Ex-Premier League referee calls Jurgen Klopp 'very strange' and speaks out on David Coote
Mark Clattenburg has labelled former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp 'very strange' following incidents during his own refereeing career. The 50-year-old refereed 297 matches in the Premier League before retiring in 2017.
Clattenburg rose to the top of his profession, officiating the 2016 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. He was controversially appointed as Nottingham Forest 's referee analyst in early 2024 and left the role three months later.
In an appearance on the Undr the Cosh podcast, Clattenburg has spoken out about former Premier League referee David Coote being sacked after a video of him calling ex-Liverpool boss Klopp a "German c***" was leaked. Coote was dismissed by the PGMOL in December last year, after another video showed him snorting cocaine. The 42-year-old admitted using the drug as an "escape" after struggling with his sexuality, having come out as gay in an interview back in January of this year.
Clattenburg has delivered his verdict on the situation surrounding Coote and Klopp, as he argued: 'It's absolute rubbish. If a referee has an opinion, are we saying English referees are corrupt by thinking he's got a problem with Liverpool? No, it's just his honest opinion that he didn't like Jurgen Klopp.
'I didn't like Jurgen Klopp, I thought he was strange. Doesn't mean he was a bad manager. He was an incredibly good manager. I found him very strange.'
Recalling an incident before a Liverpool match with Chelsea, Clattenburg described a tense pre-match meeting after Klopp made the unusual decision to hand in the Reds' teamsheet personally. 'Jurgen Klopp came in and I thought, 'This is bizarre, this,'' Clattenburg explained. 'And he just stared at us for like 30 seconds. Never said a word. I never said a word. After 30 seconds, I just said to John Terry and Jordan Henderson, 'I'll see you out there.' And he just stared at us. I was like, 'What a strange bloke.''
Clattenburg elaborated on the difficulties that Coote will have faced in terms of his job prospects since being sacked by PGMOL and suspended by UEFA until June 2026. Reflecting on personally needing to retrain if he wanted to restart his past career as an electrician, Clattenburg empathised with Coote being spotted in his new job as a delivery driver.
'If you lose your job, for example Dave Coote, it's a huge moment of his life,' Clattenburg admitted. 'He's give up his career to be a referee and now he's lost his career, what does he do now?
'I know he's delivering boxes but it's tough for him because everyone thinks referees are a protected species and they've got massive houses, massive cars. They're just working-class people but they haven't got a career afterwards. Everybody sees you as the referee. Everybody sees you as the person that spoils everybody's fun.'
Clattenburg also discussed the difficulty of maintaining friendships as a referee and stated that a more tight-knit circle would have prevented Coote from losing his job. 'For example, Dave Coote, what he's gone through and somebody in his friendship group has decided to leak that video,' Clattenburg said.
'They're not friends. But if he had really good friends, that video still wouldn't be out now. Unfortunately, the way things are, it's so difficult.'
Meanwhile, Clattenburg's recollection of Klopp's behaviour at a pre-match meeting was not the only awkward meeting between the pair. Clattenburg had officiated a Champions League quarter-final tie during Klopp's time at Borussia Dortmund, which resulted in a 3-0 win for Real Madrid in 2014. However, Klopp happened to walk past the referee's dressing room at a less-than-ideal moment after the final whistle.
'I had a run-in with him when he was at Dortmund and people criticise but what can I say in this situation?' Clattenburg said. 'It was Marcelo, he was playing for Real Madrid. I came outside my dressing room and he said, 'Can I have a picture?' I've had players asking for my shirt.
