John Aldridge has questioned whether Paul Tierney should be barred from officiating Liverpool games after another flashpoint between the Premier League referee and Jurgen Klopp.
Tierney showed Klopp a yellow card in the dramatic last few minutes of Sunday's rollercoaster 4-3 win at home to Tottenham. The Liverpool boss had vigorously celebrated in front of fourth official John Brooks when Diogo Jota snatched all three points in the 94th minute. Klopp furiously claimed post-match that what Tierney said to him as he booked the German wasn't "okay."
The FA have now opened an investigation into incident and are reviewing audio of the pair's discussion, which the PGMOL - the body responsible for top-flight referees - has already declared makes Tierney out to have "acted in a professional manner." Klopp, meanwhile, has been slammed for his "unacceptable" behaviour, as the focus once again turns to his long-running feud with Tierney and the Reds manager's continued touchline antics. But club legend Aldridge appears to have sympathy for him.
Complaining at a series of calls which angered Klopp during Sunday's to-and-fro affair, Aldridge wrote in his column for the Liverpool Echo : "I could not believe some of the decisions made by Paul Tierney. It is well known we have experienced problems in matches involving Tierney in the past, and it was no different at the weekend during our win against Spurs."
The former Liverpool striker added: "I don't know what the solution is with Tierney, in terms of whether he could be taken off our games for the time being. Liverpool could make a complaint, but I don't know how far you could take that. Jurgen doesn't really come out with the things he did after the game, so is there an issue of some sort for him to be so emotional about it?"
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Klopp was certainly emotional after the last-gasp victory, telling Sky Sports when asked about the decisions in question: "We have our history with Tierney, I really don't know what he has against us. He has said there [are] no problems but that cannot be true. How he looks at me, I don't understand it.
Jurgen Klopp and Paul Tierney have continually failed to see eye-to-eye (Getty Images)Have your say! Should Paul Tierney continue to referee Liverpool games? Join the debate in the comments section.
"In England nobody has to clarify these situations, it's really tricky and hard to understand. What he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not okay."
A statement issued in response to Klopp's inflammatory comments read: "PGMOL is aware of the comments made by Jurgen Klopp after his side's fixture with Tottenham Hotspur. Match officials in the Premier League are recorded in all games via a communications system.
"Having fully reviewed the audio of referee Paul Tierney from today's fixture, we can confirm he acted in a professional manner throughout including when issuing the caution to the Liverpool manager. So, therefore, we strongly refute any suggestion that Tierney's actions were improper."
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