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Please note earlier than usual deadline!! @RandoEFC @CaaC (John) @Tommy @Bluebird Hewitt @Azeem @Viva la FCB @nawoo @Rucksackfranzose @Coma @Spike @Pyfish @6666

Probably the best call made by a Premier League referee in a decade or more.

I don't know what the ethics rules say for refs, but in the legal system bias and apparent bias are almost always lumped together as effectively equivalent, for the exact reason you can see with fans now scouring over Coote's entire record of decisions. It's impossible to read someone's mind and tell whether a decision was actually because of bias or not. So, when a clear appearance of bias exists, it is all basically the same from an outsider's POV. Every single decision is just as much a candidate as the other to be tainted by bias. And that's not an indictment on the fans for being paranoid, because (again) they have no way of reading Coote's mind and knowing which decisions he made because he doesn't like Liverpool. All they can ever know is that potentially any of them could have been. And that's why professional organisations, which need their decisions to be taken seriously, take the appearance of bias just as seriously as bias itself.

@Dr. Gonzo Don't bring me into this like I told you on discord i get called a cunt a lot more easier on here

Definitely and maybe he should have been cautioned more and sent off more. But like you say, it doesn't give Coote a pass at all. I think PMGOL is letting down every referee in England - not just those at the top flight. They contribute to the culture of ref hating just as much as the angry managers and fans. They have a hard job and VAR's made it harder - every important decision is under a microscope now. Referee mistakes have always happened and will continue to happen, they are human. PMGOL needs to actually put measures in place that protect referees. The time for micing up referees, like they are in rugby, is long passed. I think the "well done lads, good process" incident indicates there's a real need for PMGOL to have clear and consistent guidelines on how referees and VAR communicate with each other. Their job isn't as important as air traffic controllers, but they definitely need some sort of strict rules and guidelines on how they communicate... like air traffic controllers... if they want to be taken seriously as the people officiating matches in a league with billions at stake. There need to be clear and publicly available ethics guidelines for referees - and shit that falls under "the appearance of impropriety" needs to fall under an ethical violation, as it does in many other industries that don't even deal with billions in any currency changing hands. Imo there are lots of steps that PMGOL can take to improve their image, so the public doesn't feel that referees lack integrity. But I think what Coote's done goes beyond what PMGOL could do to protect referees and reduce hatred towards referees. Everyone who has a job has to work with people they think are unpleasant. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar, imo. But if you chat shit about these people after drinking and sniffing up some lines on video and that video becomes public... it's really only on you for making those statements. He's brought his own integrity and ethics into question. He's destroyed his credibility going forward. It should destroy his career as a referee in football. I'm not so sure it will because PMGOL's demonstrated an indifference to the appearance of impropriety when they let referees moonlight for leagues owned by the same people who own Man City/Newcastle. But it absolutely should destroy his career. I can't understand how a referee who's been caught on a video ending with "we hate the Scousers" can be expected to referee in a league with 2 clubs from Merseyside. Even if he can never referee Liverpool or Everton again, how do they guarantee he won't make decisions that impact these clubs? I think the way PMGOL's gone about protecting their referees has been misguided at best. To truly protect them and the image referees have, there need to be clear standards and transparency at the highest level. I think considering the speed of the top flight game, fans having access to audio that demonstrates their actual thought process will 100% help most (not all, because some people are just morons and there's nothing that will change that) football fans understand that: 1.) the referees have a difficult job; 2.) how easy it is for them to make genuine mistakes. I also think these billion pound clubs of this billion pound league should be forced to set aside a pretty large sum of money to PMGOL. We all want higher refereeing standards at the top flight, that comes from having higher refereeing standards at the grassroots level and above. That comes from spending money to properly train people. Giving them the funds and resources to want to do something that is: 1.) difficult, 2.) high pressure, 3.) comes with a significant amount of abuse - @Gunnersaurus has pointed out that grassroots refs are quitting due to this abuse. But regardless of what PMGOL, the league, the clubs, the fans can do to make it a bit easier for referees... what Coote's done goes beyond all of that & imo it's nobody's fault but his own. And honestly I think it's a joke he's claiming it's a fake. He'd get a lot more sympathy from me if he owned it - said his comments with his mates were clearly wrong and he was under the influence and was going to start addressing substance abuse issues. I'd genuinely be in favour of him getting a second chance if he said "yeah I should not have done that, it was clearly unprofessional and unethical, I have a drug problem and I'm going to rehab." That would honestly demonstrate remorse... and an attempt to restore the idea that as a ref he should have integrity. Just flatly denying it when anyone who's seen an AI fake knows it's definitely not an AI fake is almost just doubling down. And if he wants to double down on that kind of behavior, I think PMGOL would do best to throw the book at him.

Klopp did lose it quite often and wasn't shy at getting in the face of officials. But it's no excuses for Coote to do what he did or said or be so butthurt about it. Or also doesn't excuse the blackmailing.

The other guy was absolutely smashed. Had one eye on camera and the other on his next line.

Nobody reaching double digits, only 1 player scoring over 5 points. This matchday wasn't great for us as a group! Matchday 10 1) nudge 9 points 2) CaaC(John) 5 points 2) Michael 5 points 2) Stan 5 points 2) Tommy 5 points 6) Bluewolf 4 points 6) Viva la FCB 4 points 8- 6666 3 points 8- nawoo 3 points 10) Rucksackfranzose 2 points 11) Coma 1 point All quiet on the western front! Table after 10 matchdays 1) @Viva la FCB 70 points 2) @Stan 67 points 3) @Michael 63 points 4) @Tommy 61 points 5) Rucksackfranzose 60 points 6) @nudge 59 points 7) @CaaC (John) 58 points 8- @6666 57 points 9) @nawoo 55 points 10) @Bluewolf 53 points 11) @Coma 39 points

Pep said, after the Southampton game, that he learnt a lot from Russell Martin. They're on the way to losing 4 games in a row since that comment

He's always injured.