Former Premier League referee Peter Walton has claimed that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp should be 'properly punished' for his sending off in Liverpool's 1-0 win over rivals Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
Klopp was dismissed by referee Anthony Taylor for reacting furiously at assistant referee Gary Beswick failing to flag for a foul by Bernardo Silva on Mohamed Salah toward the end of the dramatic victory for his side.
The German admitted he was "not proud" of the incident while agreeing with the decision. However, he will not be subject to an automatic ban. The Football Association will decide whether to charge, warn or take no further action against the Reds boss once they are in receipt of the report on the match from referee Taylor.
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And even if Klopp is eventually censured, there is no guarantee any disciplinary action will be determined this week, meaning he could be on the touchline for both Wednesday's home game with West Ham United and Saturday's trip to Nottingham Forest.
But Walton, writing in The Times, has explained why Klopp should not escape censure, while also highlighting what he believes is a bigger problem.
Walton said: "Jürgen Klopp was rightly given a red card for abusing the assistant referee Gary Beswick during the Liverpool v Manchester City game on Sunday and has apologised for his behaviour. But that is not enough — he must be properly punished.
"What should that punishment be? 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, which is the same number of matches a player would get for serious foul play. That should be just the opening tariff — if the manager repeats the offence then the ban should be for longer, ideally doubled to six games.
"However, we also saw Manchester United players surround the referee Craig Pawson in their game against Newcastle on Sunday and here I think we should consider an even harsher penalty. When there is a whole group of players intimidating the referee you have to punish the club as a whole. And the punishment that would immediately change behaviour would be points deductions. If we did that, the players would soon mend their ways.
"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. Only last week the FA revealed that 380 players and coaches were banned for attacking or threatening referees and match officials in English grassroots football last season.
"While I refereed in the Premier League I made a point of refereeing at grassroots level as well and I could see the copying effect. What players and managers did on TV on a Saturday afternoon would be repeated on a Sunday morning. Because of this the professional game owes a duty of care to the amateur one.
"Amateur officials can be more vulnerable than their professional counterparts. When Pawson is surrounded by players there are actually people there who can protect him. That isn’t true on Hackney Marshes or anywhere else where amateur football is played."
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