Peter Walton believes a strict penalty should be levied on Jurgen Klopp for his red card incident against Manchester City

Speaking in his column for the Times (h/t Liverpool Echo), former Premier League referee Peter Walton insists that a harsh punishment should be laid on Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for his touchline antics against assistant referee Gary Beswick, for which the German was shown a red card by referee Anthony Taylor.

The incident in question is towards the end of the intense game between Liverpool and Manchester City where City midfielder Bernardo Silva made a bad tackle on Mohammed Salah.

After there was no stoppage of play by the referee, it infuriated Klopp who let his feelings known to the assistant referee, which on consideration could have been expressed in a better manner.

Klopp has since come out and apologised for his behaviour and Walton believes that a strict penalty should be levied on the German which should act as a precedent for proper behaviour against officials.

“Jürgen Klopp was rightly given a red card for abusing the assistant referee.

(he) has apologised for his behaviour. But that is not enough — he must be properly punished.

I am not convinced that a fine would have any impact on Klopp’s future behaviour — or that of other managers — so I think managers who abuse officials as Klopp did should get a touchline ban of three matches.”

Walton, who presided over 169 Premier League matches in his career, believes that the relationship between staff and players towards officials is at an all-time low.

One of the reasons why such is that case is because of no stringent check on actions made by players/managers against referees, with a nominal fine not creating much damage to the pocket or mindset of the concerned accused.

It is rather alarming to see top managers and players constantly berating and losing their cool on match officials and signifying a level of distrust between the two. But then one can also argue that referees do not really make the job easier with their sub-standard performances.

Walton cites the example of precedence to signify how the behaviour and actions of top teams towards officials lead to a bad situation in the lower tiers of football, where individuals tend to follow a similar pattern.

“Why this is so important, why we need to change the way managers and players behave, is because what happens in the Premier League has a huge influence on what happens in the amateur game.”

More Liverpool News

• Liverpool gaffer Jurgen Klopp calls facing Manchester City the biggest challenge in football
• Jurgen Klopp talks about Roberto Firmino’s form ahead of the match against Manchester City
• Peter Crouch believes Liverpool versus Manchester City feels like a little one-sided game

At the end of the day, it is another referee crying for being called out rather than demanding accountability from match officials. With referees being given leeway for getting away with murder, it is not a surprise that standards continue to drop.

This is, if anything, a blatant act of shooting the messenger than addressing any long-standing issue. Walton is seeking more respect for referres? a radical solution would be for them to just do their job right rather than cry wolf.