'As the photo was getting done, unfortunately, Jurgen Klopp, who was the Dortmund manager, was walking past. He turned around and said, 'That's why we got beat.' Me being me, I turned around and said, 'Aye, that's why you got beat three f****** nil, so f*** off.''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
14 minutes ago
- Metro
Barcelona reject Chelsea swap offer for Christopher Nkunku
Barcelona rejected Chelsea's offer of a swap deal involving Christopher Nkunku, according to reports in Spain. Chelsea have been open to offers for Nkunku this summer as the French forward has struggled to secure a regular role at Chelsea since his £52 million move from RB Leipzig in 2023. The 27-year-old has attracted plenty of interest with Arsenal and Bayern Munich both making enquiries in the January transfer window, while Manchester United have also considered a move this summer after failing with a loan bid earlier this year. Chelsea have also dropped their asking price for Nkunku from £65 million to £43m. According to Mundo Deportivo, Chelsea have also used Nkunku as a makeweight in their bid to sign Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. However, Barcelona turned down the chance to sign Nkunku and opted to sign Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United instead. Fermin has also been linked with a move to United, with reports in Spain claiming that Ruben Amorim's side are ready to pay a €70m (£61m) fee. However, Fermin is intent on staying at Barcelona, while the club's head coach, Hansi Flick, does not want the 22-year-old to leave. More Trending Nkunku, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future and Enzo Maresca did not rule out the prospect of still having the 27-year-old in his squad for the start of the new Premier League season. 'If Christo is here with us, it is because we think he can help us and he can be with us even next season,' Maresca said during the Club World Cup. 'But as you said, there are many speculations, not just about Christo, about many players. 'And then if something is going to happen, I don't know because we said many times when the transfer window is open, anything can happen in terms of players that can arrive or players that can leave.' For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Manchester United handed Benjamin Sesko chance as Newcastle bid rejected MORE: Chelsea told they've loaned out star who can be 'better than Lionel Messi' MORE: Aaron Ramsdale speaks out on what made him want Newcastle move
Daily Mail
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How Chelsea are leaving rivals dumbfounded by making their line-up the toughest to predict in football - and Jorrel Hato adds another dimension
James, Josh & Malo may sound like a London solicitors' firm but in reality, they were Chelsea 's hat-trick of options at right back last season. Who started? Who knew? Could be Reece James, possibly Josh Acheampong, maybe Malo Gusto. Manager Enzo Maresca even played a pair of centre backs in Wesley Fofana and Axel Disasi out of position on occasion, as if he delighted in gaslighting opposition analysts and those of us who file weekly predicted XIs. Until Chelsea submitted their team sheet to the Premier League 75 minutes prior to kick-off, we were all playing his guessing game, unable to say for sure who would be used and where. It was different on the other side of Maresca's defence, however. There it was a lonely story involving Marc Cucurella. The 27-year-old Spaniard was Chelsea's only natural left back, hence why he finished 2024-25 with 5,000 minutes played for club and country. That was more than any of his team-mates and he managed 2,989 of those in the league — pretty much as many as James, Acheampong and Gusto combined. Now, Cucurella has cover arriving in Jorrel Hato from Ajax after the two clubs agreed a £37million deal. Denunciations of stockpiling be damned. Sources at Chelsea say they want to provide Maresca with enough squad depth to rotate across all areas of the team. With Hato on board, that is looking like at least two players per position. Hato was identified for his potential, first and foremost. Chelsea tracked him throughout last season when Mail Sport first reported on their interest in this teenager. He is a 19-year-old Netherlands international with six caps. He was Ajax's youngest ever captain at 17 and has already made more than 100 senior appearances. He is a skilled player who can move inside and is used to playing for a team who control possession. He can play at centre back, though Chelsea primarily see him as a left back competing with Cucurella. Chelsea made 419 changes to their starting line-ups under Maresca last season — more than any other club in Europe's top leagues. Hato is set to further complicate those Monday morning briefings between analysts and managers. He may take time to adapt, but the message is: good luck predicting which players will be used by Maresca and where from now on. Cole Palmer was primarily used as a No 10 last season, but Maresca deployed him on the right wing in their Club World Cup triumph over Paris Saint-Germain last month. A Stamford Bridge insider described Maresca as a 'master of rotation', adding the 45-year-old Italian does not have a best XI, and nor does he desire one. He wants the best squad. He picks his teams based on a tactical plan, the opposition, training and playing load. When Chelsea beat Djurgardens 4-1 in their Conference League semi-final first leg, for example, they arrived back in London at 4am on the Friday morning. They then beat Liverpool 3-1 in the league on the Sunday, with Maresca making eight changes. Cucurella was one of those who survived the rotation in a needs-must situation. This summer was identified as a time to strengthen in order to compete in what is being described as a 'dual season' for the club in England and Europe. They do not simply want to have retuned to the Champions League. They want to compete. Once Hato has signed, he will join other recruits such as Liam Delap (£30m), Joao Pedro (£55m) and Jamie Gittens (£48.5m). The Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian has also arrived from Palmeiras. RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons remains a target, as does Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho. Chelsea are set to enter into a minuscule pre-season with the players due back this week to prepare for friendlies with Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan. They could yet receive offers for Nicolas Jackson, though Maresca is currently planning to have him compete with Delap as a striker — again, options — while leaning on Joao Pedro's versatility across the attack. The choices available to Maresca were already as rich as any manager's in the top flight — and even more now Hato is on the way.
Belfast Telegraph
an hour ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Instonians ace admits relief blunder didn't prove costly as crucial victory puts his side in pole for Premier League title glory
Instonians returned to the scene of their T20 triumph on Sunday and put themselves in pole position to win the 2025 Premier League title. The Shaw's Bridge side beat defending Champions Waringstown – and their opponents in Friday's Challenge Cup Final at Stormont – to leave themselves two wins away from lifting the trophy for the second time in three years.
