Gabby Agbonlahor believes Jurgen Klopp was lucky to escape with a two-game touchline ban for his behaviour during Liverpool's recent 4-3 home win against Tottenham.
The Reds boss was handed a ban and a £75,000 fine by the FA after criticising referee Paul Tierney. Klopp will watch Saturday's match against Aston Villa from the stands at Anfield, with the second game of his ban suspended to deter from further misdemeanours.
Agbonlahor thinks Klopp should've received a longer ban for celebrating in fourth official John Brooks' face after Diogo Jota's last-minute winner against Spurs. Klopp's punishment was for his post-match comments and not for his overzealous celebration.
Agbonlahor, who has criticised Klopp in the past, offered his opinion on talkSPORT. The Aston Villa hero said: "Why doesn’t he get another ban for running up to the 4th official and goading in his face? You can't do that. The fourth official has no say in the game.
"He doesn't deserve that treatment from Jurgen Klopp. I think he deserves a longer ban and a bigger fine."
The FA did not punish Klopp for celebrating in Brooks' face because they gave him "the benefit of the doubt". What angered the FA was Klopp's post-match comments, in which he suggested Tierney has a vendetta against Liverpool.
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Klopp has since apologised to Brooks and Tierney. In a letter to the FA, he noted: "Although it was not my intention I accept now it appears that I was questioning Mr Tierney's integrity. I take ownership of this. On reflection, the words I used were inappropriate.
"Both of these incidents were driven by emotion. I was overly emotional at some of the decisions made, which then led to frustration and a feeling of unfairness. I carried that emotion into the mandated and time sensitive post-match press commitments."
After questioning the severity of Klopp's punishment, Agbonlahor then claimed he has "rattled" the Liverpool manager. The Reds have failed to win a major trophy this season and are on course to miss out on Champions League football next term. Liverpool are fifth in the table, point behind Manchester United in fourth having played a game more.
The row between Klopp and Agbonlahor started when the latter criticised Man Utd's poor start to the season under Erik ten Hag, in which they lost to Brighton and Brentford. Klopp said: "I listened to Gabby... he lost against us 6-0 in my first season and I don't remember him being a mentality monster on the pitch.
"What he said on that show. I almost phoned in to tell him he has forgotten that he used to be a player. It was unbelievable."
In response to those comments, Agbonlahor said: "Klopp only knew my first name, not my second name!' He knew what he was doing. It's that way of saying, 'Oh, I don't know who he is. What's his name?' And ever since... [Liverpool are] 16 points behind Arsenal now.
"It's not been the mentality monster season for Liverpool. I'm just saying, he's been rattled and this season Liverpool haven't been the same as they should be."
