance on refereeing matters.”
With a fixture against Man United on the horizon, that now becomes a must-win game for the Reds, given that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side could leapfrog them in any event by winning their game in hand.
Well there’s certainly no blame culture amongst officials who take zero responsibility and offer no explanation for their inconsistency and frequent incompetence. Plus Klopp blamed himself and the players very clearly and pointedly for their shortcomings. Another irrelevant ex ref trying to get clicks.
Let’s just accept it, this leauge is rigged in favor of one team and we all know it.