Former Premier League attacker Gabriel Agbonlahor has reignited his feud with Jurgen Klopp as the ex-Aston Villa man insists that the Liverpool manager should've received a heavier fine.
The 55-year-old was fined £75,000 and banished from the touchline for two games - one suspended - following comments made after last month's 4-3 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur. The initial incident was sparked after the jubilant scenes following Diogo Jota's last-gasp winner which saw the German celebrate in front of fourth official John Brooks.
This weekend's visit from Aston Villa will see Klopp watching on from the stands as the European hopefuls continue their respective quests for qualification. Agbonlahor, who now features on talkSPORT, has spoken out following the Football Association's sanctions over the Liverpool boss.
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"It's [the fine and ban] enough for that incident but I don't understand why doesn’t he get another ban for running up to the fourth official and going in his face?" he said.
"It doesn't say anything about that, you can't do that. The fourth official has no say in the game. He's there, he doesn't deserve that treatment from Jurgen Klopp. I think he deserves a longer ban and a bigger fine."
It's not the first time that the Villa academy graduate has spoken out against the Anfield chief. The squabble dates back to August 2022 when Klopp took umbrage with comments made by the pundit during Manchester United's tepid defeat at Brentford during the infancy of Erik ten Hag's reign.
"It was obviously not nice for United after the Brentford game," the Liverpool boss said. "We forget in these moments how good Brentford are, to be honest. I watched the first-half here then I drove home and listened to talkSPORT.
"Gabby Agbonlahor, he lost against us 6-0 in my first year (at Liverpool), I couldn't remember him as a mentality monster on the pitch (that day). What he said about United on that show, I was close to calling in! I was to calling in and telling him you forgot completely you were a player, it was unbelievable.
"If ex-players go already like this then you can imagine how everything else is going. You just have to ask yourself how you would want to react in a situation like this. They will want to fight back, that's completely normal and it's what we expect."
The 36-year-old poked fun at the Reds via Instagram in response to the claims made by Klopp, although his dig was slightly wide of the mark as he made light of Liverpool's defeat to Aston Villa at Anfield - although the loss was under the Germans predecessor Brendan Rodgers.
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